Kinkaider Brewing, Grand Island NE

Summer Trip 2022, Day 18

For all the growth it’s seen in the past couple of decades, Grand Island still appears to me as a sleepy farming community trying to make its way in the 21st Century. Kinkaider Brewing helps belie that image somewhat, but it was honestly not without its minuses.

The building itself is quite interesting on the inside! I’m almost sorry they weren’t seating people in the balcony area because I think that would be a great place to sit. The woodworking is beautiful, yet the “ceiling” is just open to the old beams … quaint, but not in the style of the rest of the woodwork.

The beer list looked interesting; too bad two of the ones I really wanted to try weren’t available.

So I started with a flight that I’ll describe left-to-right:

Dan the Wiser Kolsch – At first, this one really hit the spot! The more I drank, though, the less I liked it … it wasn’t bad by any means, it just seemed to be trying too hard to be unique and that put it over the top with flavors.

Star Snake Dank IPA – Honestly, I’m not sure what they were after here. I liked it, but I didn’t love it, and couldn’t quite pin down what style they were going for.

Dragon Juice IPA – Now this one was really very good. If you’re a hardcore hophead, you probably won’t like it as the hop bitterness is not at all prominent, but it has a great flavor and aroma and is very, very drinkable.

Bangarang Tropical IPA – OK, this wasn’t as bad as it sounds – it was my second favorite of the three IPAs they had available.

Buffalo Dress Amber – This is, I think, one of my favorite amber ales of all time. It was so tasty that I chose this for a follow-up pint (given that the Vaquero Dark Mexican Lager was unavailable).

Where they dropped the ball was with the Fish and Chips. As far as I was concerned, the fish was very fresh with a perfectly crispy coating, but that crispy coating somehow managed to be extremely greasy at the same time! The fries were OK but far, far too salty – let the customer add the salt, please.

So, both happy and disappointed, I decided to head out to the hotel. But I took a crowler of the Dragon Juice IPA with me to enjoy this evening, and I’ll definitely give them points for using a twist-off top on the crowler which is MUCH easier to pour from than the usual pop-top.

They also have an interesting twist on the “Mug Clubs” we see in many other brewpubs. Such a deal!