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The Omaha Craft Brewery Tour + Weekend Wrap-Up with Best Friends

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This past weekend was full of fun adventures that were easily some of the best highlights of the past month.  That may or may not have had something to do with the fact that Jeremy was here visiting.  Jeremy was not the only important person in my life who was here, though.  One of my best friends, Stacy, and her husband, Chris, made their way out to visit me in Omaha for the first time.  We filled up two days full of gallivanting around Omaha, eating delicious food, and drinking plenty of beer.  You are not doing Omaha right if you aren’t eating and drinking at the best local places.

A few weeks back, Jeremy let me in on a fun Omaha tourism activity that was news to me.  The Visit Omaha website offers tourists an opportunity to experience the best craft beer that Omaha has to offer through their Craft Brewery Tour.  Since I am an Omaha resident, I sadly was not eligible for the goodies.  But Jeremy, Stacy, and Chris all signed up on the website about two weeks prior to their visit, and received an Explorer’s Journal with free beer coupons to eight local breweries <– we like our beer here in Omaha!

omaha craft brewery tour Lucky for me, Stacy is not a huge beer person so I was able to snag her coupons at the majority of the breweries we visited!

omaha borgataWe started our brewery tour at Borgata Brewery and Distillery in the Old Market.  We loved the building and decor, and the staff was incredibly knowledgeable and friendly.  Even though I did not have a drink coupon (Stacy found a cider beer here), the bar tender hooked me up with a free beer!

omaha borgata 2I chose the Hefeweizen and really enjoyed it.

weekend hannah stacyStacy and I at the brewery.

I may or may not have been representing my black and gold Iowa colors.  I may live in Nebraska now, but I still have loyalty to my home state.

omaha borgata 3One of the bartenders was kind enough to take a group picture of the four of us back in the brewing room.  I love how we all just happened to match the mural in the background!

omaha tap house 2After spending a couple of hours at Borgata, we walked a few blocks to eat lunch at Omaha Tap House.  This was my visit here and I was not disappointed.  I ordered the “Hangover Burger” and subbed in a house-made veggie patty.  The veggie burger was topped with American cheese, hashbrowns, and a fried egg.  It was seriously delicious.  I also loved the coleslaw that I ate on the side.

omaha tap houseJeremy ordered the Cheese Curd Cheeseburger.  It looks pretty legit, right?  He had an order of their jalapeno french fries on the side.  I tried them and loved them!

P.S. To my local readers- they have a Thanksgiving burger right now (which Chris ordered) and it looked and sounded unbelievable.  Who wouldn’t want sweet potato fries ON their burger?

jeremy hannah omaha tap houseI love that Jeremy and I both love to eat delicious food and drink cold beer.  We are two peas in a pod.

omaha stacy hannahWith full bellies, we were back out into the cold and windy day.  I am not at all ready for the Winter weather that will soon be upon us.  I always enjoy the first snowfall, but that is about all I can get excited about.

omaha upstream brewing coOur next stop was Upstream Brewing Company.  Since I am allll about the pumpkin right now, I ordered the All Hallows Pumpkin Weizen.  It was delicious and perfectly pumpkiny.  I honestly do not think I could ever get tired of pumpkin beers.

omaha farnamOur fourth stop was to a fairly new brewery in town, Farnam House Brewing Company.

omaha farnam 2Jeremy and Chris drank IPAs, while Stacy and I took a break from the drinks.  I opted for this instead:

recent eats 10What?  You mean you don’t eat apples at a bar? 😉

stacy hannah weekendAfter our fourth bar, we were just a tad bit exhausted.  We headed back to my apartment for a quick nap.  But we were not down for the count.  After a 30 minute snooze, we were up and ready for dinner and a couple more beers!

omaha bensonI took my three amigos to one of my favorite restaurants in Omaha: Benson Brewery.  While waiting for our table, I chose the Apple Cinn beer to drink.  I loved this beer because it had strong apple and cinnamon flavors without being too sweet like a cider would be.

omaha benson 4I also enjoyed some of the most delicious food, including these vegan seitan wings.  I ordered half spicy barbecue and half beer honey mustard.  They came with veggies and the most amazing vegan ranch dip.  Jeremy enjoyed the seitan wings we ate in Colorado so much that he actually ordered these wings too!  I’ll share more of our delicious appetizer eats in tomorrow’s What I Ate Wednesday post.

chris stacyChris and Stacy!

omaha infusionWe ended our evening by walking a block down to Infusion Brewing Company where I ordered the Vanilla Bean Blonde beer.  It had a strong vanilla flavor that I really enjoyed, but only made it about halfway through the beer because I found it to be a little too sweet.  Next time I would definitely mix it with another beer to cut down on the sweetness of it.  Stacy and I played a never-ending game of war (the card game), and Jeremy and Chris took a very strange beer shot with whipped cream.  Basically, it was a wild time.

