Flyover Brewing Co celebrates 5th anniversary

Flyover Brewing Co. celebrated its fifth year in business in Scottsbluff. The restaurant and brewery are even marking the anniversary with outdoor music, beer, and even yoga at Flyover Days Friday and Saturday. Business has been great at the brewery and restaurant, co-owner Andrea Margheim s…

As Flyover Brewing Co. celebrates its fifth year in business, it’s hosting its own weekend event, called Flyover Days, complete with outdoor music, beer, and even yoga. Business has been great at the brewery and restaurant said co-owner Andrea Margheim about the business that started as a “hobby project.”

Flyover Brewing Co. co-owner Andrea Margheim stands out front of the brewery on the patio.

Flyover Brewing Co. opened in August 2018 and has continued to grow offering more food options as well as larger distribution of their craft brews like Hellcat Helles.

The brewery has seen success in the restaurant business, which is traditionally a difficult industry to open a new business in. In recounting the business success, Margheim praised the city of Scottsbluff as well as they were able to access LB 840 funds to help the business.

“The city has had a lot to offer and they really want to see growth and they’ve been great to work with,” she said.

The business has certainly evolved since its opening and has been experiencing great success this summer, with Margheim saying “this summer almost every month that passes seems like a record month.”

The story of Flyover Brewing has been one of surprises as the owners have often found themselves opening or enlarging ventures they never thought would have been part of the business.

Originally, they did not plan on serving food, however, it is becoming the large share of the business it is today. The kitchen was added almost as an accent to the brewing just so customers could have something to eat while perusing the brewery’s options.

“It’s definitely turned into a restaurant and brewery so we’ve just constantly been growing,” Margheim said. “We added, added, added to the kitchen constantly as far as equipment and storage space.”

A beer sits on the bar at Flyover Brewing Co., one of many available at the establishment.

Flyover has also developed its own niche in the craft brewing space, bringing locally brewed beers to Scottsbluff. Unlike most craft breweries Margheim said Flyover placed much more emphasis on lager beer as opposed to some of the stronger and hoppier India Pale Ales.

While the brewery does have IPAs available like their Nebraska Pale Ale, the brewers tried to create a more accessible beer that a larger share of drinkers could enjoy.

Flyover has also seen an unprecedented increase in distribution which was never intended to be a part of the business. They were able to find a local distributor they could work with and put their beers in stores and restaurant around the area.

Flyover’s brews can be found in various co-op stores as well as in bars at Scotts Bluff Country Club and Powerhouse Social, for which Flyover brews a custom beer. Their distributor has even started to push their beers east as they are now available in Hy-Vees in Lincoln, Omaha and Kearney.

“We were able to kind of dip our toes into (distribution) slowly and this last year with the expansion, we have additional canning space, additional storage space so we’ve really taken off with that,” Margheim said.

Distribution remains a focus for Flyover moving forward as that share of the business continues to grow and they try to continue to get their beers on the shelves.

Patrons enjoy food and drink at the bar at Flyover Brewing Co.

The brewery offers a rotating selection of beers along with two flagships in their Hellcat Helles and their Nebraska Pale Ale as well as six consistently canned varieties. They also recently began canning their Vienna Lager, which was one of their first brews available on tap.

One of the beer menus at Flyover Brewing Co. where both in house and out of house brews are available.

The brewery is hosting Flyover Days this weekend as well with live music Friday and Saturday night along with kids activities like a paper airplane throwing contest during the day.

Margheim said, “Two years in a restaurant business is kind of that benchmark for success and so we’re pretty pleased and excited for five years.”

Contact Jack Underwood: [email protected], 308-632-9044.

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Flyover Brewing Co. celebrated its fifth year in business in Scottsbluff. The restaurant and brewery are even marking the anniversary with out…