Upstream Brewing Omaha, NE

I am here in Omaha tonight and wanted to go to someplace some what familiar so I wound up at Upstream Brewing Company http://www.upstreambrewing.com/.  They have good beer and good food.  Plus it is in the ever cool Old Market area in Downtown Omaha.  The area has become an entertainment district for the city, home of restaurants and eclectic shopping.

The brewery is in a restored building so there is lots of exposed brick and wood.  If I remember correctly this is a restored fire house, but I could also be mistaken.  In the bar area there is a large rectangular bar and many high top tables.  The restaurant are has ample seating with the upstairs being the billiards area.  Outside in good weather there is seating along the sidewalk which makes for great people watching.  The brewhouse is just off the main eating area behind a wall of glass.

They have six regular beers on tap O! Gold, Raspberry Lager, Capital Pale Ale, Firehouse Red, Flagship IPA and Dundee Scotch Ale.  I did not partake in any of these this evening, but they could be part of a sampler if you want.  They also have a root beer named after the Nebraska football team "Bugeater".  They always have a cask ale and some seasonal taps as well.  The seasonal included American Wheat, Gam Gam's Munich Helles, Justa Porter, Leroy Jenkins Imperial Indian Brown Ale and Gianduja Imperial Rye Brown Ale. 

I did try four of the seasonal beers either in tasters or pints.  Those four were Gam Gam's Munich Helles, probably my overall favorite, both browns the IIBA was quite hoppy and the Rye Brown was malty but yet peppery, lastly the Justa Porter, my least favorite.

Besides the beer they have a very good food menu.  Ranging from steaks to pizza to sandwiches to salads.  I decided upon the Shrimp White Pizza.  It was tasty.

A nice touch was that the glassware varied with the beer.  The shaker pint was saved for water and bloody Marys.   Another cool thing was the staff during their work shift were able to try a small sample of the beer so they could better explain the beer to their customers.

All in all this is a good place to hit if you are in Omaha and want to try some good beer at a brewpub.

QC Beerguy