CornNation Profiles Kinkaider Brewing

This week marks our journey WAY west in the state to the Sandhills. This week and next week we'll be profiling two new (ish) breweries in the western half of Nebraska.

This week, we'll be talking about Kinkaider Brewing in Broken Bow. As always, you can read the other profiles in the series here, including Blue Blood Brewing, the brewery in Lincoln that my wife and I have invested in.

Background

Kinkaider was born from a home brew club start by Nate Bell and Dan Hodges nearly 10 years ago. Cody Schmick was a regular attendee of the meetings, and was surprised to discover that Nate and Dan's beers were better than a lot of the commercially available beer he was bringing. Cody encouraged the guys to start a brewery with him, thinking Broken Bow was the perfect place. As the three searched for a place to start the brewery, they hit road block after road block until they met with Barry Fox. Barry and his wife owned a pumpkin patch that only operated for a month out of the year and thought it'd be a perfect place for a brewery. Nate, Dan, and Cody looked over the location, and decided that the uniqueness of the country setting was perfect for their brewery. The brewery was opened in December of 2014.

The name Kinkaider finds it's origins in the Homestead Act. in 1904, Moses Kinkaid, a senator from O'Neill felt that there were not enough people settling the Sandhills as a part of the Homestead Act. He proposed that for $14, rather than the 160 acres that were a part of the Homestead Act, settlers could have 640 acres. Homesteaders who took advantage of this were called Kinkaiders.

As the brewing operation grows, the company is going to utilize the farm land they sit on to grow their own hops, jalapenos, and pumpkins to use in their beers.

Location

Kinkaider's brewery is located at 43680 Paulsons Road just outside of Broken Bow. The brewery is open on Thursdays and Fridays from 4:00 - 11:00 PM, and Saturday from 11:00 AM - 11:00 PM. Tours are not regularly scheduled, but will be conducted if time allows during normal business hours.

Beer

Kinkaider's website does not currently have a list of beers, but they have 12 on tap at their taproom at all times, with flavors rotating through.

These four will be bottled and available in six packs soon:

• Dan the Wiser Kolsch
• Devil's Gap Jalapeno Ale
• Hiram's Bones Porter
• 4-Counties Pale Ale

These beers will be available in the taproom on a rotating basis:

• Herd Law Honey Wheat
• Frame the Butcher IPA
• Brothers Pinned Double IPA
• Lone Tree ESB
• Farmer's Tan Brown Ale
• Nitro Oatmeal Stout
• Smoked Alt
• Belgian Trippel

Beers available soon:

• Czech Pils
• Saison
• Oktoberfest
• Munich Dunkel
• Rye PA

There will also be barrel-aged selections and a pumpkin ale coming in the fall.

Availability

Right now, Kinkaider's beers are only available on draft. You can find them at bars in Lincoln, Omaha, North Platte, Broken Bow, and Thedford. They will soon be available in Lexington, Kearney, Grand Island, and Hastings. It's always a good idea to ask at the bar and encourage them to carry your favorite beer. As mentioned previously, Kinkaider is not bottling yet, but they hope to be available in six-packs by the end of the year.

Verdict

This is a new one for me. Kinkaider is not widely available, and I haven't had a chance to venture to Broken Bow. I've heard great things about their porter, and the fact that they have a jalapeno beer in their regular rotation is encouraging as that's usually a limited style.

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