On a quest to locate some local area breweries I have come to realize that we really don’t have a whole lot of choices. Quite a few have closed in recent years unfortunately. The largest was a regional brewery, Dubuque Brewing and Bottling who produced 100,000 barrels a year since 1898 and closed in 1998. Most now are microbreweries and only produce on average 1,200 barrels a year. One I came across that is still open is Millstream Brewing in the historic Amana Colonies in Amana, Iowa. Look for a future Podcast episode dedicated to Millstream Brewing. We will try to take a tour of the brewery prior as well. The only other one I could find was called Hardscrabble Enterprise in Hopkinton, Iowa and is still under planning stages.

On the other hand we have a nice selection of brew pubs. Some of the local ones in the Des Moines area are Rock Bottom Brewery (try their Stout, especially with desserts), Granite City Food & Brewery, Court Avenue Brewing, Raccoon River Brewing and Olde Main Brewing in Ames. Again look for future Podcast episodes on each of these local beers.

Filed by Paul at 11:15 pm under Breweries