Blog - Second Chapter Brewing

Happy St. Patrick's Day

3/17/2023

Happy St. Patrick's Day from Second Chapter Brewing!

You're in luck: we have three new beers on tap for everyone to enjoy.

Ash Hollow Helles

Sweet spring water made Ash Hollow a major oasis on the Oregon and California trails. You're sure to feel refreshed after a stopover with this springtime bock beer.

Helles Bock
ABV 7.6%

Overdue Oatmeal Porter

If you've still got books from the Goodall City Library, they're definitely overdue. But, just like this long-awaited porter, it's better late than never.

Oatmeal Porter
ABV 5.8%

Peanut Butter Porter

Take everything you love about our Overdue Oatmeal Porter and add peanut butter to indulge your inner child.

Oatmeal Porter
ABV 5.8%

Second Chapter Brewing Selected as Official 2023 Nebraska Passport Stop

3/8/2023

For Immediate Release
Second Chapter Brewing Selected as Official 2023 Nebraska Passport Stop
Renovated former library now open as microbrewery and taproom

Second Chapter Brewing, located in the former Goodall City Library in Downtown Ogallala, and Lake Mac Shack, the on-site food truck, are pleased to announce that that they have been selected as an official 2023 Nebraska Passport stop by Tourism Nebraska. The Passport inspires Nebraskans and tourists to travel throughout the state collecting stamps to earn prizes while also supporting Nebraska's tourism destinations and local businesses. Passports will be available at participating stops starting May 1 or can be pre-ordered at NebraskaPassport.com.

Second Chapter Brewing opened for business in January 2023 in downtown Ogallala. Patrons can enjoy quality craft beer, brewed in-house in the beautiful, renovated former library. The taproom has a relaxed, family-friendly atmosphere where you can view the brewery production space or sit on a shaded deck in warmer weather.

Brewery owners Lisa Kraus and Richard Gibson purchased the former Goodall City Library in 2021 after an open, public call from the City of Ogallala for the “best proposed use” of the former library building. The brewery was pitched as an opportunity to create a family-friendly environment, enhancing downtown and becoming a destination for both tourists and residents. Kraus and Gibson had been looking for a way to bring a new amenity to Kraus’ hometown and to start a new chapter for themselves as business owners.

“We are so grateful for the opportunity presented by the City of Ogallala in purchasing and repurposing the building, which has so much character and history.” Kraus said. “We could not have completed this project without the community’s support or without the assistance of the Community Redevelopment Authority and LB-840 Economic Development Act.”

This business represents a “Second Chapter” in several ways. Not only is this a new chapter for the building and for the business owners, but this is a new chapter for the Kraus family, which has a pre-Prohibition brewing legacy. Kraus’ great grandfather, Louis Kraus, was the majority owner and head brewer at Hastings Brewing Company, prior to the enactment of Prohibition. Furthermore, the owners have also sought to apply creative and adaptive reuse of items throughout the project, and share stories about those elements.

The building was originally constructed as an American Legion Hall in 1927. In subsequent years, it saw use as a roller-skating rink and an elementary school during the construction of Kingsley Dam and Lake McConaughy. In 1954, following the failure of a ballot initiative that sought to purchase the building for use as city hall and a public library, the building was purchased by Robert and Clarice Goodall and gifted to the city of Ogallala for use as a library. The 2020 opening of the new Kathleen Lute Library in Ogallala led to the public sale of the former library space.

The renovation has restored the original maple floors, full-sized windows, and tin ceiling. It has also reestablished the main entrance at the south end of the building.

“We were inspired by the investments and improvements in the downtown area over the past several years,” Gibson said. “We hope that our building renovation and new business will encourage others to continue that trend.”

The brewery has 12 taps and features a five-barrel brew system. Gibson, who learned to homebrew when the couple lived on the east coast, has developed commercial recipes in collaboration with other brewers. They currently include a number of old-world classic styles, such as the Bavarian Brothers (German Pils), Witty Librarian (Belgian Wit), and Czeched Out (Czech Dark Lager). With nods to local history or local ingredients, the Goodall Golden (Golden Ale), Drunken Sentinel (American Pale Ale), and Good Beer-y Farm Sour (Aronia Berry American Farm Sour Ale) are styles that have been made popular in the American craft brew movement. The local favorite, a gluten-free seltzer called Trashy Romance (Apple Cider Seltzer), is served with a cinnamon sugar garnish.

Second Chapter Brewing guests are invited to order food from the food truck based on site, or bring in their own food. Light snacks are also available in the taproom.

Second Chapter Brewing is grateful to the community for their support and invites everyone to visit the craft brewery taproom and participate in its upcoming grand opening celebrations on March 23-24. The schedule of grand opening activities is available at: https://secondchapterbrewing.com/blog/grand-opening-celebrations.

Second Chapter Brewing is located at 203 West A Street in Ogallala, Nebraska. The taproom is open Wednesdays and Thursdays 4-8pm, Fridays and Saturdays 11am-10pm, and Sundays 11am-6pm. More information is available at www.secondchapterbrewing.com or on Facebook and Instagram.

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Second Chapter Brewing Nebraska Passport PR
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Grand Opening Celebrations

3/8/2023

Second Chapter Brewing is grateful to the community for their support and invites everyone to visit the craft brewery taproom and participate in its upcoming grand opening celebrations on March 23-24.