I had an absolute blast this past weekend with some of my favorite people.  I was so sad when the weekend had to come to an end.  We made it to five of the eight breweries on the tour, and I am looking forward to visiting the other three soon to get stamps in the Explorer’s Journals that Stacy and Chris left behind.  You receive a free pint glass if you get stamps from all eight breweries.  If you ask me, there is never not a good reason to add to your beer glass collection!

treat yourself tuesdaySince this entire weekend was essentially one big treat, I am linking up with Becky for Treat Yourself Tuesday!  Let’s make it a good one!

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{ 41 comments… add one }
  • Jessie November 4, 2014, 2:23 am
    What a fun weekend! I love the idea of doing a beer tour, just not so sure i'd be able to handle all the beverages. I do like that y'all split up the time in between for some downtime & food. I'm sure that helped w/ being able to continue drinking.
    • ClnEatingVegGrl November 4, 2014, 3:16 pm
      Yes!! That was a must. Otherwise it would not have been pretty... ;)
  • Katie @ Daily Cup of Kate November 4, 2014, 6:21 am
    What a fun day! And that cheese curd burger?! OMG, looks so good. I love how you said that you both love to eat delicious food and drink cold beer- haha, I feel the same about Scott and I!
    • ClnEatingVegGrl November 4, 2014, 3:17 pm
      It is so great to have very similar hobbies! It makes just spending the day together doing simple things SO much fun :)
  • kelly @ hidden fruits and veggies November 4, 2014, 6:54 am
    A beer tour is such a great idea! Sounds like a fun weekend. kelly @ hidden fruits and veggies recently posted...Spaghetti Squash and Meatball PizzaMy Profile
    • ClnEatingVegGrl November 4, 2014, 3:18 pm
      It was an awesome weekend! We had a blast!
  • Joanna @Makingmine November 4, 2014, 6:58 am
    I love that Omaha has all these amazing things that I've never heard of. I think Jeff and my dad would LOVE this (and once baby arrives, I will too). You really need to get the photo in front of that mural framed - so perfect! Joanna @Makingmine recently posted...the 1st trimester: baby #1 vs. baby #2My Profile
    • ClnEatingVegGrl November 4, 2014, 3:20 pm
      They definitely would!! Also, I just have to say that your dad seems like a pretty cool guy ;) Good call on the picture, too! I hadn't thought of that, but now I am definitely going to do that.
  • Stacie @ SimplySouthernStacie November 4, 2014, 7:39 am
    All I can see is that burger! I've spent probably a longer time than I should have trying to figure out how on earth one would even attempt to eat that! Stacie @ SimplySouthernStacie recently posted...Life Goal Complete: Chicago Style PizzaMy Profile
    • ClnEatingVegGrl November 4, 2014, 3:23 pm
      Yeah, when I saw them bring it out I was thinkin... "that is going to be a challenge!" It was a mess, that's for sure. But all that matters is that it tastes good, right?
  • Molly November 4, 2014, 9:02 am
    This sounds like a crazy fun day! I love that your meat-eating boyfriend is open to trying vegan things - so sweet! One time during lent we were eating at PF Changs and Brian subbed our usual chicken lettuce wraps for veggie lettuce wraps for me since I couldn't eat meat but he was not happy about it ;)
    • ClnEatingVegGrl November 4, 2014, 3:26 pm
      I am SO lucky that he is literally willing to try (and often likes) pretty much anything that I order or make. I honestly don't know what I would do otherwise. FYI... we went to PF Changs over the Summer and they gave us half tofu/half chicken for our lettuce wraps! I promise I won't tell Brian that though ;)
  • Laura @ Sprint 2 the Table November 4, 2014, 11:06 am
    Annnnnd now I'm craving beer and a hangover burger before noon. ;) Laura @ Sprint 2 the Table recently posted...Peanut Butter Marshmallow Pancake RecipeMy Profile
    • ClnEatingVegGrl November 4, 2014, 3:27 pm
      There is absolutely NOTHING wrong with that!! ;)
  • Leslie @ Life Begins at 30? November 4, 2014, 11:18 am
    The beer tour sounds awesome!! Omaha is a quick trip from KC, so I may have to make a long weekend of it. :)
    • ClnEatingVegGrl November 4, 2014, 3:55 pm
      You totally should! KC and Omaha are a great distance from one another. I love making trips down there for the weekend!
  • Becky @ Olives n Wine November 4, 2014, 12:16 pm
