Now Open In Waterloo: Hopskeller Brewing Company (2024)

There’s big news brewing for area beer lovers in the historic town of Waterloo, Illinois. There hasn’t been even a single brewery in this German town in 83 years – now, those clever folks have opened two new craft breweries and tasting rooms in 2016.

Hopskeller Brewing Company hosted a stein-hoisting crowd at its grand opening several weeks ago, a mere six months after the stellar party that put Stubborn German Brewing Company in beer lovers’ sights on April 25^th.

Wow. What’s in the water at Waterloo?

We’ve detailed what’s going on at Stubborn German from build-out to the latest news in stories by Mike Sweeney, Joe Bonwich, and myself. We like Stubborn German and the beers they rode in on, seven solidly good German-style session beers, available year round, plus a rotating selection of three brewer’s choice selections.

Those Stubborn Germans not only welcomed Hopskeller on their Facebook page, they posted a map so folks can mosey around the corner and pay a visit.

Here’s the lowdown on Hopskeller, the new brewery on the block in historic downtown Waterloo:

The Brewer and the Mayor

When Gibault High School history teacher home brewer Matt Schweizer first met Waterloo Mayor Tom Smith (right) they didn’t discuss beer. Mayor Smith wanted to uncover the history of downtown Waterloo’s historic buildings. He convinced Schweizer and his students to take charge.

Students researched municipal records, searched newspapers and biographies, conducted oral histories with longtime residents and presented their findings to the Waterloo City Council and at the Monroe County History Museum as part of the town’s bicentennial celebration. Throughout the process, the student gained an appreciation for local history and for the preservation of the buildings in their community.

That same year, the principal at Gibault invited Schweizer, an award-winning home brewer, to participate in the school’s “Taste the Region” event with his home-brewed ales and beers. Mayor Smith attended, tasted Schweizer’s beers and put forth an idea to the young history teacher and brewer. He believed Waterloo needed a craft brewery in one of the historic downtown buildings. Would Schweizer be interested in exploring the idea?

“What 29-year-old home brewer wouldn’t jump at the chance to open a brewery?” Schweizer (right) says. “I went to City Hall the following Monday and met with two investors. We ended up with eleven investors – local people and family – and in January, 2014 we went to work.”

“I didn’t know that the Rahns were planning to open the Stubborn German brewery,” Smith says. Smith knew from the license plates parked around downtown square that more than a third of the people patronizing events, businesses, and restaurants were coming to Waterloo were from the Missouri. In addition to Gallagher’s restaurant, the antique and specialty shops and restaurants like J. Fires' Market Bistro and nearby Dreamland Palace, two craft breweries would draw even more people to the town.

The Brew House Well-Built by J. Gallagher Company

The investors focused on a handsome Civil War era building on Third Street. Hopskeller investor John Gallagher (right) of Gallagher’s restaurant spearheaded the renovations and the additional build out for the kitchen, brewery, and biergarten.

The integration of recycled and reused brick, wood and steel juxtaposed against the clearly visible high-tech brewery blends Steampunk with Arts and Crafts elements in a handsome and interesting interior. Here are some of the highlights:

• Both the bar and the back bar was built using columns and doors discovered in storage in the Hopskeller building.
• The crew crafted the wood and glass cabinets and cabinet doors in the back bar from reclaimed barn wood.
• John Gallagher worked black magic with pipe-and-flange construction when he designed the beer rail, which was manufactured in Latvia. He used a similar pipe construction for the racks that hold glassware above the bar.
• In another feat of leger-de-main he acid etched the bar top surface, then applied several layers of polyurethane to produce an interesting mottled surface, dark and mysterious.
• When Harry’s bar closed in downtown St. Louis, Gallagher bought the doors with pebbled glass insets for the restrooms.
• The tin ceiling two stories above the bar was recovered from a building in Sparta, Illinois.

Ales Inspired by Life in Northern England and Northwest America

• Schweizer and his brew-crew of Doug Dobek and Dan Frey turned out ales and beers Schweizer loved when he lived both in Northern England and in Oregon.
• Expect smooth session beers and ales like Pale British Mild Ale and Dark British Mild Ale.
• Try the one-off brewer’s choices like the Mocktoberfest beer (right) on opening night.
• Go for the big tastes with a Northern English Brown Ale at 5.76 % ABV and 26 IBU.
• Finish strong with a beer only hopheads will truly love, the Session IPA at 5.76% ABV and 100 IBU. Schweizer goes easy on the grain and lets the intensity of Chinook, Amarillo and Columbus hops to come through.

• If you can’t choose just one – and the selection will change with new additions – order a flight to experience four beers at a time.

A Menu to Delight Foodies and Music Fans Alike

The food menu, developed by James Gallagher, includes small plates, inventive pizzas, and tasty brats, hot dogs, and sausages.

• The dogs, brats and sausages get pretty sassy with the toppings and combinations, as do the pizzas. The small plates are more conventional – a sausage and cheese board, cheese garlic bread, and a only-in-a-German town offering – the Braunschweiger plate.
• Let’s just say someone in the kitchen is a music fan because most menu items hang on a song title – not always a mainstream title.

co*cktails at the Bar

• Bar manager Luke Ragain designed a craft co*cktail list with local takes on classic co*cktails, like the 3^rd Street Manhattan that gets its kicks from pomegranate molasses, or the Red Cream Hurricane topped with local Excel cream ale. Ragain hails from DB’s Sports Bar in Soulard.

Pinball Wizards, Arcade Game Geeks, and Shuffleboard Table Masters Welcome

Games lurk near the brewhouse:

• Ms. Pac Man waits under the eaves, as sassy as she was in 1981
• Nearby stands Galaga, the classic inter-galactic shooting game, again, circa 1981
• A vintage Whirlwind pinball machine beckons with bells, whistles, three platforms, and wind effects – pinball gets no better.

Same could be said for a little microbrewery in Waterloo, Ill.