The schedule of grand opening activities includes:

Thursday, March 23

Taproom open 4pm – 8pm
Enter a drawing for prizes with any purchase
10% off all draft pours
New beer preview (for brewery members only)

Friday, March 24

Open 11am – 10pm
Lake Mac Shack Honey Cakes and snacks available
10% off all draft pours
Enter a drawing for prizes with each purchase
2:00 pm – Ribbon Cutting with the Keith County Chamber of Commerce and Keith County Area Development
5:00 pm – Drawings for merchandise
5:00 pm – New beer release (available to all)

See you there!

Introducing: Drunken Sentinel

2/28/2023

Drunken Sentinel
Style: American Pale Ale
ABV: 5.9%

A classic of the American craft beer movement, this American Pale Ale commemorates the days when Ogallala was a rough-n-tough frontier town, frequented by gunslingers and gamblers.

In one notable episode, the notorious Texas Billy Thompson got into a saloon shootout with the proprietor of Ogallala's Cowboy’s Rest, Tucker, over a woman known as Big Alice.

When the smoke cleared, a wounded Thompson was arrested and held at the hotel awaiting trial. He was certain to face severe punishment from a judge, if the local citizens didn't take justice into their own hands first.
Billy Thompson’s brother, the lawman and famous gunfighter Ben Thompson, feared that if he came to the rescue, he would end up at the gallows next to his brother, so he called upon his buddy Bat Masterson to help the younger Thompson escape.

Masterson came to Ogallala and smoothly befriended the sheriff's deputy who was assigned as sentinel to guard Billy’s room. Masterson plied the deputy with several rounds of cards and spiked drinks. Eventually, the Drunken Sentinel passed out.

With the deputy slumped over at his watchpost, Masterson then wrapped Billy Thompson in a rug and carried him out of the hotel and to the railroad depot. All the while, the local Sheriff Martin DePrieste was reportedly playing the fiddle as entertainment for a dance at the edge of town.

Thompson and Masterson caught a midnight train bound for North Platte, where Buffalo Bill Cody aided their escape all the way back to Dodge City.

Like all mostly-true stories of the Wild West, we think this one is best recounted over a pint of our American Pale Ale. This crystal-clear pale ale has a pleasant and refreshing hoppy finish that needs no embellishment. As one of our most popular beers on tap, we have a second batch of the Drunken Sentinel in the fermenter already.

H/T to Jason Becknell for naming this one!

Cheers!

Introducing: Goodall Golden

2/16/2023

Goodall Golden (Style: Golden Ale, ABV: 5.4%)

Continuing to introduce Second Chapter's beers on tap:

Goodall Golden
Style: Golden Ale
ABV: 5.4%

In 1954, a citizen-initiative to establish the first permanent public library in Ogallala failed by a handful of votes at the ballot box. Undeterred, local inventor/entrepreneur Robert Goodall and his wife Clarice purchased the former American Legion Hall building and gifted it to the City to be renovated for that purpose.

Our Goodall Golden Ale pays homage to their philanthropic gift with a smooth finish and generous golden color.

The Ogallala Public Library, later named the Goodall City Library, was located here for 66 years, until the new Kathleen Lute Library opened in 2020. Visit our taproom to see some nods to that legacy and to try our Goodall Golden Ale, which is available in 5 oz. and 16 oz. pours.

Open from 4pm Wednesday and Thursday; 11am Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

H/T: Tomás England and Keith County News for historical research.

Introducing: Good Beer-y Farm Sour

2/2/2023

Introducing Second Chapter's beers on tap, starting with:

Good Beer-y Farm Sour
American Farm Sour
4.8% ABV

Made with locally-grown, certified organic, aronia berries from Good Berry Farms in Paxton, Nebraska, our Good Beer-y Farm Sour has the perfect blend of sweet and tart. Aronia berries are known for their super-berry powers and antioxidant content. Our fruited sour ale is fermented using a combination of probiotics and yeast. This aronia sour is bursting with flavor and vibrant magenta color.

Batch One!

8/8/2022

Sunday evening was a beautiful night here in Ogallala to fire up the kettle for the first time. It won't be long until we can break in our new deck and enjoy the sunset with a cold craft beer...

Our First Grain Shipment

7/22/2022

We received our first shipment of grain Wednesday morning. That also meant we got to try out our slide here at Second Chapter Brewing! That's right, our grain moves down into the basement for storage courtesy of the former Sutherland City Park slide and gravity. It beats taking the stairs!

Huge thanks to Lisa's cousin Tim Kraus for helping out for the day. If only we could have convinced him to try the slide himself...

Lots and Lots of Concrete

4/22/2022

As we anticipated, it is not easy transforming a former 1920s Legion Hall / 1950s library into a modern taproom and brewery. Fortunately, the structural integrity of the building is sufficient to support the weight of a brewery on the main level so our customers will be able to see where the grain will be transformed into delicious craft beer.

Here are a few throwback pics from earlier this winter when MD Construction and Jackson Concrete poured the new concrete floors for Second Chapter Brewing. We only needed a 110' boom on the pumper truck!

Shiny Stainless Steel

4/7/2022

Thanks to the Nebraska Craft Brewers Guild and American Beverage Company for letting us take a sneak peak of our new brew system this week on a factory tour in Lincoln, Nebraska. Our five-bbl, electric, oil-jacketed brewhouse and tanks are ready to be shipped and installed soon in Ogallala!

We can't wait!