Iowa brewery tours

[Bugeater]

Every spring my brew club, the Lincoln Lagers, charters a bus and heads out some direction to tour breweries (and drink lots of homebrew in between stops). The tentative plan for this year, probably in March or April, is to head out from Lincoln, Nebraska, stop in Omaha for any homebrewers there that sign up for the trip and then head out towards Iowa City with John's Grocery as a final destination to buy beer before heading back home. What we are looking for are recommendations for breweries/brew pubs more or less on the way that we should definitely check out. Basically we are looking for can't miss places west of Des Moines as this is just a one day trip. Any suggestions from folks with knowledge of the Iweigian beer scene?

Wayne

[cornhole]

Bug,

Sorry dude, I can't' come up with anything over that way. Buy a few kegs of Millstream and Peacetree and hang out in Council Bluffs, Omaha and watch trains. At least, that's what I would do.

EDIT: Sorry, didn't read it all. Stop at Peacetree in Knoxville, Iowa. SE of Des Moines. Stop at Millstream in Amana. Still can't think of anything west of DesMoines. One stop to consider is El Bait Shop in Des Moines, 150 Beers on tap, kind of dive ish, same building different bar is the Miller High Life Lounge a time machine that will take you back to the 1970's. Miller High Life, PBR, etc on tap.

Let me know if you decide to stop in Knoxville, I'll try to make it over to meet you.

-CH

[stadelman]

Beer Crazy in Des Moines is a good homebrew shop with a great beer selection. They sell everything by the bottle.
www.gobeercrazy.com

Iowa City has a couple of good beer bars. The Sanctuary is the best.
http://sanctuarypub.qwestoffice.net/

Right down the street from the Sanctuary is the Old Capitol Brew Works. http://www.oldcapitolbrewworks.com/ This used to be a brew pub. The owners/brewers moved the equipment to Davenport to start a packaging brewery. (Great River Brewing) http://greatriverbrewery.com/. Don't go to the Old Capitol for the atmosphere, but they have all of Great River's beers on tap, which are very good. If you make it all the way to Davenport, Great River's tap room is very cool.

I'll second the Peacetree recommendation- they are making some great beers. John's had a good amount of their double IPA (a seasonal for Peacetree) which I like very much.

[stadelman]

Another thought- John's grandson is the resident beer guy at Johns. He seems like a great guy. If you let him know you have a bus coming, he may set up a tasting or something special for your group. PM me if you want his email address.

[cornhole]

Beer Crazy in Des Moines is a good homebrew shop with a great beer selection. They sell everything by the bottle.
http://www.gobeercrazy.com

+1 Beer Crazy; owner's name is Mark. Store is in a strip mall. They will have room for a bus to park (maybe even at the door).

[brewranger]

cornhole, bugeater or anyone in the area, would you be willing to do a beer swap for some millstream?

i lived in amana as a kid and my mom worked at the brewery, long before i wanted to drink the beer. so i always wanted to get a hold of some of their beer.

I live just outside of philly if you want something from the east coast.

[stadelman]

I'd be happy to do a swap for some Millstream. I'll shoot you a PM to work out the details.

cornhole, bugeater or anyone in the area, would you be willing to do a beer swap for some millstream?

i lived in amana as a kid and my mom worked at the brewery, long before i wanted to drink the beer. so i always wanted to get a hold of some of their beer.

I live just outside of philly if you want something from the east coast.

[cornhole]

Bug, after Knoxville, on your way to Iowa City, stop at the town square in Pella for some Dutch Letters (pastry) at Jaarsma's Bakery and some ring bologna at Ulrich's Meats. -CH