History

HISTORY OF BEER IN WILBER

In 1877 the Wilber Brewery was thriving with EJ Spirk, Stanley Bartos, FW Bartos and Joseph Richtarik as owners. The brewery was located around one mile west of Wilber, presently the Dave and Erma Sebek property.

The capacity was 25,000 barrels a year with 19 employees.

Known for their pure product, made from Bohemian hops, India rice and northern state barley, the brewery was widely known as ‘The Beer that Made Omaha Jealous’ running in contrast to the major brewers out of Omaha, such as Storz.

In 1919 a fire destroyed the brewery, but not the dream of making the finest, authentic Czech beer in the United States.

That dream was picked up by the Wilber Brewing Company board and the plans to make Silitel, the flagship beer and an original secondary brew, Malvas, are about to come to fruition. Board members noted that a dark beer and a ‘light beer’ are also in the works.

The group has been long planning, researching, examining and preparing for this moment and ground will be broken on a downtown Wilber lot, formerly Altman Motors, in late spring/early summer.

“We are getting the final proposals and costs now from the architects,” Kim Kovar-Anderson, marketing director for Wilber Brewing Company, said.

What will make the Czech beers made by Wilber Brewing Company different than any others in the United States, is this will be a true Czech beer, not a Czech-style beer.

Some of the equipment will be imported from the Czech Republic. Revered independent brewer, Jan Suran of Pivo Praha in the Czech has been working with the group on bringing authentic Czech brewing equipment and a brewmaster will be trained in true Czech brewing methods by Czech masters of the craft.

The recipe, dating back to the original brewery, is in play to be used by the group.

  Ingredients used for the beer will be the finest available from the Czech Republic and the U.S. Most importantly, the water in Wilber was tested and closely matches the water used in the Czech Republic. Over 95 percent accurate, to be exact.

“It is almost like it is meant to be,” Kovar-Anderson said of the water, ingredients, location and dream all falling in line with the project.

Local historian and former senator Joe Vosoba studied and examined the idea of bringing a brewery back to Wilber  prior to the formation of Wilber Brewing Company. Once the idea was examined, business plan developed and tested thoroughly, connections made across the Atlantic, the Wilber Brewing Company, LLC was formed.

“Joe had this vision and we all share it,” Kovar-Anderson said. “This is about the authenticity, preserving history of Czech brewing and this is a project we want to exemplify the good things in the Wilber community. We want to bring interest and commerce to Wilber and invigorate the pageant and Czech festival with this project.”

Instead of 25,000 barrels of beer a year, Wilber Brewing Company looks to brew 60,000 barrels a year.

Distribution-wise the group looks to sell locally, especially during the annual Wilber Czech Festival, held the first full weekend in August, and other Czech communities across the United States as a means of ‘keeping Czech brewing traditions alive.’

“We’ll start and see where it goes,” Kovar-Anderson said. “We’re interested in re-energizing town and preserve Czech heritage, right here in the Czech Capital of the United States.”

For updates on the project, Wilber Czech Brewing Company on Facebook, email wilberczechbrewerycompany@gmail.com.