While Grand Island has no commercial brewery of its own yet, there are brewers working toward that goal. One such operation that will be at the Sept. 12 Craft Brew & Sausage Fest is 37th State Brewing Co. and Seven Twisters Cider Co., a joint effort of home-town brewers aiming to open a brewery in Downtown Grand Island. 
Jonathan Knerr is the head brewer for 37th State Brewing, and Tyler Krecklow is the head Cider Maker at Seven Twister Cider Company.  Both brewers started out with home brew kits and a hobby quickly turned into a skill. Today the duo bounce recipe ideas off each other quite regularly, said Sarah Krecklow, who is married to Tyler and who will be handling marketing, paperwork and logistical duties that come from running two separate fermentations under one roof.
"We want to bring great craft beer and cider to an area of the state that is now a 'craft beer desert,'" the team said in an email to the Brew Fest. "We also want to be a part of making the Grand Island Downtown area a vibrant destination once again."
That's something the two brewers have in common with the Craft Brew & Sausage Fest, which is held to raise funds for preservation, restoration and enhancement of one of Grand Island's most important historical landmarks: the Liederkranz, the cornerstone of city's downtown.  
The two brewers's passion for history also manifests in their respective names. Seven Twisters Cider Company name in tribute to the devastating June 3rd, 1980 storm (the so-called "Night of the Twisters") that changed so many Grand Island lives as well as the landscape of the town. And 37th State gets its name from Nebraska being the 37th state to join the union.
"We take great pride in both names reflecting affinity for our state and our local community," the partners said.  
Where Seven Twisters Cider will bring its craft brews of hard cider to the brew fest,  37th State will brew craft beers. Seven Twisters's Tyler Krecklow started with cider because of his wife's gluten allergy. As he became more skilled he started playing around with mimicking beer styles in his cider.
"[The] GI Brew Fest is important to us because it is in our hometown, it is also the first real beer fest being held in Grand Island," Knerr and Krecklows said. "We couldn't think of a better way to spend a fall Saturday afternoon then with the community we hope to soon call home for our brewery."
We are excited at the prospect of 

One of Lincoln's premier breweries, Blue Blood Brewing Co., will be on hand at the Sept. 12 Craft Brew & Sausage Fest, adding to a growing list of great brewers providing samples to brew fest ticket holders. 
Blue Blood is particularly worth noting as a brew fest participant for a few notable reasons. 
First, the company was founded by in Lincoln NE in 2011 and the founders and initial investor all had ties to law enforcement as either active or retired police officers. Because they are big believers in community and family, there seemed to be no better name for their new venture than Blue Blood Brewing Company.  
We at the Craft Brew & Sausage Fest also have a passion for our community. The whole purpose of the brew fest is to raise funds to begin the preservation, restoration and enhancement of one of Grand Island's most important historic landmarks - The Liederkranz. This building and premises not only was crucial to Grand Island's formation, but it could also fill a vital role in the redevelopment of the city's Downtown. A re-invigorated Liederkranz could fill many roles crucial to a downtown (a venue, a gather place, a social center, etc.). When we told Blue Blood why we were doing the Brew Fest, they were enthusiastically on board. 
The second reason we are excited to have Blue Blood at the brew fest is because they brew McKinney's Irish Pub's house beers. McKinney's first location is prominent in the Lincoln Haymarket (another revitalized area), but it's co-owner Nathan Stewart is a Grand Island native and he and his partner are opening another location in Downtown Grand Island in the old Ben’s Rexall Building on southeast corner of Third and Locust streets, where a vibrant outdoor patio is currently taking shape. Stewart too sees the redevelopment of the downtown as worth putting money into, and we're excited to have McKnney's downtown, offering good food and great beers. 
Blue Blood is also quickly becoming a renowned Nebraska Brewery, and their beers are worth trying.  One manifestation of Blue Blood's success is its current news-worthy endeavor to build a 9,000-square-foot building on a 1.5-acre site that contains the historic and so-called "Robber's Cave" that dates back to the mid-1800s and has been sealed up since 2000, according to the Lincoln Journal Star. The cave's prior uses include a reputed Jesse James hide out and Lincoln Brewery's expansion for beer storage. It is the latter that Blue Blood aims to resurrect, planning to once again use the cave to store barrel-aged beer and also plans to open it for tours and special events.
Blue Blood is an exciting participant in the Sept. 12 Craft Brew & Sausage Fest. We're glad to have them. 

Along side raising funds for the preservation of a historic landmark, part of the Craft Brew & Sausage Fest is celebrating Nebraska's brewers, including ones to keep an eye on.
One such great up-and-coming brewer is Hastings: Steeple Brewing Co., which was just founded this year. And just like the organizers of the brew fest are passionate about the revitalization of Grand Island's Downtown, the team behind Steeple is passionate about Hastings' downtown. In fact, the Brew Fest organizers first ran into Steeple at Hastings' Do the Brew in Downtown Hastings.
"Our goal is to bring a brewery and taproom to downtown Hastings, Nebraska," Steeple said in an email to the Craft Brew & Sausage Fest.
The Steeple team includes a farmer (Thomas Kluver, operations), a chaplain (Damen Heitmann, brewmaster) and a designer
(Anthony May, marketing).
Together they have hand-crafted beer "inspired by the honest, hard-working folks that fill their glasses on Saturday
night and do right by their neighbor on Sunday morning. From the ladies preparing the potluck to palatable
small talk with a batty neighbor; church, community and good beer are indelible parts of life on the Plains."
Each of Steeple's beers has been given a name and backstory, inspired to the colorful characters that fill our churches and build our communities. Those beers include their signature Fellowship Hour (a Coffee Stout), Kitchen Kerfuffle [(a Cream Ale), Bats in the Belfry (Nut Brown Ale) and All Are Welcome (Kölsch-style Ale).

