For the full list of the 2022 Sower’s Cup medal winners, click here.
If you want to see your score sheets, log in to the website and you’ll your entries at the bottom of your account. Download the PDFs.
More coverage and information coming soon!
Thanks to everybody: judges, stewards, spouses, organizers, sponsors and contributors! We couldn’t do this without you!
Cheers!
It’s here! The 2022 Sower’s Cup! 
We have over 400 homebrewed beer, cider and mead to judge and we need your help! We need four to six people to help out at the early judging sessions being held at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, October 11, and Wednesday, October 12. Eight to ten people to volunteer at the IBEW Hall by 6:00 p.m. Friday, October 14, to help out, and six to eight at both sessions — morning and afternoon — on Saturday, October 15. You will be fed before the judging sessions begin on Friday night and Saturday. (What are we eating? Info for volunteer meals is right here!)
To volunteer…
To sign up and help us, click right here and send us an email! Let us know if you can help and how to get a hold of you. Cheers and thank you very much!
The Banquet! Food and beer!
Join us on Saturday evening at 6:00 p.m. for our annual Sower’s Cup beer-pairing dinner featuring an appetizer, salad, entrée and dessert, each paired with a special, locally brewed beer! Our caterer for the banquet meal is The Guilded Swine.
Here’s the menu and paired beers…
Appetizer: Chicken Pâté – Pâté/Cherry Mustard/Baguette
Beer: Stone Hollow’s Hefeweizen
Salad: Waldorf Salad – Greens/Apple/Walnuts/Celery RootBeer: Code’s Berry Lemon Sour
Entree: Pork Confit – Pork Belly/Potato Gratin/Seasonal Veg
Beer: Boiler’s West Coast IPA
Dessert: Sticky Toffee Pudding – Dates/Caramel
Beer: White Elm’s Barrel-aged Imperial Stout
The price is only $40 per person, with volunteers helping with 2 or more sessions receiving a $5 discount for each session completed. There is a maximum of 60 seats available. We’ve sold out in the past. Don’t wait.
To Reserve Your Banquet Seat(s)…
Still need more information! Check out the Sower’s Cup pages or contact the Lincoln Lagers right here and send us an email!
Here’s your quickie news update for the Lincoln Lagers!
- Monday, October 3: All Sower’s Cup entries are to be received by this date.
- Tuesday & Wednesday, October 4 & 5: Sorting & labeling entries at 6:00 p.m. at 1867 Bar, downtown Lincoln.
- Thursday, October 6: Monthly meeting at Cosmic Eye Brewing
- We’ll be talking about the Sower’s Cup, which is right around the corner.
- Judges & Stewards: Sign up for your session(s) here.
- Tuesday & Wednesday, Oct. 11 & 12: Early Sower’s Cup Judging Sessions… Turbine Flats… 6 p.m.
- Friday & Saturday, Oct. 14 & 15: Sower’s Cup judging, Banquet & Awards Ceremony.
Keep up on the Cup! Banquet details are coming! Click here for the web page.
Sower’s Cup Update!
We have reached our registration limit of 400 entries and would like the members to know that we will be increasing the total on Wednesday night, August 31. This will give you a few hours to stake claim to those spots before everyone else on Thursday morning. It will likely be 50 or fewer spots. We will not be increasing the total again if that number is reached.
If you were locked out of the competition site this week, the entry limit will be increased by 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, so make some time now to register your entries that evening.
Click here to register and check out the Sower’s Cup site. You must register first, then you can then enter your beer, mead or cider.
Monthly Meeting at Cosmic Eye Brewing Company
Where: Cosmic Eye Brewing, 6800 P Street, #300, Lincoln, NE 68505, 531.500.2739.It’s “Nebraska’s Most Heaviest Brewery” and we’re meeting there next week. Yes, we’re there again, and put it on the calendar for Octobeer and Novembeer. We’re trying a little ex-BEER-iment here. We haven’t met at the same place for four months in a row in a long, long time. It’s time and we’re going to make Cosmic Eye our home for a while. Thank you, Sam!

