The date for the 2017 Liederkranz Craft Brew & Sausage Fest will be Aug. 19, from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., only two days before the Total Solar Eclipse which will pass right over central Nebraska, including Grand Island where the event has been held in the city's downtown for the last two years. 
"What an amazing coincidence that the Saturday we identified last year as the date in August for our event is leading right into one of the most anticipated astronomical events in the state for our third year," said Chris Rosacker, one of the three founders of the Brew Fest. "This will be a heck of a weekend to be in Grand Island this year."
Communities across the state that will fall squarely in the middle of the eclipse path on Aug. 21, 2017 (a Monday) are already planning events and marketing to tourists. Hotels in Grand Island are already getting booked, so Brew Fest organizers are encouraging folks to make a three-day weekend out of event and take advantage of Grand Island's offerings leading into the eclipse. 
"Why not come to Grand Island, catch the Brew Fest on Saturday afternoon, stick around our historic downtown 'Railside' that evening, maybe do some shopping or visit Stuhr museum on Sunday, and then watch the eclipse on Monday?" said Jeremiah Krantz, vendor coordinator and one of the Brew Fest founders. 
Participating brewers, the band, ticket prices and other details will be released in the months leading into the Brew Fest. Stay tuned!

Just a few months after it opened its brewery resort complex outside Taylor, Neb., Sandhills Brewing Co. will return to the Grand Island Liederkranz for its Aug. 20 Craft Brew & Sausage Fest, to help raise funds for the historic facility. 
Sandhills Brewing Co., A.K.A Bootleg Brewers, opened the doors on its a brand-new 20-barrel brewery complex on in May, offering not only great craft beer, but also offering modern cabins for recreational tourists visiting nearby Calamus Reservoir or hunting in the Sandhills. All this offers a great retreat that is just a couple hours away from Grand Island.
While they just opened their doors, brewing isn't anything new to Sandhills Brewing Co., the beginnings of which were sprouted in 1978 when Ron Worm's father-in-law included him in a home-brew session. They affectionately called their beer Musketeer Beer, because it was so musky it brought tears to their eyes. 
Worm wore many different hats over the years, from ranching and working as a foreman on the railroad, to cutting the first live tree out of the Halsey forest, and then on to owning his own sawmill, kiln, and more, but he never lost his passion for brewing. As brewing ingredients became more readily available, his hobby grew, and in 2001 Worm decided to brew a batch of all-grain beer with a friend in his wife Dodie’s kitchen, using his five-gallon buckets in which he had drilled holes  They were pleasantly surprised with the resulting brew.
Shortly thereafter, with the brewing help of a few friends, Worm created an all-grain home brew system in the basement of their home, using common household items. From that hard work, the brew "Cling On" was born, which got its name because of the large amount of grains required to make this tasty brew that also increases the ABV to about seven percent. 
"Easy drinking and high in alcohol can sneak up on you and before you know it you are looking for something or someone to 'Cling On' to," explains the brewer's website. "Sorry Star Trek fans, no relation here."
As Worm's concoction attracted more visitors, in 2001 he decided to start his own brew club called Bootleg Brewers. The fall of 2015 will mark an achievement of having his very own brewery, one with cabins allowing visitors to stay a couple days and enjoy the Sandhills. 
"Bootleg Brewers got started with just my dad brewing beer in a basement, and it just kind of escalated from there. He was actually just doing too much beer at one point, so we thought we better get a license, better open up a small little pub out on our ranch," said Stephanie Clang with Bootleg Brewers to KBEAR 92.3. "And then it just kind of expanded from there to five cabins, a steakhouse and a twenty barrel brewing system, so it got a little crazy.... But, this is his dream and something he's always wanted to do, so we're all supporting him and we're having fun doing it."

