USA, NE: APEShip Brewing opens in the Canteen District in North Platte

APEShip Brewing at 520 N. Dewey St. opened on July 13 in the Canteen District in North Platte, The North Platte Telegraph reported on August 1.

“We had a cold room in our garage that had some taps on it and a lot of our friends would come over and we’d say, why don’t you come here instead of going out,” said owner Joel Bennett. “And they would say ‘You know your beer tastes really good. You should open a brewery,’ and I said ‘Ya but you’re getting it for free. And would someone actually buy it,’ and they go ‘Yes I think so.’”

Joel and his wife, Liz, have been homebrewing for the past six years, and brewery hopping for the last 10. While people encouraged them to open a brewery, they were hesitant.

“Another good friend of mine, he took it to the next level, and he started looking for a place, so kind of pushing me a little bit,” Joel said.

“And we’re also in (a homebrewers club) and they encouraged us to,” Liz said.

The building, originally built as a bank in 1889, is now a quirky nautical themed brewery.

“We had as much fun fixing up this old building, as we have brewing here and, I mean, fixing up this old building was a labor of love,” Liz said.

“And just being able to give back to the community by taking care of an old building like this, and give it some love,” Joel said. “We’ve had some great support. We’ve got some great friends.”

The Bennetts, who have owned a cleaning business for the past 30 years, are excited for a new adventure and creating an area where people can come and connect.

“I think just seeing all of our friends, and everybody when they come to something like this, they’re happy to be here,” Joel said.

“And we’re just ready for a change and this was kind of our dream,” Liz said. “We thought well this is our last few working years that we have, this would be fun.”

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