Member Doug Finke will be hosting our club picnic this year. We have not held one since the fall of 2019 due to that pandemic thing. Social hour will begin at 5:00 p.m. and the potluck dinner will begin at 6:30 p.m. Our gracious host and award-winning homebrewer plans on smoking brats for the event. Please bring along a potluck dish and plenty of homebrew to share with your fellow club members. The club will provide plates, plasticware and napkins. We have set up an event page on Facebook. Please let us know if you’re planning to attend and if you’ll be bringing a guest. It would be good to know some numbers for the brats and plates.
We’re also considering the return of the annual mead tasting and judging. In the past, the ladies in attendance sampled the entries and let us know who made the best mead. Bragging rights followed. If you have a mead, then bring it along.
Where do I go? The address to Doug’s place is 4850 Quarry Ledge Road, Roca, Nebraska. It’s about 20 minutes (ish) south of Lincoln. Doug says the best way to get there is by heading to Saltillo Road and then turn south at 54th Street. From there, make your way to Quarry Ledge Road. If you make it all the way to Roca Road, you’ve gone too far. Turn right (west) and go to 4850, on your right (north).
One more thing, we still have some collectible glassware from recent Sower’s Cup comps. If you’re missing a glass or two in your collection, this could be your last chance to get one. No charge! (Note: If you use one to drink beer at the picnic – the glass is yours to keep. Yes. Doug is not going to wash it for you. You must take it home!)
The Sower’s Cup
A friendly reminder that the Sower’s Cup website officially goes live on Monday morning, Aug. 29, at 8:00 a.m. If you have recently made a batch of beer and/or plan on doing so in the next few weeks, please consider entering the competition. Keep the dates in mind – October 14 & 15 – for the main judging sessions (one Friday evening and two on Saturday). We’ll have the awards banquet and dinner on Saturday evening, plus a few preliminary judging sessions earlier in the week. To register your beverages, click here.We are still looking for volunteers to help with the event and we will be making a pitch for you to help out at the monthly meeting on Thursday. It takes a lot of people to put on the largest homebrewing competition in Nebraska and the only full-scale competition in the state being organized by a homebrewing club. Watch for a special edition of the Brewsletter with links to all of the volunteer opportunities, coming real soon.
Additional information is in the September Brewsletter
- Brewing Odds ‘n’ Ends
- 402 Quarterly Contest – Ciders and Vienna Lagers
- Craft and Homebrew in the news: IPA, Big Foam and Homebrewed Imperial Stout wins homebrew contest in England
- The Trub Zone
- The latest, greatest and updatest Lincoln Lagers Calendar
Where: Cosmic Eye Brewing, 6800 P Street, #300, Lincoln, NE 68505, 531.500.2739.It’s “Nebraska’s Most Heaviest Brewery” and we’re meeting there next week. You should join us. In order to waive the fee for our monthly gathering, we are politely requesting you purchase a couple of tasty Cosmic Eye brews, and please tip the ever-so-fine wait staff. (That’s a buck for a five-dollar beer for you math-challenged out there…) As per normal operations, bring some homebrew to share with your fellow Lincoln Lagers. Cheers!Big Brew ’22: We tasted the Big Brew beers from the 2022 Big Brew. As a reminder, we started with a 1.060 cream ale wort from Code Brewing. For the tasting, we had eight stations set up. After our first round, we had a winner but need a taste-off to determine second and third places. Finally, after much debate and sampling, Mark Beatty took first-place honors and a $50 gift card from Code Brewing. Second place and a $25 card went to host Kim Theesen. Coming in third was Craig Samek, who received a $10 gift card. Thank you to all eight participants!

The Sower’s Cup Challenge: We sure would like to encourage all current members to brew at least one batch of beer (your choice of styles) in August for the Sower’s Cup, Oct. 14 & 15, 2022. Perhaps you’ll brew in September if you are making an IPA or maybe you have one or two right now in the kegerator or on the shelf that you think are pretty darn good. Ideally, every member would have at least one entry in the 2022 competition. We want the Lincoln Lagers to win the medal count and we can do it if you enter. Oh, hey! Speaking of the comp, we would also like to remind everyone that they receive a discount for the Sower’s Cup banquet if they help judge/steward the event. It is work and it is loads of fun; you learn more about judging beer and you get to drink some tasty homebrew from all over the place. More information will soon be coming your way.