One of the great things about organizing an event like the Aug. 20 Craft Brew & Sausage is seeing the return of people and brewers that helped kick things off at last year's inaugural brew fest. One such returning brewery is Loop Brewing Co., which hails from McCook.
We're thrilled to have Loop returning again this year, and bringing some of their delicious beers for everyone to sample as we all try to raise funds to preserve, restore and enhance the Grand Island Liederkranz. Especially because Loop Brewing Co. can sympathize with the Liederkranz' historical building restoration ambitions. 
The brewery's owners took on the monumental task of housing their operation in McCook's historic railroad icehouse, which once brought the finest ice to that town and her residents as early as the 1900s. 
The same ice was also used to keep perishables and great tasting beer cold to and from Chicago. There is some nice symmetry to its history and that it again houses home-crafted beers. This rustic and unique structure sits only a couple of feet away from an active railway.
"We don't have an exact date that it was built," said the Loops, a husband and wife pair who are two of the three owners of the brewery,  in an interview with the McCook Gazette.  "But it's approximately 100 years old... It's been a warehouse since the mid-1980s." 
And just like beer and sausage go well together, so too does beer and pizza, the latter pairing was the simple idea that brought Adam Siegfried's pizza and Tyler Sue and her husband Tyler Ray Loop's craft beers to join forces in 2011 to open Loop Brewing Co.
The Craft Brew & Sausage Fest couldn't be happier to have a participant like the Loop Brewing Company return, with its own stewardship of an vital historic building. Check them both out on Aug. 20 in Grand Island's Railside (formerly Downtown).
Loop Brewing Co. makes a range of great beers, including a Pale Ale, an IPA, an Irish Red Ale, a Brown Ale, a Cask Ale, a Porter, a Stout and seasonal brews, a couple of which will be available for sampling at the Grand Island Liederkranz on Sept. 12. 

Of the many breweries that contributed to the success of the inaugural Liederkranz Craft Brew & Sausage Fest in 2015, Kinkaider Brewing Co. out of Broken Bow deserves a special mention because founder Dan Hodge's wore his lederhosen, to say nothing of the other three founder's enthusiastic participation. That's why we're thrilled that they are returning for the 2016 Craft Brew & Sausage Fest (in addition to their delicious beers). 
Kindkaider opened on two days after Christmas i 2014. In addition to Thedford's Hodges, the other three founders are Cody Schmick, Nate Bell and Barry Fox, all three of Broken Bow. Schmick and Fox run the front of Kinkaider's operation, while Bell and Hodges use more than 30 combined years of experience in craft beer to concoct their signature brews. In the short time since it's opening, Kinkaider has quickly established itself as one of Nebraska's premier breweries, with its brews adorning the shelves of many of Grand Island's points of purchase, with distribution stretching to Omaha and Ogallala.  
Both the Craft Brew & Sausage Fest and Kinkaider Brewing Co. share a passion for history. Where the brew fest is an effort to preserve one of Grand Island’s oldest and most important institutions — the Liederkranz - Kindkaider looked to Broken Bow’s history for its own identity. 
The team behind the brewery settled on the name in honor of the 1904 Kinkaid Act, which significantly shaped development in the area. The Kinkaid Act was a U.S. statute that amended the 1862Homestead Act so that one section of public domain land could be acquired free of charge, apart from a modest filing fee, according to Wikipedia. It applied specifically to 37 counties in northwest Nebraska. 
When talking with organizers of the Craft Brew & Sausage Fest, Schmick said one of the things that got him excited about participating in the event is its mission of historic preservation. 
Kinkaider uses fresh Sandhills water in their brews, which can’t be recreated, Schmick told The Independent. They have populated their beers with Kindkaider twists on classic styles, such as a porter with notes of chocolate, coffee and toffee, an American wheat with hints of citrus and a pale ale with flavors including grapefruit and florals, the Independent reported. The tap has included one of those surprises in the jalapeno ale, an award-winning beer Hodges has worked for 10 years to perfect. The taps at the brewery also feature brews from other Nebraska establishments, and wine and whiskey are available for those who want to experience Kinkaider but don’t like beer.

