Back where it all started; Original owners will re-open Schwabenhof Saturday

WASILLA — Bill and Pat Weith are back doing what they love in the place they built out of that love nearly 20 years ago. Jan. 10, 1999, Schwabenhof opened so that beer lovers all around the Valley could enjoy authentic German beer, food, and a deck with a hilltop view of the mountains that can’t be beat. In their 70s and having retired multiple times by now, the Weith’s took over what they started.

Schwabenhof will open on 2 p.m. on Saturday for the first time since 2017.

Bill Weith is a retired Alaska State Trooper who served in interior Alaska. Pat is a retired nurse. They are both retired bar owners, that is, until Saturday. Bill laid the 64 logs that make up the eight sides of the bar perched atop the hill near the Palmer-Wasilla Highway and Seward-Meridian. The building was finished in 1999 and the duo dove into bartending, not knowing what they were getting into.

“As our business developed and our clientele developed, lots of them became our friends and then they became a family. If you chose to integrate yourself into the group, they were very welcoming,” Pat Weith said.

The couple sold the bar in 2006. Prior to the Weiths’ return, the bar had two previous owners, one of which struggled to keep the bar afloat until the Weiths came back in. Bill is coming back to the place he built to do what he loves.

“I love cooking German food. I love singing songs. I love drinking beer, so I built a place I could do all three,” Bill said.

Having spent so much time in the interior, the shape of the bar itself is inspired by the first Alaskans. The eight sides create little to no corner space, virtually eliminating the possibility for wallflowers to bloom.

“I didn’t want anybody hiding in a corner some place. Nobody gets left out. Everybody belongs, and that’s why I designed it this way,” Bill said.

Now 75 and 76 years old, the Weiths were into brewpubs before it was cool. With 20 beers on tap that come out of a pillar in the middle of the bar that appears to have kegs on it, Schwabenhof plans to serve a little bit of everything. Bill is partial to German beers, but recognizes that the movement they helped start has grown into Valley wide movement.

“The local brew pubs, they brew some awesome beer!” Bill said. “A lot of it is educating people. This is not guzzling beer, this is sipping beer. Sit and you enjoy the beer and try to quench a thirst.”

With a full liquor license and the world’s tiniest kitchen, Schwabenhof will not plan on turning major profits with their food. Bill still intends to cook his authentic kraut salad, bratwursts and German potato salad in the broom closet he calls a kitchen. He claims he can serve 70 to 80 meals a night from the tiny space in on the edge of the bar. But food and hard liquor is not the main attraction of Schwabenhof.

“One of the awesome things about Schwab is local musicians flock there,” former bartender Lauren Hayes said.

The 20 taps allow for the Weiths to provide a sample of different styles and flavors. The bar was hand crafted out of spruce from the Miller’s Reach fire, as well as all of the furniture, by a local craftsman. Schwabenhof has a capacity of just over 120 people, but that won’t stop the crowds from coming. Bill and Pat started a vibrant jam-band scene that continued to congregate at the bar long after Bill and Pat had sold it. The WildCat Trio will perform on Saturday night.

“Schwabenhof was their first venue when they first went out into the world. They ate us out of cherries on top of their Shirley Temples,” Pat said. “Those young men are excellent musicians, they’re just fun.”

Local musicians who needed an excuse to pull out their guitar and sip a couple of beers have been searching for a place to fill the void since Schwabenhof closed down in 2017.

Bill describes the sense of community that the Weiths helped foster in their bar on the hill before, and hope to pick up right where they left off. He recalls nights when they were packed for shows, including the 120 people who came out and stood elbow to elbow to watch Hobo Jim play, when patrons jumped behind the bar to wash dishes and mop floors just to lend a helping hand.

“There’s a special word called ‘germulikeit’ for good feeling or warm feelings. This is something we generated right from the get go. We feel so comfortable here, nobody is out of place,” Bill said.