That Zipline Pilsner Base Grain: The Final Announcement… We gave away half of it at the June meeting via the 50/50. Winners were notified. We still have about 40 pounds to share. Would you like some? Well, the next four people who respond to this announcement will receive ten pounds each. It’s Baird’s Pilsen Malt. Thank you to Zipline Brewing for sharing. Oh, and if Kim doesn’t hear anything by the next meeting, it’s going into his compost pile.
More homebrew news: 2022 Nebraska Shootout: This Saturday, July 30!
The Nebraska Shootout is slated for July 30, 2022, with Homebrewers Anonymous acting as the host club. The Shootout judging and award ceremony will take place at Monolithic Brewing Company, 4915 N. 12th Street, in Omaha. For those who don’t know how this competition works, it’s a competition that is restricted to homebrew clubs in Nebraska. A handful of styles are chosen each year, and each club is allowed two entries per category. Points are awarded and bragging rights follow.
Save the Dates!
Saturday, Sept. 24, 2022, is the date for the return of the club’s annual pot luck picnic. Tim & Theresa Thomssen will be our hosts. More details to come!
Friday & Saturday, Oct. 14 & 15, 2022: The Lincoln Lagers Sower’s Cup. This is our annual, regional homebrew competition. This event is tons of fun … and a lot of work. We are hoping for YOU to volunteer a little time to make this event the continued success that it’s been for several years now. We’ll be posting more details soon, along with sponsorship opportunities and deadlines for you to enter your brew.
Is there more? Yes! There’s always more!
For additional news from your Lincoln Lagers — and there’s always more! — click here to read the August edition of the Brewsletter. Tell your friends! Cheers!
When & Where: Thursday, July 7, 2022, 6:00 – 9:00 p.m. Six o’clock for socializing, business at 7 o’clock, then we taste the Big Brews! Kim & Anita’s house, 1008 S. 32nd Street, Lincoln, Nebraska (32nd & E… E as in Elvis or Extract.)
Big Brew ’22: In addition to bringing some brew to share with everybody (home or craft), we’re planning to taste the Big Brew beers from the 2022 Big Brew. We started with a 1.060 cream ale wort from Code Brewing. We’ll set up Big Brew stations in our garage and patio. Each taster and Big Brewer will get one voting ticket. After you’ve tasted the brews and decided on your favorites, you vote for yours by dropping your ticket into the cup of the brewer you enjoyed most. He or she who collects the most tickets wins. First place gets a $50 gift card from Code Brewing Company, second and third receive $25 and $10, respectively. In case of a tie, let’s hope there’s enough beer for a “Thunderdome-style” match-up: Two beers go in, but only one beer walks out. Or something like that…
Big Brewers! Yeah, YOU! We need to know who is planning to participate! Please contact me ASAP so we can set up a space for everybody. I’m guessing you should bring at least two, maybe three, 12-ounce bottles or the equivalent. We’ll provide some glasses. One other thing: If you brewed with the Hopsteiner hops, be sure to note that and let us know. Many of us are curious as to how those are going to bitter, taste and smell. Thank you!
That Zipline Pilsner Grain: We gave away half of it at the last meeting via the 50/50. Winners included me (Kim Theesen), Lacy Phillips, Jim Novotny and Craig Samek. We still have 50 pounds to share. Would like some base grain? Well, the first five people who respond to this announcement will receive ten pounds each. It’s Baird’s Pilsin Malt. Thanks to Zipline Brewing!
Renew your membership! Click here to do it online. Still only $25. Such a deal! What are you waiting for? Seriously…
Save the Dates!
- Saturday, Sept. 24, 2022, is the date for the return of the club’s annual pot luck picnic. Tim & Theresa Thomssen will be our hosts. More details to come!
