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When one thinks of Omaha, Nebraska, I am certain they don’t think about Omaha breweries. And why would you? It’s not exactly a craft beer town. But it’s starting to be. I wasn’t sure what to expect when I came to Omaha for some vet relief work, but I was pleasantly surprised by what I found. Omaha is a growing and changing city. My uber driver from the airport told me that Omaha didn’t look like this 10 years ago. It has gone through a lot of gentrification with the opening of new restaurants, new apartment buildings going up and cute shops and book stores. There’s a surprising amount of things happening here.
So, what are your options when it comes to grabbing a pint? It’s not a long list, but it’s a good one for a place as unexpected as this.
Downtown Omaha
Brickway Brewery & distillery
Address: 1116 Jackson St, Omaha, NE 68102
This is the perfect place to go that is right downtown in the Old Market district. You can drink indoors or outdoors, where you can people watch to your hearts content. There is a sushi counter inside if you’re hungry and the beer is good. They have two different beer menus, because the bought out another brewery and merged them into one, but I greatly enjoyed the English ale and their orange creamsicle beers. Very different flavors, but both were very good.
Upstream Brewing
514 South 11th Street, Omaha, NE 68102
Also in the heart of Omaha and located just down the road from Brickway in Old Market is Upstream Brewing Co. This was the first brewery I visited and though my beer was good, it didn’t feel like a brewery. It felt like a cross between a sticky dive bar and a restaurant. More people were there for the food with their kids, then they were for the beer. It wasn’t the vibe I was looking for, but again, the beer was good. I had their Uptoberfest, which was nice and malty.
West of Omaha
Bearded brewer artisan ales
18039 R Plaza #108, Omaha, NE 68135
To the west of downtown Omaha is Bearded brewer artisan ales. Their beer list is surprisingly extensive with something for everyone from IPAs to sours to non-alcoholic beers. They also have regularly scheduled food trucks, which is always important to me. It’s a bit outside of town, so plan to take an uber or e-bike if you want to check this one out.
Infusion Brewing Co.
6271 S 118th St, Omaha, NE 68137
This brewery has some serious history as the owner, Bill Baberuk, opened Nebraska’s first craft beer bar called the Crescent Moon. This was the scene at the time, the place to go to get craft beer. The Olson Meat Market, which was built in 1917 became available in the upcoming Benson neighborhood and so he opened Infusion. Now there is also a satellite tap room in southwest Omaha with a wide variety of beers on tap. They have a wide variety of styles without any one in particular that they specialize in, which I kind of like. As a non-IPA drinker, it’s nice to go to a place with variety.
Vis Major
3501 Center Street, Omaha, Nebraska 68105
Created by a husband and wife team, I was told about Vis Major by a local couple I met while out having dinner one night at Cibo Vino (highly recommend by the way). This is a small-batch brewery with good beers and they pride themselves on providing a community feel that is inviting and inclusive. It’s a good vibe and came highly recommended by the locals. They also have a good mix of beers for every palate.
And the name “Vis Major” means act of God, due to Belgian farmers feeling that the fermentation that happened with the various ingredients turning wheat and barley into beer was miraculous and thus an act of God. However, they do not allow dogs, and honestly I didn’t see any dogs in any of the breweries I visited, which is sad to me, but many serve food and so are not allowed to invite in dogs due to the health code (which I think is ridiculous because there are not many things you can get from a dog, but there are certainly a lot of things we can get from kids, just saying).
Northwest Omaha
Monolithic brewing
4915 North 120th St. Suite 102, Omaha, NE 68164
This one boasts a variety of hoppy, malty and fruity style beers (according to their tap list catagories) and also have some snack foods and sandwiches if you are hungry or need to soak up some of the beer. In May, they also have shandy fest, with eight shandies on tap! Another small-batch brewery, they only serve their beers in their taproom, so you won’t find it anywhere else.
Concluding Thoughts
Turns out there is some pretty good beer options in Omaha. With this growing city, I am certain the beer scene will only continue to get better with time, with more and more popping up around the city. While you are there, make sure to check out some of their restaurants too, there are a lot of places making some incredible meals.
I was pleasantly surprised by Omaha and all it offered and glad I got the opportunity to spend some time here and get to know it better.
