Third Base Sports Bar & Brewery

Third Base Sports Bar & BreweryThird Base Sports Bar & Brewery
Third Base Sports Bar & BreweryThird Base Sports Bar & Brewery
Brewery, Bar, Eatery

500 Blairs Ferry Rd NE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa, 52402-1466
United States

(319) 378-9090 | map
thirdbasebrew.com

Formerly called Cedar Brewing (1996-2007)
BEER STATS
Average:
3.65
Beers:
15
Ratings:
39
PLACE STATS
Average:
3.59
Reviews:
18
Ratings:
28
pDev:
13.65%
View: Beers | Place Reviews
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
 
Rated: 4.01 by ClintGoodman from Iowa

Sep 29, 2018
 
Rated: 4.15 by Aerizel from Iowa

Aug 26, 2015
 
Rated: 3.83 by ALC82 from Iowa

Aug 04, 2015
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Rated by Awolter from Minnesota

4.68/5  rDev +30.4%
vibe: 5 | quality: 4.75 | service: 5 | selection: 4 | food: 5
Amazing food, great atmosphere, friendly staff and great beer.
May 29, 2015
 
Rated: 3.15 by Kurmaraja from California

Dec 27, 2014
 
Rated: 3.75 by redblacks75 from Iowa

Sep 19, 2014
 
Rated: 3.5 by Burgman08 from Illinois

Aug 28, 2014
 
Rated: 3.5 by KAF from Iowa

Jul 08, 2014
 
 
Rated: 3.5 by Bkoop from Iowa

Jun 13, 2014
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Reviewed by JRKlimek from Iowa

4.24/5  rDev +18.1%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 3.75 | food: 5
Good beer and an awesome bartender named Troy. Typically have five beers that are their standard. Two or three seasonal. Food was very good, I suggest the pretzel ham and cheese. Their apps were very good as well.

Cedar Brew is very much a homer bar. It appears that everyone there knows one another.

Can be very crowded Friday afternoon.
May 16, 2013
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Reviewed by DCon from Missouri

3.9/5  rDev +8.6%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 3.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4
On the way home from Darkness Day @ Surly Brewing Co in Brooklyn Center, MN, I stopped by this brewpub to see what they had cooking. It took me driving past the place twice and then asking the gas station next door where it was located to finally arrive here. I thought maybe they were closed, but it turned out everyone parked in the back. Also, it was industry night so $1 off all their beers!

After opening my car door, loud hip-hop/rap was pounding with bass from the outside! Awesome vibe in my opinion. While walking in from the back, I was immediately in a grain bag room that was very strange.. I was After realizing they collected all of their international bags from their grains, it seemed cool then. 20 more steps in and then I was standing in front of a giant Chicago Cubs sign. This wasn't very cool... Otherwise, the brewery was visible from the bar behind a glass window and they had TV's on every inch of their place. Great place to watch a game! I played Buzztime in between hanging with the locals and I watched them take shot after shot. A ton of party people out on this Sunday night!

Glassware was all the same for all their normal brews and then the 9% IPA was served into a Tulip Glass. Everything was bar average and the place was just fine... Can't rate this down for no reason.

Service was great! The bartender was very knowledgeable and helped with picking out my brews for the night.

Very interesting selection... The dry erase board was full of their 8 brews they offered and then it went down hill from there... They did have all of Goose Island's selection, Widmer's, Bell's Expedition, & Peace Tree's Kolsch but BMC beers took up the other 10+ taps. I hate when brewpubs do this! However, she did say they were going to be switching their BMC's to bottle only.

Since I came at 12:30 and closed down the place, their food menu wasn't available but I still was served some of their homemade chips.

If coming back to MN or traveling thru IA again, I would definitely come back here to try more of their brews! Cool place and easy going atmosphere.
Oct 24, 2011
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Reviewed by beerwolf77 from Wisconsin

3.28/5  rDev -8.6%
vibe: 3 | quality: 3 | service: 3.5 | selection: 3.5
Stopped here with the wife while in town for a fellow BA's wedding. Not exactly easy to find from the road. The windows are completely blacked out. Making it look closed from the road. It's in a sort of run down strip mall. Which only helps it blend in more into the weeds.

Once inside we grabbed a couple stools at the bar and ordered a round. Nothing really impressive in the atmosphere. It looked like a typical restaurant to me. Nothing screamed brew pub. TV's littered the place. Pretty much sports bar that serves better beer.