- Friday & Saturday, Oct. 14 & 15, 2022: The Lincoln Lagers Sower’s Cup. This is our annual, regional homebrew competition. This event is tons of fun … and a lot of work. We are hoping for YOU to volunteer a little time to make this event the continued success that it’s been for several years now. We’ll be posting more details soon, along with sponsorship opportunities and deadlines for you to enter your brew.
For additional news from your Lincoln Lagers — and there’s always more! — click here to read the July edition of the Brewsletter. Cheers!
The date for our monthly club social has been pushed back one week. We hope to see you next Thursday at Yia Yia’s downtown location. Stop by around 6. Drink a beer. The club’s buying the pizza. Cheers!
When: Thursday, June 2, 2022, 6:00 – 9:00 p.m. Six o’clock for socializing, business at 7 o’clock.
Where: White Elm Brewing Co., 801 R Street, Lincoln, Nebraska. Directions: click here.
Beer: Be sure to bring some of your homebrew to share with your fellow club members. Wait. What!? No homebrew? Bring something! You can also enjoy a pint of White Elm’s delicious brew. They currently have 15 on tap. See their beer menu here.
50/50: In addition to the usual 50/50 – where half of the total goes to the winner and the other half to the host – we may be giving away the Zipline base grain. So, buy a ticket for a buck for a chance to win cash and malted grain!
Renew your membership! Click here to do it online. Still only $25. Such a deal! What are you waiting for? Seriously…
The club’s monthly meeting will take place at the White Elm Brewing Company, 801 R Street (in the Haymarket location). White Elm just released their Malverde, a “Mexican-style lager,” and Caught in the Rain, an “American pale wheat.” Both new brews are currently on tap and available in cans.
More news from your Lincoln Lagers on the club’s Brewsletter. Click right here for the latest edition. Cheers!
News in Brief…
- Lincoln Lager Lacy Phillipe took home first-place honors in the 2022 Turbine Flats Crawfish Boil. Her Jalepeño Cream Ale won judges’ choice.
- Monthly Club Social: May 19, 6 p.m. at 1867. No agenda. Just beer.
- Next Lincoln Lagers Monthly Meeting: Thursday, June 2, 2022, at White Elm Brewing Co.
- Benson Beer Festival: Saturday, June 4, 2022. More info here.
MAY MEETING FOR THE LINCOLN LAGERS
When: Thursday, May 5, 2022, 6:00 – 9:00 p.m. Six o’clock for socializing, business at 7 o’clock.
Where: Turbine Flats, 2124 Y Street, Lincoln, Nebraska
Beer: Be sure to bring some of your homebrew to share with your fellow club members. Wait. What!? No homebrew? Bring some craft beer!
Renew your membership! Click here to do it online. Still only $25. Such a deal!
Other beer stuff comin’ up…
- May 6: Turbine Flats Crawfish Boil
- May 14: Big Brew at Code Brewing
- May 19: Monthly Social at 1867
- June 2: Monthly Meeting at White Elm Brewing
- June 24: Kegs for the Cure at Zipline
- July 7: Monthly Meeting (TBA)
- American Homebrewers Association
- Benson Homebrew Club – Benson (Omaha), NE
- Brauer Unterstützungs Verein – Omaha, NE
- Kansas City Biermeisters
- L.A.G.E.R.S. – Louisville, KY
- Local 402 Brewers Union – Omaha, NE
- OmaHops Brewing Club – Omaha NE
- Railroaders Brew Club – Omaha, NE
- South Omaha Brewers – Omaha, NE
- Benson Brewery – Omaha, NE
- Farnam House Brewing Co. – Omaha, NE
- Gottberg Brewery & Pub – Columbus, NE
- Infusion Brewing Co. – Omaha, NE
- Jaipur Brewing Company – Omaha, NE
- Lucky Bucket Brewing – Omaha, NE
- Nebraska Brewing Company – Omaha, NE
- Schilling Bridge Brewery & Winery – Pawnee City, NE
- Scratchtown Brewing – Ord, NE
- Thunderhead Brewing – Kearney, NE
- Upstream Brewing Co. – Omaha, NE