Driving from Denver to Sioux City, Iowa at the end of the month and thinking about stopping in Nebraska for a night to break up the trip. Where should I stop if I want to drink some good beer, eat something delicious, and relax? Never been anywhere in Nebraska. I was thinking of stopping in Lincoln or Omaha because I've heard they're cool. Any better beer towns? Anywhere I have to stop?
Probably the standard "tourist answer" you'll get for Nebraska, but the Old Market area in Omaha is pretty cool. Not necessarily from a beer perspective, but restaurants and shopping and such. Especially if it's a nice night and you can just walk around.
I would definitely say you should stop in Lincoln and head to Boiler. It's the best brewery in Nebraska, and if you want to make that the focal point of your stop you give yourself a couple different options for other places. Boiler recently opened a second taproom, so they have one location downtown and another in southeast Lincoln. Downtown has more hotels and restaurants in walking distance, along with a White Elm taproom. Boiler South is right by the Zipline beer hall (I probably prefer to Zipline to White Elm on everything except giant stouts, for what it's worth), a couple really good restaurants and a couple hotels. There's more to do downtown, but if you just want to get a hotel room and grab some beers and eats, the south location would probably get my vote. I'm happy to answer any questions you've got or give more detailed recommendation and meet for a beer if/when you stop if I'm around. Also, there was a Lincoln visit thread some months back with some decent info, so take a look there if you haven't already.
Holy crap does the Boiler Brewing database listing here need cleanup. Maybe the person who added all those beers never to be rated could come back and retire them. Looking at Boiler current beer list on their website, does not appear they went completely hype train. A few offerings that are not hazy IPA, pastry stout, and fruited kettle sour. But wondering if other styles are slowly getting squeezed out.
I had an Altbier at Boiler my first time there in 2017, but on return visits it's been a crapton of pastry stouts (seriously, I was there in July 2018 and the tap list was 80% pastry stouts), fruited berliners and hazy IPAs. I did have a saison collab with Jukes before they opened that wasn't very good. I thought the IPAs were pretty solid initially, but haven't been very impressed on subsequent visits.
Boiler's always done wild, over-the-top stuff like their Miimosa Goses and pastry stouts, but I think that regardless of the style they always execute well. They always have a variety of stuff beyond the hype-y brews, from winter warmers to west coast IPAs to mead. The only catch is that rarely is it a classic take on anything, so if they're doing a Belgian style, for example, they make a quad and barrel age it. It's just what they do, I believe. I'm a big fan of Boiler's, obviously, but they're just one of a number of breweries in Lincoln, and there's not a ton of overlap in approach or style. While Boiler goes for it with everything, Cosmic Eye brews a number of traditional styles and does everything very clean and down-to-Earth, so you can get a 12% pastry stout then cruise up the street (with someone else driving) and get a 3.7% mild ale. I like it all, and I like that we have some choice in town. If stopping in Lincoln, the places to hit would be Boiler, Zipline, White Elm, and Cosmic Eye just depending on what you're into. If heading up the road a bit further, Kros Strain would be my choice like mentioned above, and it's right next to Pint Nine brewing, which is pretty solid as well.
I’d disagree about Boiler being the best in Nebraska, I’d personally say White Elm is the best. That being said, they are both awesome, zipline is also a great go to. On the front of Omaha, the two best places would be Jukes Ale Works and Kros Strain. Even though pint 9 is next to Kros Strain.,,,DO NOT GO THERE!!! That place is not good, most would say one of the worst in the state, but definitely worst in Omaha!
I stopped at Jukes with my wife’s family while in town for the holidays and really enjoyed it. Nice to see a solid brewery that’s out near their current place. I also noticed that Zipline opened their Beer Hall out past Elkhorn, but didn’t make it over.
Hey everyone, Thanks for all the tips here. So, I was able to stop for a quick drink at the White Elm tasting room, Kinkaider, and Boiler. I really wanted to hit up Cosmic Eye since I'm a big lager and traditional brewing fan but did not have time. All 3 of the breweries were super solid. Gun to my head, I'd say that Boiler was the best in terms of everything I tried being pretty much perfect examples of the style. But maybe my favorite pour was an English Mild by White Elm. Spot-on, simple, delicious beer. Kinkaider was also super solid. Seems like you guys have a good beer town from what I saw. Also, I got a burger with peanut butter and jelly, or something, on it from Leadbelly, very tasty. Starlight Lounge was also fun for a quick cocktail, and it was suuuuper cheap compared to Denver prices. Thanks, BAs!
