Des Moines

As all have mentioned El Bait shop is a must. If anything else, you can gravel at the Ric Flair shrine there, WOOOOOOOO.

Exile Brewery only thing decent is their bohemian sours, their IPAs are absolute garbage avoid.
You should be more than happy with the TG ipas available and secondary Surly.

For food, Wig n Pen has the best chicago style pizza in Iowa. It's phenomenal, I always get the meat lover Carnivore.

 

Be sure and get both TG pseudoSue and Surly Todd the Axeman on tap while at El Bait.

 

Centro has Todd on tap as well!

 

any update on hy-vee with TG bottles? i will be making the trip to denver from chicago on saturday! stopping at 515 for sure and debating to stop elsewhere

 

There is a HyVee (Windsor Heights) about 1/4 of a mile from 515-they should have Lightspeed and if you're lucky, Pompeii.

 

If it isn't too far out of your way, Alluvial up by Ames would be an excellent stop.

 

i saw them! they are a little bit out of the way. over an hour. their beers sound amazing. maybe i'll give it a go if i'm making good time.
thanks!

 

I second Alluvial. Top 5 brewery in the state.

 

looks like i might make the hike to alluvial! how are they with their ipa's? i saw that imperial oatmeal stout that they make and it made my mouth drool

 

I don't think the taplist on Alluvials site is current. I was just there this weekend and Akitu was gone (I didn't see it) and Helix is there (and fantastic). I assume they also just tapped their IIPA (Nebulous DIPA with Citra, Mosaic, Warrior and Galaxy according to the twitters). They were waiting for something else to blow, but I couldn't stick around for it. Mashmallow stout on nitro is awesome too.
We took some friends who were Alluvial first-timers. They loved it!

If you're going to 515, you're in luck because they just tapped Passe. Citra based IPA. That one is bangin' as well.

 

awesome, thanks! did 515 still have heptatitis C on?

 

No Hopititis at the moment. But we've got OJ, Passe and (I think) mediocre on. I suspect you'll find something you like amongst those.

 

i will see you guys saturday! i checked the website the other day and hopititis was on the tap list. bummer! really want to try that. love that OJ!

 

Your assessment of everything is spot on! The TG can situation is confusing right now. Too bad they didn't have bombers of Sue.

 

it amazes me how Exile can screw up their IPA's. Every one of them I had has been a drain pour. Their last attempt left me wondering if they even sample their beer before they ship it out!?!?

 

someone mentioned in another thread that the guy from bar rescued said a large percentage of the breweries open won't last. It just makes me wonder how breweries like Exile can stay competitive

 

Good food, good location, good sours. Some of their beers are really good. Some suck.

 

I've never been, but even though I don't like sours, I do realize their sours standout. I will have to try their food sometime!