    I'm impressed with your mid-crawl snooze! If I did that I'd be down for the count for the rest of day ;) Becky @ Olives n Wine recently posted...#60 Treat Yourself TuesdayMy Profile
    • ClnEatingVegGrl November 4, 2014, 3:58 pm
      Haha, it was MUCH needed! And trust me... I definitely woke up groggy. But the idea of delicious food got me going! ;)
  • Erin @ Her Heartland Soul November 4, 2014, 12:42 pm
    How fun!! And where is your black vest from? I love it! Erin @ Her Heartland Soul recently posted...Ask Me Anything: Online DatingMy Profile
    • ClnEatingVegGrl November 4, 2014, 4:05 pm
      Old Navy!! Got it for like $15!
  • Jenny November 4, 2014, 5:09 pm
    It looks so awesome there! Looks like you guys had a really fun day out and took some nice pictures too! Jenny recently posted...Getting Your Inbox to Zero and Keeping it ThereMy Profile
    • ClnEatingVegGrl November 4, 2014, 7:43 pm
      We have such a great time! Omaha is really a wonderful city with SO much to do!
  • Ashley November 4, 2014, 7:25 pm
    What an awesome sounding weekend! So many good people and good food and drinks! I love the sound of the brewery touring you guys did! Ashley recently posted...Creamy Mushroom and Roasted Garlic SoupMy Profile
    • ClnEatingVegGrl November 4, 2014, 7:48 pm
      It was a wonderful time. I never wanted the weekend to end!
  • Kat @ Life by the Laces November 4, 2014, 9:18 pm
    Mmmmmm. Brewery tour! Love them. I was in Omaha last year visiting a friend and we went to a brewery for dinner. Of course I don't remember the name now, but I know it was in the Old Market! And I know it was delicious! Kat @ Life by the Laces recently posted...Treat Yourself Tuesday: The Best Treat Ever!My Profile
    • ClnEatingVegGrl November 4, 2014, 10:18 pm
      It might have been Upstream!! I have not eaten there yet, but I hear the food is delicious. I need to try it soon!
  • Jamie | Jamie's Recipes November 4, 2014, 9:20 pm
    This sounds like a fun activity! I will have to have my friends do this next time they come visit. I had Infusion's Vanilla Bean at Ramen Fest a few weeks back. I thought it was so good with a slight vanilla flavor. Jamie | Jamie's Recipes recently posted...Pretzel DogsMy Profile
    • ClnEatingVegGrl November 4, 2014, 10:20 pm
      You should absolutely plan something like this for your friends! I think they would really enjoy it. It is a great way to show a little side of what Omaha has to offer.
  • Kim November 4, 2014, 9:25 pm
    What a fun weekend! I think you showed off a lot of great sides to Omaha - good beer, great food and fun places. Kim recently posted...Crescent Moon: Casual Date NightMy Profile
    • ClnEatingVegGrl November 4, 2014, 10:22 pm
      It really was a wonderful weekend. Omaha has so much to offer and I love sharing about it here on my blog :)
  • Michelle November 4, 2014, 10:42 pm
    Your picture in front of the mural turned out great! So glad you came down to Borgata! Come down and visit again soon.
    • ClnEatingVegGrl November 4, 2014, 10:48 pm
      Thanks so much! I absolutely will. We all had a great time!
  • Jordan @ Harleys & Heels November 5, 2014, 8:26 am
    How fun! Having lived in Omaha for the last 8 years (I too am an IOWA girl) I had no idea such a prescribed tour even existed. Looks like fun - so will have to check it out. Something to do when our IA friends come hang with us. :) Jordan @ Harleys & Heels recently posted...Workout Wednesday – 54321 WorkoutMy Profile
    • ClnEatingVegGrl November 5, 2014, 7:53 pm
      I had no clue either until my boyfriend mentioned it! It was SO fun, so you should definitely do it with your friends. P.S. Yay for IOWA :)
  • Lauren Bonk November 5, 2014, 10:58 am
    I love this idea! I'm so glad you made it to Infusion... it's my FAVORITE. The Vanilla Bean Blonde is actually not my favorite, but I love their lighter IPA's. Sometimes they have a Blood Orange IPA that is SOOOOOOOOO GOOD.
    • ClnEatingVegGrl November 5, 2014, 7:54 pm
      Oh geez... a blood orange IPA sounds amazing! You'll have to let me know if you are there and they have it back sometime!
  • Jenny November 6, 2014, 7:58 pm
    Wow! I moved away from Omaha in 2010 and none of those places were open. I will be back to visit family soon and I hope to visit a few! :) Jenny recently posted...Bourbon Cider CocktailsMy Profile
    • ClnEatingVegGrl November 7, 2014, 1:21 pm
      Oh gosh, there are so many great places open now! I never ever tire of the breweries and restaurants that we have here :)
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