Brave New Brewing Crew: Keith and Marshall

Brewing good beer doesn’t happen without a great team of brewers. Here at Zipline, part of that team is Keith Gascoigne and Marshall Kunz. Acting as Assistant Brewers and Cellarmen, Keith and Marshall round out the team of folks who brew your favorite Zipline beers.

Keith Gascoigne

Widely recognized as having the best hair at the brewery, Keith brings more than just dashing good looks to the Zipline crew. 

Keith’s homebrewing experience lends him both the technical skill and the creativity needed to continue to produce the delicious beers you know and love on a large scale. Homebrewing is a strong tradition in his family and early on he set out to follow in his grandpa’s brewing footsteps. The family legend of a 10% ABV home brew served at his mom’s high school graduation led to Keith’s own experimentation with Old Ale recipes that might yield a similar big beer.

Lately, Keith has turned his attention to our cask beers. “It’s hard to pick a favorite,” he said, but grinned widely remembering the Cafe con Leche Black IPA on cask at Jake’s in downtown Lincoln. Using cold-pressed toddy, Keith was able to get exactly the hint of coffee he was looking for. Serving it up at one of his favorite spots in Lincoln was just icing on the cake. He still has some ghost chili peppers begging to be infused in a cask, and has plans for a tequila-oaked IRA, so stay tuned for cask tappings over the next few months.

A native of Calloway, NE, Keith is excited to be part of the Lincoln craft beer scene. As opportunities grow for breweries to enter the market, he’s hopeful more and more folks will discover a favorite brew and become craft beer drinkers.

Echoing the passion of our founders and head brewer, Keith’s summed up his dedication to craft succinctly: “I just like to make good beer.”

Marshall Kunz

Taproom go-ers may know Marshall best as the creative force behind the Gummy Bear IPA, a cask offering that had our customers tossing any thought that candy was just for kids.

This wild creativity and willingness to experiment comes from Marshall’s more than five years as a professional brewer. A Lincoln native, he returned to the Star City from a nearly 10-year stint in the Pacific Northwest. “This is where I’m from,” he said simply in describing the move, noting that having his family and community close by certainly became more important the longer he lived out of state. Humbly noting that he certainly must have been the catalyst for the growing craft beer scene in Lincoln, he’s excited to just see “more of everything” in craft beer around town. Embracing his enthusiasm for “more people doing more fun stuff well,” we’re thrilled to have had his passion and good humour on the team since August of 2015.

An avid homebrewer, Brett ales are one of Marshall’s favorite styles to concoct, named for the wild yeast strain Brettanomyces, which creates funky, fruity flavors. Beyond homebrewing, Marshall brings that funky creativity to Zipline’s recipe development, contributing part of the recipe for our Baltic Porter collaboration with Harbour Brewing Co.

Outside of brewing, Marshall is always happy cycling, camping, causing some mischief around the brewery, and, of course, spending time with his lovely girlfriend, Ming. What’s next for Marshall? “Candy everything,” he said, on the heels of the Gummy Bear IPA success. Perhaps some Peach O’s will make it into a brew near you soon.