We each had a few beers mixing it up and trying as many as we could. One of my wifes beers had a bug in it. This was disappointing but not a deal breaker. Shit happens. The servers were quiet and rather lifeless. Not very fast either.

The beers were mediocre at best. Nothing horrible just not real memorable. I did appreciate the fact they had a session beer on tap. Not many places do that.

Overall nothing worth going back to. If I'm in town again I will check out other options.
Jul 06, 2011
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Reviewed by Twofox from Arizona

3.15/5  rDev -12.3%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 2 | service: 4 | selection: 3.5
I visited this pub June 5th, 2011 with my wife. I brew beer and she makes mead, and she tasted the beer with me.

Seemed like a standard sports pub in Iowa (I'm used to Tucson and Pheonix), and the waitress was on top of things. We didn't order any food.

We ordered a flight of beer, and they were out of the IPA, the seasonal being a 70 shilling scottish ale.

As mentioned in the other reviews, all of the beers were ok. Not terrible but nothing spectacular either. There was a "something" common between all the beers. The wife thought it was overhopping but the more I thought about it, the more "Extract" came to mind, there was a noted lack of maltiness in all of them. There may some aging, or fermenting temp issues,but it just left a bitter aftertaste for me.

I'd love to see any brewer succeed, and would have loved to be able to help figure out what's going on (yeah I'm a geek). I hope they can figure it out and err on the side of quality instead of cost. This may sound harsh, but this place will always have just mediocre beers unless they make some major changes in their process. Best of luck to you guys!
Jun 15, 2011
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Reviewed by IceHog from Illinois

3.2/5  rDev -10.9%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 3.5 | service: 3 | selection: 3 | food: 3
Stopped in with some friends last weekend on Saturday night and the place was very busy. We were able to get a booth that held all 6 of us within 10 minutes (no hostess, kind of seat yourself). Very much a Sports bar atmosphere. TV's with sports on everywhere including a small flat screen TV at every booth. Service was OK. The food was typical bar food (Burgers, sandwiches, nacho's, etc) everyone in our group thought that the food was good.

On to the beers, I started with the outmeal stout, not bad (I would rate it a B), moved on to an imperial stout, which I though was ok, but nothing special and finished with their double IPA (once again OK, but nothing to write home about. My wife had the Bee's Knees and said that it was good.

If your in the area, it's worth stopping in, the beers are decent and the food was good.
Jan 29, 2011
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Reviewed by BehindtheFinBrew from Iowa

3.48/5  rDev -3.1%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 3 | service: 4 | selection: 3.5 | food: 3.5
Third Base Sports Bar and Brewery is located in a strip mall in Cedar Rapids,IA. Upon arriving it wasn't clear whether or not they were open as all windows were closed and black but nonetheless they were open.

The interior is a cross between a brewpub and a sports bar with that cozy pub feeling. The brewery is visible behind the bar and a list of current brews on a whiteboard above the bar (IBUs, SRM, and ABV listed next to each beer, a nice touch). There were a LOT of TV's with just about every table with their own flatscreen. For a sports bar I suppose this is good, for a brewery/restaurant I'm going to say not my first choice, but hey, not my place. Glad we were their during lunch as I bet this place gets busy/loud during peak hours.

Service was friendly and prompt, but to be fair it was a weekday afternoon and we were one of 3 tables there. I ordered a sampler of all their beers, no tray but SEVEN count 'em SEVEN 6oz samples were brought at $1 per beer. Brews sampled were a Wheat, Pale Ale, Red Ale, Honey Ale, Spiced seasonal, British Mild, and an Oatmeal stout. For me the top was the pale ale with the red and oatmeal following. They were all pretty moderate in flavor and body. To me the Mild was undrinkable as it was thin and bitter with an overpowering roasted character with no background. The food ordered (Turkey Club and a Fish sandwich) were both pretty good solid bar food.

Overall, it was a decent place with locally made beer. I wouldn't travel far for their beer but a local microbrew is always appreciated.
Feb 23, 2010
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Reviewed by Dogbrick from Ohio

3.68/5  rDev +2.5%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 3.5 | service: 4 | selection: 3.5 | food: 4
Third Base Sports Bar & Brewery (formerly Cedar Brewing Company) is located on Blairs Ferry a mile or 2 off I-380 in a strip mall. Parking is fairly plentiful.

