Nebraska’s Growing Harvest – Craft Beer

The moment I walked into Nebraska Brewing Company, I immediately noticed the signs of a hardworking brewpub everywhere I looked. Barrels occupied many of the open spaces, kegs were lined up in a back corner, and the tap-laden bar stretched vertically across the brewpub’s left-hand side. This was a place that took beer seriously, a place that could definitively prove to the nonbelievers out there that great and creative brews do in fact get made in Nebraska.

Owners Paul and Kim Kavulak have actually been asked by incredulous imbibers if the unique beer the couple brings to festivals and distributes to eleven different states is actually made in Nebraska.

“First of all, they ask – are you really from Nebraska?” Kim recalled. “They always ask us, do you put corn in your beer? People are shocked, but then they take a drink and are like – wow. And I say, see, good beer can come from ANY place, you just have to care. Over the past few years, we’ve really seen the craft brew scene grow in Omaha.”

As passionate as they are friendly, Paul and Kim are stout supporters, literally, of Nebraska’s growing brewing industry. Natives of Nebraska and homebrewers since 1996, the couple decided to combat what they saw as a deficit of great craft beer in Nebraska when they opened their brewpub in 2007, even amidst criticism that the region wasn’t ready for an influx of local suds.

“When we emerged, we were the third brewery at the time,” Paul explained. “One of the articles that was written early on asked – will the Nebraska market support a third brewery? Then you have another brewer say, don’t ever make an IPA, they’ll never sell in Nebraska. But we wanted to stay true and we did.”

“They were beers that we loved, and we figured if we loved them, then there’s somebody else out there that does too, and maybe they just hadn’t found a place to enjoy that level of beer,” Kim added.

Not only has their beer won enough awards and accolades to securely position the brewery as one of the forerunners in the local brewing scene, but its success has also more than nullified any thought that the state’s beer scene may be lacking. Paul and Kim, along with their two brewers, Tyson Arp and Sam Riggins, are committed to pushing themselves to new extremes every year in their brewing capabilities.

Within the first year of business, the brewery jumped headfirst into barrel-aging, and the tactic has paid off with a series of exceptional brews that rival those coming out of breweries with bigger barrel programs and longer histories.

“We tucked our first two barrels under the staircase,” Paul recalled. “We had a seasonal Belgian beer that was off-the-charts awesome, and I thought it would be kind of neat to play around with Chardonnay. When we thought it was going bad, we got a hold of Garrett Oliver, Calagione, and Vinnie Cilurzo and asked them what was going on. Finally, Vinnie had enough of us or tried to give us some tough love, telling us to leave it alone, that the beer will tell you when it’s done. We left it for about another four months and when we tasted it, we were like, holy crap this is awesome.”

This first stumble into barrel-aging became Melange A Trois, which won them a gold medal at the Great American Beer Fest in 2011. Over the years, Paul’s acquired about 90 cognac, whiskey, brandy, and wine barrels, and he continues to seek out additional inventory and tweak old recipes. The brewery is best known for its experimental barrel-aged Inception Series, one-off small-batch brews available at the brewpub in 22 oz bombers, and the Reserve Series, barrel-aged brews that are produced seasonally on a rotating basis.

I’m all too excited to open up one of the four brews I snagged during my visit: a Reserve Series French Chardonnay barrel-aged IPA called Hop God (which my husband bear-hugged and pronounced “his” – I’ll have to work on getting a sip of that one), two Reserve Series Whiskey barrel-aged brews (an Imperial Stout named Black Betty and a Barleywine called Fathead), and an Inception Series Belgian-style Quad aged in French Oak Cognac barrels dubbed Responsibly. Now I just need to find a way to get my hands on their upcoming seasonal – an Imperial Brown with vanilla beans (most grown by their brewer’s father) that Paul says is “crazy awesome.”

But it’s not enough to just make and market their own products; as Kim says, “a rising tide lifts all ships,” and the couple is united in their mission to support great beer being produced in the state. Both are active in building a community of craft beer enthusiasts – Paul serves as president of the Nebraska Craft Brewers Guild, Kim recently helped kick off a local chapter of Barley’s Angels, and the couple hosts the successful Great Nebraska Beer Fest every August. They also show their support for local breweries by carrying every packaged Nebraska beer they can get their hands on, proudly offering one of the most extensive selections (a total of 34 Nebraska brews, including their own) in the region.

The emphasis on community extends to their bottling operations. The couple frequently sends out messages on Facebook or invites brew enthusiasts via e-mail to help them bottle and label on select Saturdays (and I hear there are some pretty sweet perks). Although they will continue to bottle their two series lines, the couple hopes to open a separate production facility for canning their draft beers in the next seven to eight months.

Having just celebrated their five-year anniversary by reviving older seasonals chosen as fan favorites, Paul and Kim are humbled by their success and, more than anything, grateful to the community that has supported them and their passion.

“The first two years were a blur and the last three have really been about becoming who we are,” Kim said. “We always wanted to make beer and we just thought having a place like this is kind of like a Cheers place – one of our guests even sang the Cheers theme for us during our anniversary week. Five years later, we have people that feel comfortable here and like coming here because it’s a great place to be – and that’s amazing.”