Zipline Brewing Co., one of Nebraska's fastest growing breweries, will be on scene at the Sept. 12 Craft Brew & Sausage Fest in Grand Island to provide attendees with some samples of their beers.
Zipline was founded in 2012 by Tom Wilmoth an attorney, Marcus Powers, a former environmental attorney, and James Gallentine, an orthopedic surgeon,  
Like many brewers, the trio independently started out as passionate home brewers, something you will see a few of at the Craft Brew & Sausage Fest. The three all played softball and Gallentine sowed the first seed of starting a microbrewery, got Wilmoth involved and the pair approached Powers, who initially declined, he told the Lincoln Journal Star.
But after Gallentine and Wilmoth attended a conference in Chicago, they came back more passionate then ever and convinced Powers to come on board. 
"I left my job and started building this place, designing the equipment, working with architects and contractors," he told the Journal Star in 2012. 
The Zipline name came from a backyard accident in which Gallentine's son broke his arm, which became something of an ongoing punchline among the trio, with relevance to assessing the risk they were taking in their new venture, they told the Journal Star (which has written extensively about the Capitol City's growing brew scene).
"We kind of all had the exhilaration of taking a risk," Powers was quoted as saying.  "We ran with it. Plus there are no breweries out there with a Z."
In their few short years, Zipline has expanded quickly as demand for their brews grew. Their beers are now distributed in Grand Island. On Sept. 12, they are planning to bring their "Alt Copper" German Altbier, their German Kolsch and their Festbier flavors to the Craft Brew & Sausage Fest.
For more information, visit ziplinebrewing.com or visit their Lincoln facility at 2100 Magnum Circle, Suite 1, which is near U.S. 77 and West O Street.

Organizers of the Liederkranz Craft Brew & Sausage Fest are honored to announce that Kinkaider Brewing Co. out of Broken Bow will be among the many breweries showcasing their beverages at this year’s inaugural event.
Kindkaider opened on Dec. 27 last year, making them one of Nebraska’s newer breweries. The figureheads behind the brewery are Cody Schmick, Nate Bell and Barry Fox of Broken Bow and Dan Hodges of Thedford. We are thrilled they are joining us on Sept. 12 at the brew fest in Grand Island.
Bell and Hodges had been formulating their brewery plans for a year or so when Fox got involved and suggested they look to wineries for inspiration, which tend to make use of scenic locations and grow ingredients on site, according to a Jan. 3 Grand Island Independent article. Today, 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.
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 1862 Homestead 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.
Kinkaider's brewery is draped in homage to this heritage, according to The Independent. Large photos of the Kinkaid Act era decorate the walls, and the tap handles are hand crafted from old hedge posts, the Independent reported.
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.
While Kinkaider has an eye to the past, their brewery is also adorned with modern furnishing, stylistically blending the new with the old.
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 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.

More information
Kinkaider Brewing Co.
43860 Paulsen Road, Broken Bow
Hours: 4 to 11 p.m. Thursday and Friday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday
308-872-8348; kinkaiderbrewing.com

 Alongside dozens of Nebraska beverages and sausages, one crucial component of the Sept. 12 Craft Brew & Sausage Fest will great be music. Patrons attending the inaugural event will be serenaded by melodies from North Platte’s Rascal & The Pack.

“We are very excited to come and perform for you all,” said Rascal Martinez, lead singer and guitar player. “It's going to be a great time.”

The group’s appearance at the Liederkranz’ picturesque courtyard will mark the group's first performance at a brew festival. The band's melodies will form the backdrop for patrons to sample Nebraska’s best breweries’ beverages and sausages. With great food, beer and music, the Craft Brew & Sausage offers an unparalleled opportunity to contribute toward a great cause: the preservation, restoration and enhancement of one of Grand Island's most important historical landmarks.

Rascal & The Pack formed in 2010 and has performed all over Nebraska. The Pack consists four-piece band, with Sutherland-native Rascal Martinez on guitar and vocals, Forrest King of North Platte on bass, Marcello Sanchez of Lincoln on drums and fellow Sutherland-native Shelbi Burke on backup vocals.

The Pack performs a mix of alternative folk and soft rock, performing a wide range of tunes hailing from the ‘50s, ‘60s and ‘70s in genres that include Country, Oldies, Classic Rock and Alternative.

Rascal & The Pack released their album “The Long Road” in 2012, which features the entire band and Martinez released a solo acoustic studio album this year entitled “The Original.” Both of these albums are available on iTunes.

Check out more of Rascal & The Pack at rascalsentertainment.com.