From Broken Bow to the Big Leagues: Kinkaider Brewing’s Statewide Surge | Building Nebraska

In the heart of downtown Lincoln, Cody Schmick sits inside Bierhaus Maisschäler, just one piece of the Nebraska-spun craft beverage empire he’s helped build.

Schmick recalls a humble beginning: a backroom homebrew meeting in Broken Bow, a small town many might overlook, unless you’ve tasted the beer that launched there in 2014.

“We just celebrated our 10-year anniversary,” Schmick says. “It’s crazy.”

From a 2,500-square-foot startup to a 20,000-square-foot brewing destination with a full restaurant and outdoor stage, Kinkaider Brewing Company’s "mothership" in Broken Bow remains its heart, but the pulse now stretches across the state. With locations in Lincoln, Omaha, and soon Kearney, plus two additional brands - Sideshow Spirits, Lincoln’s first legal distillery, and Beer House Meischler, a German beer hall concept - the team is proof that passion and place can power growth.

Building Nebraska is produced by the Nebraska Rural Radio Association and powered by the Engler Agribusiness Entrepreneurship Program at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.