It is not uncommon for breweries to set up shop in historic buildings and districts, contributing to the redevelopment of a neighborhood, something aligned with the goals of the Liederkranz Craft Brew & Sausage Fest where Infusion Brewing Company will serve samples of its beers on Aug. 20. 
Infusion Brewing is located in the former home of Olson’s Meat Market in the heart of Downtown Benson, Nebraska – a historic neighborhood nine miles northwest of Omaha’s Central Business District. When the building became available, Bill Baburek, owner of Omaha’s Crescent Moon, decided to turn his dream of opening a craft brewery into reality that opened in 2013. The building is situated on the south side of Maple Street (historically known as Mayne or Main Street) at the Military Avenue intersection.
The north half of the Olson’s Market building was built in 1917, and in 1934 an addition was constructed to the south that doubled the size of the building.
"We have embraced the history of our building and our community," reads Infusion's website said of the building that was the meat market for more than 60 years. 
While the interior has been redeveloped, all historic finishes in the building have been restored, including the mosaic floor tile, wood floors, decorative wall tiles, plaster walls, ornamental tin ceiling, concrete floors and exposed masonry. And the building functions much as it did when Charlie Olson operated his butcher shop. The first floor of the building has been renovated into the tap room, where patrons will enjoy handcrafted Infusion beer in the same room Charlie Olson greeted his customers.
The brewing equipment is located in the rear of the building, and the basement is used for grain storage, keg washing and filling. Using a classic 7-barrel pub brewing system, Infusion serves up their craft beers year-round while changing up the seasonal brews almost weekly. 

Many of the brewers who will appear at the Aug. 20 Craft Brew & Sausage Fest can be thanked for playing a vital role in the emergence of Nebraska's homegrown brewing market, but Omaha's Brickway Brewery & Distillery holds a special distinction for also plowing the way for bringing distilling back to the state after nearly a century of absence dating back to Prohibition. 
Brewer Zac Triemert wrote a bill to reintroduce distilling to Nebraska himself. 
“Every [state lawmaker] I spoke to said it was a great idea,” Triemert told The Washington Times recently, adding that many legislators even asked him, “Why has no one done this before?” before the bill garnered an easy adoption by Nebraska's unicameral legislature. 
Located at 1116 Jackson St., Brickway was  the fourth brewery in the state and the first in Omaha. Triemert  told the Omaha World Herald that his brewery/distillery's name is derived from the brick that surrounds their location in Omaha's thriving historic Old Market. All of the product goes out the brewery’s brick-surrounded back door of the location to the back alley.
Brickway, formerly Borgata Brewery, has many homages to history. It's interior features no shortage of references to Omaha's pre- and post-Prohibition brewing history. In fact, Triemert attempted to re-create the brew crafted by Omaha’s historic Jetter Brewing Company, which opened in 1887. Though Triemert told The Wold Herald that the Jetter family no longer has the original recipe for their beer, he said he had an idea of what the older beers would have tasted like, so he crafted something that he thought was a pretty close likeness.
Triemert owns the brewery/distillery, but was also a founder at Lucky Bucket (the beers of which will also be featured at the Craft Brew & Sausage Fest) where he was head brewer.
The Craft Brew & Sausage Fest shares many of the same ideals and aspirations as Brickway when it comes to the importance of historic preservation and the of a thriving downtown. The whole purpose of the brew fest is to raise funds for the Liederkranz, one of Grand Island's most important historic landmarks that literally formed the cornerstone of the city's founding and development of its downtown center. 

We're One of the best things about the Aug. 20 Liederkranz Craft Brew & Sausage Fest is the opportunity it presents to try up-and-coming brewery's crafts that you won't find in any stores, bars or restaurants yet. 
That's the case with Valentine's Bolo Beer Co., which poured its first beer just this spring. 
"We're thrilled to be a part of Liederkranz," said Bolo's Kyle in an email. "This is a super unique and local festival that's a perfect fit for our beer and our purpose."
Bolo Beer Co. was started by a few Sandhills-loving locals and an adventurous brewer who believed rural Nebraska around Valentine deserved good beer and a brewery.
Brewmaster Chris Hernstrom has more than ten years experience making wine and brewing beer in Washington and Oregon.  He focuses on brewing clean, drinkable ales as well as interesting varieties using local fruits.  
The brewery is becoming known for our Wild West Wheat, its Americus IPA, a Scottish Ale and its native fruit beers are garnering attention too.  
We can't wait to try their brews on Aug. 20, we're thrilled they're coming.