In town for three days for work starting tomorrow evening. Whenever I’m on the road I try to bring back some local/regional beer I can’t access in Montana. For this trip I won’t be able to visit breweries in the area so this is about grocery and beer stores. Looks like Carroll has a Hy-Vee grocery store and possibly a beer store - Beer Thirty. Anyone know if either of these offer decent beer selections? Also, besides Toppling Goliath I’m not sure I have had an Iowa beer and that should change. Any suggestions for breweries to look out for at these stores is greatly appreciated!
We have a plethora of great breweries here. Look for Confluence, Lua, and Exile from Des Moines. Big Grove is an excellent brewery from Solon that is gaining a pretty wide footprint, with taprooms in several cities including Des Moines, Cedar Rapids, Iowa City, Omaha, and soon-to-be Kansas City. Lion Bridge (Cedar Rapids) and SingleSpeed (Waterloo/Cedar Falls) are excellent across a wide variety of styles. Gezellig (Newton), Pulpit Rock (Decorah), and Tellurian (Charles City) are also worth checking out if you see them, as is PIVO (Calmar). Good luck!
How did your trip go? I haven't been to Carroll in years, so I don't know how the availability situation is, but dcotom gave it to you straight on the Iowa beers in 2026. 15 or 20 years ago Templeton Rye would have been the thing to be looking for. I think its desirability has fallen off, but still kinda a neat story. Unless you know a guy who can get you "the real thing" which I do not.