The interior features the bar right inside, which table seating on the outskirts. The bar is dark and is decorated with dozens of growlers and for some reason Chicago Cubs Bud Light cans. Actually there is Cubs stuff everywhere so someone must be a fan. The available beers are on a whiteboard behind the bar, and some of the brewing equipment is viewable as well.

The brewpub has 8 of their beers on tap and they are available in samples. The beers are pretty standard fare (Amber, Wheat, Pale, Hefe, IPA, Stout etc) with one unique offering being a Smoked Porter. All the beers are average with the Smoked Porter being pretty good.

Service on a weekday early dinner was good. The bartender had a good grasp of the different beers and was friendly and timely with food/drinks.

The food at Third Base is pretty good, especially for the sports bar theme. I had a pork sandwich spiked with caribbean spices and it was tasty.

Overall this is probably the best bet for beer in Cedar Rapids, as the other brewpub is a chain place. Worth checking out.
Aug 26, 2009
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Reviewed by hoffman from Nebraska

3.43/5  rDev -4.5%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 3.5 | service: 3.5 | selection: 3 | food: 4
Third Base, formerly Cedar Brew is a decent establishment. The bar is large and accompanies the entire north wall of the establishment, seating in a modified horseshoe. Plasmas adorn the walls and brew kettles are visible behind.

Booths line the walls with individual tvs at each table.

Bar tables fill the space between bar and booth.

A clean place with relatively attentive staff.

The food is pub grub, but all in all very good, and incredibly affordable.

Parking and entrances front and back, this place is un-assuming, as part of a simple strip mall.

The beer, is decent, nothing off the charts (that I have had) but nothing too terrible either. The Pale Ale is ok nice and hoppy but lacking a bit in finish and overall quality that you would look for in "better" beers.

All in all Third Base is worth a stop if you want a decent pint and affordable dinner.
Nov 01, 2008
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Reviewed by MVDrinking from Virginia

3.9/5  rDev +8.6%
vibe: 3 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 4
I have requested to add the new name to the list of Cedar Rapids locations. This location is now Third Base restaurant and brewery. Having been here a little over a year ago, it hasn't changed much. Each table now has it's own TV screen with one big screen being the only "sound" throughout the bar. They are gearing it as a sports bar and many of the TVs, including the big screen had ESPN on. The food was good. We got an appetizer sampler with wings, potato skins, and onion rings, plus some jalapeno poppers and a fish sandwhich all of which we very good. Despite other reviews the beers were just fine. There are 5 "standards" including a honey bock, pale ale, stout...Only had the pale ale and it was a nicely hopped ale. Nothing over the top. Just a nice easy drinking beer. I was more interested in the seasonals, which included a belgian, a smoked porter, and a hazelnut coffee stout. I started with a sampler of all three. The belgian was a great example of the style, and was served in a snifter. The smoked porter was ok. I guess I'm not a big fan of smoked beer afterall. The hazelnut coffee stout was very nice. My wife's favorite. A nice twist on a coffee stout. Overall it was a nice experience. This part of Iowa, along with south west Virginia where we're from, is one of those few voids in the county for good beer. You can't expect greatness, but Third Base isn't a bad place to stop at if you're in the area. I still think it's better than Granite City's cookie cutter offerings.
Mar 11, 2008
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Reviewed by wineswiller from Iowa

3.93/5  rDev +9.5%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 3.5 | food: 4
My "home pub," so I'm biased. To the bad reviews from the other reviews, here's some added info. A change in ownership (Tom) and a new brewmaster (Travis) have definitely improved the quality and variety of the beers beginning Summer '06. They are doing true lagers now. Previous brewmaster "phoned it in" his last year and over used his yeast strains. Hence the bad beer review from others in 2005 and early 2006.

Give the new guys a chance. They stumble a bit as they learn, but they can turn out some nice beers. They have had troubles keeping up sometimes and run out of some of their staple beers. Again, they are learning, so cut them some slack for their first year.
Oct 25, 2006
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Reviewed by hero27 from Minnesota

2.34/5  rDev -34.8%
vibe: 2.5 | quality: 2 | service: 3.5 | selection: 1.5
Located (somewhat surprisingly) in a strip mall on the north side of Blairs Ferry Road. The storefront made me do a double-take, as there are two identical signs representing the brewpub...ok then.

