One of Lincoln's great brewers, Blue Blood Brewery, will return to the Liederkranz this Aug. 20 (2016) for the second Craft Brew & Sausage Fest to again help the historic landmark raise funds for its preservation, restoration and enhancement.
Blue Blood was founded in Lincoln in 2011, with the founders and initial investor all having ties to law enforcement as either active or retired police officers. As a business passionate about community service, we enthusiastically and excitedly welcome Blue Blood back to the Liederkranz to help preserve an building and institution that was instrumental to Grand Island's foundation. 
Speaking of buildings, Blue Blood recently moved its entire beer-making operations from West South Street to Robber’s Cave near 10th and Van Dorn streets and incorporated a full-service restaurant into the mix. The new location opened in May and it incorporates a famed Lincoln cabe once reputed as a one-time Jesse James hideout, reported the Lincoln Journal Star. The brewery offers tours Monday and Wednesday evenings and Saturdays until football season starts when the Saturday tours move to Sundays.
The new facility there includes a 12,000-square-foot building featuring a dining/bar room, an outdoor patio and a bar with 20 taps -- 15 dedicated to its own beers and five others featuring other Nebraska brewers, the Journal Star reported. The food menu is pub fare, ranging from unique appetizers -- tuna tacos, brussel sprouts -- to gourmet sandwiches.
Already, Blue Blood announced plans to expand the new location, by adding parking spaces and converting green space into an outdoor beer garden with a stage for live music.
Blue Blood also has ties to Grand Island, as it brews one of 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 opened a second location in the last year in Downtown Grand Island in the old Ben’s Rexall Building on southeast corner of Third and Locust streets. Stewart sees the redevelopment of the downtown as worth putting money into, and we're excited to have McKnney's downtown, as it offers good food and great beers, making it a valuable addition to Grand Island's newly rebranded Railside (downtown). 

Phone: (402) 477-2337

The Liederkranz Craft Brew & Sausage Fest is now accepting online purchases of advanced ticket sales for the 2016 installment of the inaugural event. 
Advance ticket prices are $30 for non-members of the Grand Island Liederkranz, a non-profit social-benefit organization that stewards the historical building in downtown Grand Island, now referred to as "Railside." 
Liederkranz Members are eligible for discounted ticket prices, available at the Liederkranz during regular business hours Thursday through Saturday evenings. Anyone interested in becoming a member is also eligible for a special promotional pricing, which includes the discounted ticket price and a discount on the annual membership fee equivalent to more than four free months. 
For more information, call 308.382.9337, visit the Grand Island Liederkranz's webpage or stop by the building Thursday through Saturday evenings at 401 West First Street, Grand island, NE 68803

Another neighbor housed in their own historic downtown - The Platte Valley Brewery - will come to Grand Island on Sept. 12 (tomorrow!) to share their beers with patrons of Craft Brew & Sausage Fest to help raise funds for the restoration and enhancement of Grand Island's Liederkranz downtown. 

Though the Platte Valley Brewery has been around for a decade and a half, current owner John Lowe purchased it in February, he said. The Platte Valley has been two different breweries in the past, and Lowe is currently brewing off premises. 

The outside looks scruffier than the inside, which is actually very nicely appointed with plenty of natural light, natural woods, brass, and overstuffed chairs - not very normal for a bar in a college town. Plus, there is a nice beer garden where Cornhole (AKA Bag-Toss or Bag-O) games are often played. 

As a brewpub, Platte Valley aims to provide a beer for all tastes. That being said, even those who do not care for craft brew tend to enjoy Lowe's S.O.P. (South Of the Platte), which is a Mexican Lager much like a Corona or Dos XX. Lowe's Red Rock Wheat is very smooth with a little sweetness tucked in. Even his Oatmeal Stout is not over powering to the taste. During the summer months Platte Valley offer light fruit beer, this summer it is an Apricot Blonde. The brewery's Adams Pale Ale, Belgium Pale Ale and One More Hop IPA make the craft beer enthusiasts happy. 

