Stubbies & Steins was a Gainesville Institution, bringing craft and imported beer, clever beer t-shirts and German sausages to Gainesville in the setting of a neighborhood pub. “My dad, Gar and I wanted to create a place where people would want to hang out, where they would want to come together through food and beverage.” says Berkeley Hoflund. That is exactly what Stubbies & Steins became known for, a place to visit with friends and enjoy a unique beer and authentic German sausages.
Berkeley Hoflund grew up in Gainesville. Her father, Gar Hoflund, a Chemical Engineering Professor at the University of Florida, fostered in Berkeley a love of travel and a deep bond between the two was forged.
After college Berkeley returned to Gainesville. Gar talked of opening a beer t-shirt shop, where they could sell clever beer tees and unique beers. That was the beginning of Stubbies and Steins, which opened in April 2003. In 2008, they expanded, and their authentic German sausages became a part of “menu”.
At its peak, they had over 24 beers on tap and over 750 bottled beers. No breweries were open yet in Gainesville, only through distributors could Berkeley and Gar find the world and western US beers their patrons loved.
In 2013 Berkeley’s beloved father Gar passed away. And Berkeley found out she had celiac disease. Berkeley could no longer enjoy the beers that she and her dad had spent years bringing to Gainesville. It was time for a change and in 2014 Stubbies and Steins closed their doors.
But the connection to Gainesville and the beer community never was broken. Over the next few years Berkeley continued to cook and sell her German sausages and Stubbies Sausages was born.
Where can you find Berkeley, a local realtor at Watson Realty Corp? Many nights and weekends she is at a local brewery with her sausage cart, continuing to make new friends and bringing people together, like she and her dad had always wanted, through food and beverage.
