Hello all, Me and a couple of buddies are doing a baseball trip this summer. We are flying in to Omaha from PHL and driving back to Des Moines for OKC Dodgers @ Iowa Cubs on Wed 7/17. We are going to golf somewhere on I 80 on the way from Omaha to Des Moines. We are staying at the Embassy Suites on Locust so we will be in town. We are going to Field of Dreams on Thursday 7/18 on the way to Chicago. What is good in Des Moines or the ride to Field of Dreams? Thank You.
The aforementioned El Bait and Barn Town would be must stops. Iowa Taproom has huge selection of Iowa only craft beers. 515 Brewing, Confluence and Madhouse also decent stops. If you can swing it, a trip up to Ames to Alluvial might be in order.
Depending on the route you take, you could run through Iowa City on your way to Dyersville for the FOD. There is Reunion and Big Grove in Iowa City (Big Grove also has a location in Solon, Iowa, which can be on the way). Cedar Rapids has Thew Brewing, Lion Bridge, Clock House and Iowa Brewing Co. (I can only speak to Thew and Lion Bridge as being worth it, haven't tried the others yet, but they are all close to each other) If that doesn't work, you could also run north up I-35 to Ames to hit Alluvial, then you could head north then east across Highway 20 and hit SingleSpeed in Waterloo before heading to Dyersville, just depends on what breweries you would rather visit. Dyersville is building a new brewery, but I don't know when it will be open for visitors at this point. You should be able to find most beer in stores if you are unable to hit some of the breweries. If you do make it to Iowa City, John's Grocery is a great little grocery store near the University of Iowa campus that also has a terrific selection of bottles from all over. Hope this helps!
I hate to say this, because I'm a big fan of Barntown, but you should be aware that Barntown is 10-15 mi West of downtown. And, for some unknown reason, they do not post their tap list. You can check El Bait and Iowa Taproom's menus online and chances are you will find beers from Barntown and/or Alluvial. So, unless you have a DD or Uber, or just really want to visit taprooms, you'll likely find your fill amongst the 300+ taps (and multiple other taprooms) within walking distance of downtown/East Village.
Just wanted to bump this as I will be there next week. Golfing in Council Bluff at 11am then heading East. Plan was to stop at 515 and Barntown for beer to bring home. Any other beers I should check out? Also will Barntown prefill crowlers so I can just pop in and grab them?
Was just at Barntown on Monday. They filled them as we waited. But they did offer us a sample of a new one while we waited. Might I suggest the Blueberry Muffin Sour and Strawberry Drive-In Milkshake.
