West County recently received word that it would soon have a new brewery to call its own, and next year, Illinois residents will add one to its ranks, too. High school sweethearts Chris and Tammy Rahn are making the move from homebrewing to opening a brewery in their hometown of Waterloo, Illinois. Stubborn German Brewing looks to open doors at a soon-to-be-determined location in 2016. In the meantime, the Rahns can be found in Forest Park at St. Louis Microfest May 1 and 2, as reported by St. Louis Magazine.
Chris Rahn said the couple has looked to open a place for the last two years and is now eyeing a location in downtown Waterloo where they will serve multiple styles of mostly German-influenced beers.
“I’m stubborn like that,” Rahn said. “German-style lagers are more difficult to do well, to make them as crisp and refreshing as they should be. Lagers take more finesse to do right, and that makes it more of a fun challenge.”
Having started with a single Mr. Beer homebrew kit 10 years ago, Rahn now plans to brew 93 gallons at a time, including a selection of four to six rotating seasonal brews, as well as year-round offerings like Stubbornfest (an Oktoberfest), Fountain Creek Kolsch, Old Ledger Lager, Blitzkrieg IPA and Schitzengiggles (a dark, dunkel-style lager).
This article appears in April 2015.