Platte Valley also offers good foods, including fan-favorite pizzas. 

Location:
14 E Railroad St., Kearney, Nebraska, 68847-5452

Call:
(308) 237-0751

Established in the early 1990s, Empyrean Brewing Co. has been brewing craft beers in Nebraska long before the current so-called Craft Beer Explosion, and we are honored to feature their beers at the inaugural Craft Beer & Sausage Fest tomorrow (Sept. 12).
Like many brewers, Rich Chapin started out as a home brewer, and when Lazlo's Brewery and Grill was founded in 1990, he began to convert his award-winning  recipes for the restaurant, according to WikiPedia. The grand opening of the brewpub took place on March 20, 1991, at 710 P St. in Lincoln's historic Haymarket District. 
Construction was completed on a new fermentation cellar in the adjacent Coffee and Spice Building at 729 Q St. in 1997, when Empyrean Brewing Company and Lazlo's Brewery and Grill became separate financial entities. Just one year after contracting with the distributors, Empyrean had over 70 draft contracts in Lincoln and Omaha. To meet these needs, brewing capacity was increased to 2,500 barrels.  And it didn't take long for the brewers to turn to bottling in order to keep up with demand. In 1999 Empyrean became the first Nebraska craft brewery to bottle its beers, starting with their LunaSea ESB, Third Stone Brown and Chaco Canyon Honey Gold. 
More of their history can be read HERE, but they aren't the only one who has grown: The Lincoln Haymarket has grown around the brewery since its founding. 
Today, Lincoln's Haymarket serves as an example of how to reinvigorate a historic part of city and the benefits of doing so. The Craft Brew & Sausage Fest has similar aspirations, with the goal that a reinvigorated Liederkranz could be a crucial element of a revitalized Downtown Grand Island. 
Come sample some of their beers tomorrow and help us in this goal. 

Benson Brewery, another of Omaha's great brewers, will join the Liederkranz this Saturday (Sept. 12) at the Craft Brew & Sausage Fest to help the historic landmark raise funds for its preservation, restoration and enhancement. 
Benson Brewery is a turn of the century-meets-modern restaurant and brewery specializing in artisan food and house beers.
Opened in 2013, Benson Brewery quickly became one of Omaha's more prominent breweries, aided, no doubt, by their ambiance and location. Owner Ryan Miller opened Benson Brewery inside a turn-of-the-century movie house at 6059 Maple Street, in the heart of Benson. We, at the brew fest, applaud this reuse of a historic property. 
If you haven't been to Benson, it is a booming and revitalized neighborhood, something Grand Island is trying to do with it's own downtown, of which a restored Liederkranz could play a vital role. 
In addition to its  reclaimed flooring and beams along with modern lighting and a great bar to saddle up to, Benson Brewery also offers a one-of-kind urban beer garden, "The Hop Box," that is adorned with comfortable mixtures of new and old in keeping with the brew pub's theme. 
Like everything else in the bar, the locally-sourced food is inspired by old and new American traditions. For instance, the brew-pub offers classics like Bangers-n-Mash with modern flair like the Tofu Sandwich. And, according to the Omaha World Herald, Head Chef David Meegan is always serving up beautiful presentations with his tasting recipes. The Brewery will be bringing some of their Turkey Legs to the Craft Brew & Sausage Fest for those interested in something besides sausage. 
The brewing operation is enclosed in glass, running constantly between the brewery and a walk-in cooler out back.  In keeping with the theme, new and innovative brewing techniques are on the horizon as well with clay pots and barrels at the ready to try new recipes and flavors.
Current offerings include: The Fix, Hop Box Pale Ale, Brewers Duet, Karha-T, Benson Blonde, Out of Town Brown, [Aum]-OM-Aha IPA, Waves of Wheat, Crimson & Clover and Rebelicious IP.


