Conventional wisdom might suggest that Tobias Hahn and Nick Greiner have gone about this whole brewing business backward. But in just a few short years, their German-inspired brewery, Rosenstadt (it’s German for “Rose City”), has grown from a fantasy held by two homebrewing friends into a compulsively drinkable reality. Along the way they’ve built up a solid portfolio of draft accounts, established a diverse line of German-style brews, and won awards for beers that staunchly adhere to German tradition, offering a much-needed antidote to the region’s hoppy, piney ales. And they’ve done all this without their own brewery.
Opening a dedicated Rosenstadt production facility is still in the future for Hahn and Greiner—at the moment they make their beers primarily at Estacada’s Fearless Brewing—but with the recent revamp of Olympia Provisions Public House (OPPH) on Southeast Division into a German-style eatery, there’s now a venue where you can drink your way through several of Rosenstadt’s beers at any time. OPPH has dedicated seven of its tap lines to Rosenstadt’s offerings, in the process becoming the de facto tasting room for a brewery that, up until now, hasn’t had a home of its own.
It’s a brilliant marriage, when you think about it. It allows Olympia Provisions to focus on the charcuterie, sausages, and schnitzel, while Rosenstadt exclusively manages the beer. One only has to think of the countless brewpubs that juggle both beer-making and food prep without fully excelling at either to wonder why this unorthodox model hasn’t been adopted more widely.
Rosenstadt’s German influence is no mere affectation: Hahn grew up in Freiburg, Germany, and was reared on traditional German beers, including the excellent ones made by his hometown’s Feierling brewery. He first started homebrewing while working at a microbiology lab in Tucson and not finding much to drink there beyond Fat Tire. “If you can’t find the beer you like to drink, you make it yourself,” Hahn says.
Greiner’s wife is also German, and Greiner’s and Hahn’s kids have even taken German language classes together. Greiner and Hahn would cross paths at homebrewing supply store F.H. Steinbart’s, where Greiner picked up some hours after catching the homebrewing bug. “It takes over your life,” he says. “It’s like a golf game, but you can share it with other people.” Greiner would notice what Hahn was buying. “German yeast, German grain, German hops—hey, that’s what I make, too!”
Without any professional experience in brewing or running a business, Hahn and Greiner figured they had to make their own way without the help of investments or loans.