Omaha's German-American Society has its own beer now. Plattfluss Brauhaus, a not-for-profit, small-batch brewery built right into the society's campus, officially opened this month after more than two years of work, pouring 18 kegs of German-style beer for a grand opening celebration on Friday.
The brewery is described on the society's website as a not-for-profit, small-batch operation located inside the German-American Society of Omaha, and it runs on a one-barrel brewing system that produces fresh, limited batches brewed specifically for the society and served on-site. According to the society, the project reached its finish line this October after years of planning. Before the public grand opening, members got an early look during a members-only soft opening on October 3.
As reported by WOWT, the idea for the brewery took shape during the COVID-19 pandemic, when Steve Thedens and four fellow brewmasters began sketching out plans for the society to start making its own beer. Thedens, who has brewed beer at home for about four decades since starting in 1986, joined Homebrewers, a suborganization of the German-American Society, a few years ago. He told the outlet the society was missing something obvious: people kept asking why it did not make its own beer.
From Pandemic Idea to Poured Pints
Getting there wasn't quick. Per WOWT's reporting, the approval process for Plattfluss Brauhaus required sign-off at the federal, state and city levels and took roughly 18 months to two years before the Omaha City Council gave its final approval. The brewery's name nods to the society's roots: Plattdeutsch refers to Germans from northern Germany, and Thedens noted that many German-Americans in the Midwest trace their heritage back to that same region.
That Northern European lineage runs deep for the host organization. The German-American Society was founded in 1884 as the Omaha Plattdeutscher Verein by immigrants from Northern Germany, according to the society's own history page. More than 140 years later, the new brewery is meant to carry that identity forward by focusing on beers with German roots, a choice that growomaha.com reported supports the society's broader mission of celebrating German culture and traditions, according to growomaha.com.
Three Taps, Eighteen Kegs, One Campus
On a given day, the brewery typically keeps three beers on tap, and per WOWT, Thedens said Plattfluss Brauhaus plans to add seasonal beers and other varieties, including Berliner Weisses, with the potential to eventually produce about 20 different German beer styles. The beer stays close to home too — the brewery sells its German beers only on the society's campus. Funding for the whole build came entirely through private donations, 3 News Now reported, with no outside investors behind the taps.
At Friday's grand opening, visitors got the chance to taste the results firsthand. Frank Freihaut, a past president of the German-American Society, praised the work of the brewery's four brewmasters, according to WOWT. Among the attendees were Patrick and Matthew LaCourse, who traveled from Minnesota for the event; Patrick rated the Dunkelweizen pretty good, while Matthew called it delicious and refreshing and said he was looking forward to trying more.
Looking to a Younger Generation
Society president Sharon McLean said the organization counts many first-generation members from Germany in their 80s and 90s, and per WOWT's reporting, she believes younger members ground the society's future and that the brewery helps extend that future further. McLean said she hopes Plattfluss Brauhaus will appeal to existing members while also drawing younger people into the organization. For a group built on preserving a 19th-century immigrant tradition, the new one-barrel system behind the bar is now part of how that tradition gets passed down.