Phone: (402) 934-8668
Email: info@bensonbrewery.com

Hours
Monday-Thursday 11-10
Friday-Saturday 11-11
(Saturday Kitchen Closed 3-4)
Sunday 11-9

One of Mid-Nebraska's most prominent breweries - The Thunderhead Brewing Co. - will come from Kearney's historic downtown to join neighboring Grand Island at the Sept. 12 Craft Brew & Sausage Fest, an event aimed at preserving one of the latter's own historic landmarks in its downtown.
Though Thunderhead's pizza-serving pub was opening in 2000 in Kearney's historic downtown, the brewing operation was founded two years earlier by Trevor Schaben, his wife Jenny and his parents Pam and Henry, according to the Kearney Hub. 
Thunderhead has grown pretty dramatically since then, starting out with the equivalent of a one-barrel brewing system which has since been upgraded to their current system of 30 barrels that necessitated a 2011 relocation of brewing operations to Axtell, NE. 
Thunderhead also started canning 2006 with their Golden Frau, according to CornNation's Ty Peteranetz. Since then, the brewery has added Cornstalker Dark Wheat, Cropduster IPA, Leatherhead Red, Schaben's Pilsner, and Prairie Peach, among others, to their year-round line-up. 
Like most of the brewers appearing at the Craft Brew & Sausage Fest, brewing beer started out as a hobby for Schaben. 
“I wanted to start my own business, and making beer seemed like a viable option,” Schaben told The Hub. “In the Air Force, I had a flying job for a few years. Most of the world had a variety of awesome beer. At the time, Kearney didn’t have a brewery. It was a hole in the market. We basically had to make our own market.”
Thunderhead's beers can be found all over Grand Island. Look for their distinctive artwork on their cans in supermarkets, or on tap over at the Chicken Coop, a restaurant in Grand Island's downtown. But if you want to sample them and talk with some of their staff, head over to the Craft Brew & Sausage Fest Saturday - by doing so, you'll be supporting a good cause too!

Thunderhead Brewing Company
18 East 21st Street
Kearney, Nebraska
(308) 237-1558

If any brewer appearing at the Sept. 12 Craft Brew & Sausage Fest can appreciate the value of historic preservation and a revitalized downtown's role in a city's vitality it is Omaha's Brickway Brewery & Distillery.
Located at 1116 Jackson St., Brewer Zac 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 founded 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 historic preservation and the importance 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.

CONTACT:
(402) 933-2613
HOURS:
Monday-Thursday: 4:00pm-Close
Friday: 12:00pm-2:00am
Saturday: 11:00am-2:00am
Sunday: 11:00am-Close

Grand Island residents and its neighbors who frequent Omaha can get a small taste of what the big city has to offer when the Farnam House Brewing Company's hand crafted beer appears at the Sept. 12 Craft Brew & Sausage Fest.

Starting out as home brewers, Tony Thomas and Phil Doerr spent years honing their craft. Thomas worked both at home and in commercial breweries and Doerr in his “barage”, founding the South Omaha Brewers Homebrew club. The two's passion for brewing took them all over the world, traveling to Germany, Belgium, Czech Republic and to over half of the local states.

After doing the research and with a little guidance and advice, they decided that it could be more than a hobby, and took the plunge that many brewers at the Craft Brew & Sausage Fest are about to take or just recently took: They decided to open a brewery.

Today, Thomas and Doerr brew their beer in the basement of their brewpub on Farnam Street in what used to be the vault for Crandell Furs. You can still see the original safe doors on your way into the brewery. They aim to maintain a regular line up of farmhouse ales, German Lager, Bock, Stout, and sours, along with some special Brett beers, some barrel-aged, sours, local hard ciders and many others.

FARNAM HOUSE BREWING COMPANY
LOCATION: 3558 Farnam St., 402-850-6372
HOURS: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday, closed Sunday
MORE INFO: 402-401-6086