Our Story
Wasserhund Brewing Company was created out of love for German beer, creative food and gathering with family and friends. It’s a place where owners Aaron and Christine feel at home with friends and family… and they want you to feel the same way too!
Why German you ask? It was on a trip to Germany that the idea of opening a brewery was born. Aaron and Christine returned home, determined to bring the feeling they had in Germany’s beer gardens back home.
And why the dog? The name of the brewery came to Aaron and Christine while brainstorming names on a walk with their beloved dogs, Hertz and Hooper. The pups always jumped in the creek behind their house, they decided to look up “water dog” in German… Wasserhund. The brand came alive in their minds and they were off and running.
From their passion for the brewing process, beer engineering and love of good times with great people, Aaron and Christine opened Wasserhund Brewing Company’s doors in August of 2015 in their hometown of Virginia Beach. Now they’re excited to grow the pack with a new location in Chesapeake opening in August 2021!
Today if you ask people what Wasserhund Brewing Company means to them, you’d hear it’s a place where you might come as a stranger but leave as a friend. They are family friendly, dog lovers, community conscious, creative crafters and they make a hell of a good pizza. If you’re looking for a place to call your own, Wasserhund Brewing Company is unleashed flavor and fun!
Our Family
Meet Christine
Christine Holley is a born and raised Army brat. After graduating from Kellam High School (Class ’06), she became a Hokie and graduated in 2010 from Virginia Tech with a Chemical Engineering degree. After marrying Aaron, they moved to Northern Virginia where Christine worked in semiconductor manufacturing at Micron Technology. She credits herself with the spark that ignited the Holley’s beer love. She bought Aaron’s first home brewing book in 2010, which kick started a 5-year journey into the realm of beer creation. In 2012, Christine planned a trip to Germany where, in the tents of Munich’s Oktoberfest, the idea of Wasserhund Brewing Company was born.
Meet Aaron
Aaron Holley is a born and raised Navy brat. Sound familiar? After finding his true love at Kellam High School, he also became a Hokie and graduated in 2010 from Virginia Tech with a dual degree in Chemical Engineering and Chemistry. In Northern Virginia, he worked at Navy Nuclear Reactors in Washington, DC. In his free time, he read about beer science, beer origins and the development of the brewery culture. From his passion for numbers and engineering, he developed a business plan to pitch to Christine. Wasserhund Brewing Company was born from those pages. The name itself came to the couple while brainstorming names on a walk with their beloved dog. When the pup jumped in the water behind their house, they decided to look up “water dog” in German… Wasserhund. The brand came alive in their minds and they were off and running.
Meet Hertz
Hertz, one of our two beloved German Shepherds, was born in April 2013 at Stony Brook Farm in Hyde Park, Vermont. He joined our family that summer and has since become an integral part of our family… and the inspiration for our brewery name! One beautiful afternoon we were walking our dogs on a trail behind our house and before we knew it, Hertz was doing his favorite thing – swimming in the river. We had been throwing around German names for a German inspired brewery, so Aaron looked up ‘waterdog.’ In that moment, Wasserhund was born! Even though we often get comments that Wasserhund is not German for German Shepherd, it was Hertz’s carefree spirit and love of water that got us to our perfect brewery brand.
Meet Hooper
Our sweet Hooper was rescued a year after we got Hertz. We wanted Hertz to have an energetic and fun fur friend. We aren’t sure how old Hooper is, but we are told he’s a few years older than Hertz. He looks to be a husky, shepherd, pitbull mix and has an abundance of energy and love to give!