So, I bellied up to the bar.. The inside is nicer than expected considering the building it's in. Lots of woodwork and a pretty decent bar. You can see through the glass behind the bar and look at some of the brewing kettles.

As for the beer..they were out of their seasonal (Beggar Jon's Hefeweizen), so I looked over their menu..

Golden Hawk Wheat
Red Rocket Amber Ale
Flying Aces Pale Ale
Black Cobra Oatmeal Stout
Helles Honey Bock

Their "guest" beers on-tap were BMC products.
Well, let's make a decision..from their beer menu: "Flying Aces Pale Ale - Four large hop additions to the boil of this brew give this one its characteristic hop finish; every hop head's dream!"
It was a no-brainer to try that one. Without going over the sordid details, the beer was pretty awful (see my review for additional comments). It's about a 45 minute drive to the brewpub from my place, so I will be back to sample their other brews. I refuse to believe that they are all that bad, and some other BA reviews show there are some potentially good beers to be had here...I look forward to boosting this rating after I've tried a few more. I'd like to try the food as well, but this was a quick stop on my way through town, and I only had time to try one beer.

The bartender was quite pleasant. Since it wasn't too busy when I was there, she even struck up a conversation about how long they had been brewing, which ones sell the best, etc..

I really hate to be this harsh on the place, but the beer I had was pretty close to terrible..not to mention, the overall atmosphere really didn't do much for me considering it's located in a strip mall and seemed to be more of a sports bar than a brewpub. Simply put, I think they need to put a lot more effort into their beer to spark any sort of interest out of craft beer lovers.
Jun 13, 2006
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Reviewed by bashiba from Iowa

2.65/5  rDev -26.2%
vibe: 4 | quality: 2 | service: 4 | selection: 1 | food: 4
This was a nice place, loved the setup with the nice big bar and great woodwork, the big giant framed beer logos were nice as well. Our food was good and the price was very fair. But the beer was very lacking. In fact out of the 7 drafts the offer they were out of 4 of them. Thats right a whopping 3 beers to choose from. There nut brown, ESB, and wheat. Just a plain awful selection and the beers they did have available were very mediocre at best. If the beer selection and quality would improve this place could be great.
Jul 28, 2005
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Reviewed by orbitalr0x from Illinois

3.43/5  rDev -4.5%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 3.5 | service: 3.5 | selection: 3 | food: 4
I was able to stop by Cedar Brewing Company while I was in Cedar Rapids for my great grandmother's 100th birthday. Located in a strip mall..it's pretty easy to miss if you don't keep your eyes peeled. A nice interior with plenty of restaurant style seating along with a nice long bar in the middle with a window behind it that allows you to view the brewing equipment.

They had around 7 beers on tap while I was there and I had the sampler of their 4 flagship brews. The darker brews were better..however it would have been nice to see a big hoppy brew available. None of the beers blew me away...however they were all still quite nice. Me and my fiance both had pasta dishes that were yummy with fresh veggies and mushrooms.

Cedar Brewing is nice place to stop if you're in the area and is a nice brewpub overall. I look forward to checking it out again as I don't think there are many other brewpubs near Cedar Rapids.
Feb 26, 2005
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Reviewed by BuckeyeNation from Iowa

3.48/5  rDev -3.1%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 3 | service: 4 | selection: 3.5 | food: 3.5
For some reason, I expected this place to be located downtown in a rustic-looking, all cedar building (funny how vivid and detailed some mental images can be). Its actual home is northeast of the city in a strip mall along a busy, commercial street. Unassuming from the outside, much better once you open the door. Pretty typical sports bar appearance, but a little more classy than most. Quality oak bar behind which is a 'wall' of windows that shows off the gleaming brew kettles.

The food was average to slightly better than average. I had a herky (a turkey Reuben) and my mom had a BBQ burger that she thought was pretty good. The beer-battered fries were great, some of the best that either of us has ever had. They had seven of their regular offerings on-tap as well as one seasonal. The only other tap beers were Miller Lite and Bud Light (incorrectly named Bud Lite). I had two pints and wasn't overly impressed, but if you choose with care, I'm sure that most anyone can find a brew that matches up well with the majority of the sandwiches, pastas, etc.

