Paddle Hard Toward Upstream Brewing

The rain eased up on Omaha, and I took to Farnam Street. Thirty-five quiet blocks later, I turned into the Old Market, Omaha's downtown gem. The historic district's covered sidewalks and brick buildings hearken to a different era, and firmly establish Omaha's roots as more Western than Midwestern. Narrowing my eyes, it wasn't hard to envision horse-drawn carriages trotting through muddy streets and merchants peddling their wares.

The old firehouse now housed the Upstream Brewing Company, one of Omaha's best established craft breweries. The details are similar to most big city brewpubs doubling as restaurants - except for the playing cards affixed to the ceiling. On this slow-paced Friday, the bartender was friendly and eager to talk about the beer lineup. Upstream touted six regular handles, five seasonal beers and a cask-aged selection (on this day, a pale ale).

Every brewer has a pale, a wheat, an IPA and lager these days, so I dug into Upstream's seasonal lineup. The seasonal beers include the Brewers' Whim, a more experimental series of beers.

I began with the Brewers' Whim Saison du Crue, which translates to "season of high water," and was named for this summer's brutal Missouri River flooding. With a creamy head and surprisingly assertive hop bill, Saison du Crue offers a bouquet of floral tones anchored by a sweet lemon. The use of rye malt dries out the palate pleasantly while lending an additional zip to the grains of paradise. Saison du Crue has the scent of freshly cracked grains that runs from first whiff to finish. The grains support the herbal tones through the mid-palate, where the malt really bursts out. It's powerful, drinkable and utterly unique among the other saisons I've drank. At a session-level alcohol content (5.8 percent), it could have been the saison of my dreams.

Up next was Vilshofen Pils, Upstream's seasonal lager. I find pilsner extremely hard style to nail; most American brewers overdo it with the hops or pump up their alcohol content to create double or imperial pilsner. But sometimes only a fresh pils with crisp hops and fresh grain will suffice. Upstream uses Magnum and Hallertau hops to ensure an appropriate hop level, not an overwhelming one. The dry close is almost searing at times, but it's when paired with such fine sizzles of grain. Vilshofen was mostly straight ahead, but a perfect summer quencher

With a 3.5-mile walk ahead of me, I turned to a few samplers to round out my Upstream excursion. I couldn't skip the Nebraska Coffee Stout, which reminded me of the better breakfast stouts produced in the Midwest. Upstream based the ale on Iowa Coffee, a cocktail made primarily from Templeton Rye Whiskey. The bouquet pushes out a rich coffee character that runs through the entire beer. Combined with lactose introduced in the brew kettle, the Sumatra coffee builds a steady vein of vanilla that rounds the stout character. The use of rye malts is curious, but gives this stout a very different profile. Not as heavy as its 8 percent ABV would indicate, Nebraska Coffee Stout was a reward but different brand of wake-up juice.

The final beer probably should have come first, but I chose to treat Raspberry Lager as a sweet spot of dessert. Light as a feather, this was true crowd-pleasing beer. A muted pink in body, the fruit develops on the back end. Notes of watermelon, lemon and tart citrus develop, fleshing out the raspberry. nothing is overbearing, and this fan of fruit beers would have liked the raspberry came on a little stronger. The use of raspberry puree instead of actual fruit might have contributed to the lighter fruit character. At 3.8 percent, it's fine for non-beer drinkers looking for something light, but inappropriate for hopheads or even those familiar with Abita's remarkable fruity efforts.

More handles remained, but I had to depart Upstream or risk wandering through downtown Omaha inebriated at 1 p.m. Upstream one last card to play. I bought a corked bottle of Grand Cru brewed in 2007 and barrel aged for a year. The Old Market brewery showed chops at session beers and strong ales, so I'm anxious to see what type of Grand Cru emerged from that barrel.