Minnesota Breweries vs Iowa Breweries

I like how you included the 400,000 plus people in Omaha, Nebraska into the Iowa population. That's totally not misleading in any way. In all seriousness, incutrav was most likely speaking tongue in cheek so there is no need to get offended. I think the point he was trying to make with his humor has already been pointed out in this thread. The entire population of Iowa is still less than the population of the Twin Cities Metro Area. With that said, it is still a great thing that Iowans are supporting so many small town breweries. That is truly ahead of the national curve, and us Minnesotans could surely learn from you in this respect.

 

They are the same metro area, are they not?

Either way, take that out and there are still some very sizeable metros areas in the state. Actually, if you take out the Twin Cities, I believe Iowa has more sizeable metro areas throughout the state than Minnesota has outside of the TC. Though like you said, the Twin Cities itself is almost as big as the state of Iowa as a whole, which more than makes up for that!

That being said....the Minnesota beer scene is still much better (by a mile). Like I said, I stock up whenever we go up to see the fiance's famiy. I really hope Surly expands into Iowa at some point in the future.

 

Royalton would never work. Maybe Sebeka.

ps. Hi Marty!

 

I assume the "big city" you are referencing is Waterloo/Cedar Falls? Not sure what you mean by barely 50K, as that area is three times that big and also home to a Division I college. The two towns are connected, and continuous, much like the Twin Cities. Driving through town, you don't see the border as there isn't 3 feet between the cities borders and the border literally goes right through the center of town. Cedar Falls is 40K, Waterloo is 70K. The college has around 14K i believe. The metro population according to wikipedia is 168,000.

Your other point, I agree. Most of the bigger cities in Iowa don't seem to have breweries, they are all in the smaller towns here which is definitely unique and kind of cool. I'm hoping to get to Toppling Goliath sometime soon as I really enjoy their beers.

 

You forgot about Mantorville and Olvalde (Rolling Stone). Sure they are not brewpubs, at least in Mantorville's case, you can get the beer on-tap a block away from the brewery.

 

I agree with you 100% about TG. It is not just a good Iowa brewery, it is a great brewery that I would stand many of it's beers up against some of the best. Some great IPAs (Golden Nugget, Pseudosue are my favs) great pale ales (Millennium Falcon, etc), crazy good stouts (Assassin, Morning Delight, Kentucky Brunch)...and Clark said they are going to be working on some sours soon.

 

Big Swamp's brewing equipment is on its way, so expect them to be operational within the next year or so.

 

Also, remember that when talking about the Twin Cities metro, that figures in some WI counties including that of which Hudson is a part of.

 

On a technical note, the Metropolitan Council defines the TC Metro Area as a seven-county area. The population (as of 2010 census) was approx 2.9 million. The seven counties are: Anoka, Carver, Dakota, Hennepin, Ramsey, Scott, and Washington, MN.
http://www.metrocouncil.org/news/2011/news_700.htm

 

Reinbeck, just over 1000, but just one brewpub. Long live the Reinbecker!!!

 

There's one opening in Moorhead really soon. I've been helping my friend in the early stages of research to possibly open one in East Grand Forks, MN or Grand Forks, ND. Still at least a year or 2 off, but it's certainly being looked at. With the boom in brewing here in Minnesota I'd expect more small town brewpubs/breweries to pop up quite fast.

 

Iowa is getting more and more breweries and a few new brewpubs. Toppling Goliath has been a huge boon to the state. Where we really need help is bottle shops and beer bars. They are few and far between in these parts!

We don't compare at all to the MN scene, IMO, but we are on our way up.

 

We need them IN Des Moines too. Take away El Bait Shop and Beer Crazy and we're left to the mercy of Hy-Vee pretty much.