I'm glad that I tacked The Cedar Brewing Company onto my itinerary today, but I doubt that I'll return unless I find myself up in that neck of the woods again. Des Moines' four brewpubs match or exceed it for food and beer, so I'm perfectly happy to stay close to home.
Sep 21, 2004
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Reviewed by RBorsato from Virginia

4.05/5  rDev +12.8%
vibe: 4 | quality: 3.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 3.5
Being my fourth time to Cedar Rapids from DC, I figured it's finally time to write a review ... Overall a nice place to hang out and would be a great place to make your local bar (albeit in a strip mall). Friendly waitstaff and patrons make it feel very homey.

Beers are just above average in quality with the darker beers ceratinly standing out over the lighter ones. One nice aspect is that they have many different beers on tap for people that want to expand their horizons. One thing most hopheads will notice right away is the absence of a true Pale Ale or an IPA...

Their standout brew if you are there when it is available is the Quaker Oatmeal Stout !! Bummer it was not on tap this time (but I've had it before) and Quaker has a plant in Cedar so they should make it a regular !!

Darker beers (which I would tend to stick with here) in order of my preference: Dunkel Weiss, Flying Aces Ale, Black Cobra Stout, and Red Rocket Amber Ale.

Light beers in order of my preference: Honey Helles Bock, White Rapids Ale, Golden Hawk Wheat, and River Raiders Ale (seasonal).
Sep 16, 2004
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Reviewed by daledeee from Iowa

3.65/5  rDev +1.7%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 3 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 4
This one of two micro brewerys in Cedar Rapids. Been around awhile and I think it is on it's third owner. Nicely decorated place. I personally do not like the proliferation of video stations at the bar. This is nice if you want to spend your time playing games while drinking. The beer has many different faces, but I feel it could either be aged longer or the recipes changed. I don't brew so I don't know which it is. It is not bad, but I guess I have high standards. The food is pretty good.

I know it is a struggle to run a micro brew in a town that is loaded
with Busch lite drinkers.
Aug 22, 2004
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Reviewed by mynie from Maryland

2.83/5  rDev -21.2%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 2 | service: 4.5 | selection: 2 | food: 2.5
EDIT: 12/08

As my tastes have matured, this joint has lost its luster. All the beers are brewed from kit, and when you get down it it's basically just a friendly little sportsbar.

---
This joint sits in the middle of a friggin strip mall, so I wasn't expecting all that much in the way of atmosphere. It was actually pretty darn nice, though. Good music, nice TV setups. Nothing special, but nice. My fellow customers were mostly office people who were drinking to forget about their workweeks. Good people, for the most part, but a solemn bunch.

Our waitress was a peach, informative and fast. Five homebrewed beers were on tap and I selected the porter and a bitter ale. The beers were okay.

The menu wasn't too varied. My ladyfriend and I sampled some appetizers, and they weren't that great. That and everything was pretty darned expensive, and not really worth what we paid.
Aug 21, 2004
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Reviewed by mentor from Colorado

3.95/5  rDev +10%
vibe: 4 | quality: 3 | service: 5 | selection: 4 | food: 4
Stopped in for a visit one lazy Saturday afternoon (July 2004). The place is located in a strip mall and could easily be missed. The enterance was non-assuming, but the interior was quite nice. A long bar runs half the length of the establishment, with numerous TV's above the bar and a few table-top video game offerings. Behind the bar, some of the brew equipment can be partially seen through some windows. Smoking and non-smoking seating is available, perhaps accommodating as many as 120-150 people. Few other patrons were in the establishment when we visited, which allowed the waitor to attend to us often and to deliver our food amazingly fast. Our waitor was friendly. knowledgeable, and readily offered free samples of beers for us to try out. They had nine different offerings on tap, I tried five. Three were average in my beer-snob opinion, the Black Cobra Stout was pretty good, as was a seasonal pale ale (British style, not American). A good sized menu offers a wide range of items from salads to sandwishes to more substantial dinner items. I had a chicken sandwich (quite tasty) that came with home-made potato chips (also quite tasty). The owner eagerly offered us a tour of the brewing facilities and was also very friendly. Bottles and growlers are not available, which was no big deal to me as I didn't find any of the beers so stunning I'd want to take it home. Living half an hour away, I won't make a special trip to visit but would return if I were in the area.
Jul 25, 2004
Third Base Sports Bar & Brewery in Cedar Rapids, IA
Brewery rating: 3.65 out of 5 with 39 ratings