Sandhills’ Finest
Welcome to Scratchtown Brewing Company, the Nebraska Sandhills’ finest and first brewery. We opened our doors in 2013 and since have dedicated ourselves to brewing and serving an assortment of premium-quality handcrafted beer. We take pride in using four simple ingredients (water, malt, hops and yeast) to make complex and delicious beers. Our beer is made with some of the freshest, purest water on the planet – drawn from the Ogalala aquifer right under our feet.
We’re also passionate about our small town roots and the incomparable Nebraska Sandhills. We invite you to visit us here in the Sandhills and enjoy the beauty of the area while sipping on one of our many beers.
Scratchtown is fortunate to be centrally located to four area lakes and rivers. Our water provides some of the best recreation Nebraska has to offer and our beaches are the perfect respite from the “busy-ness” of life. Be sure to make time for a voyage to slow down, kick back and relax in the best of the Good Life.
Founders
L-R: Jade & Michelle Stunkel, Mike & Julie Klimek, Emily & Shay Reilly, Christina & Caleb Pollard
Scratchtown Brewing is owned and operated by the Klimek, Pollard, Reilly and Stunkel families. We decided that from the beginning we would be a purpose-driven company that used the art and science of fermentation to help transform our community. We have been a staple of our downtown Ord business community since 2013, and prefer to operate our business the old-fashioned way. Everything we brew and bottle is by hand. Our owners work the taproom, events and festivals side-by-side with our staff, while running both production and operations. If you’d like to learn more about the people that work at and make Scratchtown what it is, read up on our “Proudly Not Made By Robots” feature series here.
How Scratchtown Got Its Name
In 1873, US General EOC Ord was conducting a railroad land survey of the region in and around the township that would become Ord. Plagued by a swarm of biting flies and mosquitoes from the recent spring rains, the survey crew completed their land survey in that summer. When asked by his crew what to name the town that would become Ord, the General responded: “Name it Scratchtown.” Instead they named it Ord.
While the name never stuck, the Founders of Scratchtown thought it a perfect name for a brewery. SBC was born January of 2012.