OMAHA, NE — Big Grove Brewery has announced plans to open wide scale distribution in Nebraska starting next month. This marks the second state that Big Grove has expanded distribution into, after launching with Stern Beverage in Illinois this past December.
Partnering with local distributor Quality Brands of Omaha, Big Grove’s award-winning flagship beers such as Easy Eddy Hazy IPA and Citrus Surfer Citrus Wheat will start hitting shelves and draft lines at select accounts starting on March 1st. “Seeing the success of Big Grove in their home state of Iowa has us extremely excited about our partnership. We are looking at our future together as not only an opportunity to bring some more great beers to Nebraska, but Quality Brands is privileged to be one of Big Grove’s first steps to becoming a major regional brewery.” said Justin Burr, the Director of Brand Development at Quality Brands. “We have a commitment to excellence in its simplest form. To provide the best service possible, both for our customers and our supplier partners. Big Grove checks all the boxes.” he closed with.
The distributor had always been on Big Grove’s radar as they looked westward. “We have been very intentional as we discussed extending outside of Iowa, and have done a lot of market analysis, to determine not just where we are going, but also who we would work with. Quality Brands was always seen as a potential partner who could allow us to not just enter the market, but also leverage their distribution footprint, team, and support assets to scale it quickly.” said Matthew Swift, CEO and co-founder of Big Grove.
While Big Grove brands will be made available through the year, the brewery also released high level plans to open a full-scale taproom and restaurant in Omaha by Spring of 2025. This would mark their fifth location and would be similar in scale to their Iowa City, Des Moines, and Cedar Rapids locations in Iowa, with an over 10,500 square foot taproom and a 6,000 square foot patio. The new taproom will be a cornerstone in the ongoing Catalyst development in the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC).
The Catalyst project, which began construction in 2023, to redevelop the Omaha Steel Works Facility and provide an innovation hub for the Center, seeks to be complete by late 2024. “This development is Omaha’s newest and most exciting infill project. With more than $250M in active development and ultimate vision of over $600M in new office, retail, housing, and park space in the heart of the city. This project is connected to Omaha and Nebraska’s largest economic generator in the UNMC. There is a decade or more to come of announcements ready to fill this space, of which Big Grove is one of the first.” said Jay Lund, Principal of GreenSlate, who in partnership with Koelbel Companies and the UNMC, oversees the development. “Omaha needs a Big Grove of their own. This concept and these operators are going to raise the bar. Catalyst is an innovation hub, and what better place to innovate than a brewery.” closed Lund.
Big Grove saw the opportunity right away at Catalyst. “We wanted a location in the center of Omaha, and we always love being part of the revitalization of the communities we are part of.” said Swift. Touring the plant building last June as part of the selection process, was “inspiring and a little overwhelming” noted Swift. “A lot of people have asked where we might be headed next, and I can’t think of a better site and partner to mark our first location outside the state of Iowa.” he added. While an opening date has yet to be set, Swift closed with “We are excited to create Omaha’s Big Grove and welcome the good people of Omaha to their new brewery.”
About Big Grove Brewery: Big Grove Brewery is among Iowa’s top craft beer producers and ranks in the top 2% for barrel production nationally. In 2013, the brewery started as a 3.5-barrel brewhouse in Solon, Iowa, and focused on freshly made craft beer and elevated pub cuisine. The brewery opened a 28,000-square-foot production facility four years later, anchoring the Iowa City Riverfront Crossings redevelopment project with additional concepts opening in Des Moines and Cedar Rapids in 2022 and 2023 respectively. Big Grove has received multiple craft brewing medals, including a gold medal for Easy Eddy, its flagship Hazy IPA, Citrus Surfer Fruited Wheat and most recently, a Great American Beer Festival (GABF) 2023 silver medal for Festbier, a Bavarian-style Märzen.
Site: www.biggrove.com
About Quality Brands: Quality Brands is a family-owned and operated beer, wine, spirits and non-alcoholic beverage distributor that represents over one hundred suppliers and more than 2,500 brands. They employ over four hundred people across their locations. Operating eight warehouses in Nebraska, South Dakota, Wyoming and Colorado that cover over eighty counties and 4,600 plus retail accounts.
Site: www.qualbrands.com
About Catalyst: The “Catalyst” project is the redevelopment of a historic 170,000 square-foot structure which was a former steel works facility. This development will be an innovation hub at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. The project, which is part of the larger Saddle Creek redevelopment, broke ground in early 2023 with a targeted completion of late 2024.
Site: www.catalystunmc.com