Tap Rooms Iowa

[Al_4_State]

Titonka Brewing Company​

We had some family move near Forest City, so I thought I'd check this place out. They had a decent tap selection and it also looks like they are doing a little bit of canning. Talked to the owners(husband/wife), who seemed like great people. They talked about how they've filled their mug club with 40 people, which seems low until you realize that it's 10% of the town! They are only open 2 days a week but they had a good turnout on a Saturday afternoon. I had a good oatmeal stout and a not so great sour.

Next time I'm in the area, I plan on checking out The Pressroom Brewery in Belmond.

I honestly think these kind of breweries are as well positioned as any to survive the current craft beer downturn. They're low overhead operations that have a steady customer base and aren't being relied upon to provide living income - just turn a profit.

 

[MJ29]

Wilson's Orchard-Cumming

Checked this place out last weekend and was a little disappointed. The place is cool from the outside, plenty of parking, nice store that sells a lot of things that look good.

I didn't really find anything wrong with the place but I guess my expectations were different. I made the assumption that it would be similar to a place like The Hall where it was 90% about the product(Cider) and 10% about the restaurant. In reality, this place is 90% about the restaurant and the cider is an afterthought. When you walk in there are 10 or so seats at the bar but every other seat in the place is for dining, including their small patio. Their outdoor area is probably the most disappointing of everything. People brought their own lawn chairs and just sat in the grass. On a positive note, every other person that walked through the door had a child with them. The parking lot was full, so I'm probably alone in this opinion.

I've heard great things about the cidery in Winterset. Have you been there? (Sorry if I missed that in this thread.) Although, looks like they're closed for the next two years. Are there any great cideries in the area?

 

[Messi]

opened this thread hoping for an update on Kinship

sucks to run by that place and see it sit empty

*i do NOT miss their dog piss quality beer*

 

[ackatch]

opened this thread hoping for an update on Kinship

sucks to run by that place and see it sit empty

*i do NOT miss their dog piss quality beer*

Place has so much GD potential.

 

[dmclone]

Still waiting to hear about Toppling in Des Moines

 

[Al_4_State]

Still waiting to hear about Toppling in Des Moines

My guess is don't hold your breath. I can't imagine they're moving the volume of cans they'd like to.

The brewery itself is crushing it, and their tap accounts go like mad, but I'd bet they aren't moving a ton of cans out of liquor stores.

 

[Messi]

FCP = Full Court Press

Full Court Press | The Bars & Restaurants in Des Moines You Love

fullcourtpressdm.com

 

[JP4CY]

View attachment 135351

FCP = Full Court Press

Full Court Press | The Bars & Restaurants in Des Moines You Love

fullcourtpressdm.com

I could swear Bruno said on the radio like a year or two ago he was done with expansion.
Never know though.

 

[Messi]

I could swear Bruno said on the radio like a year or two ago he was done with expansion.
Never know though.

they also went from 1 fongs to 4 to back to 1 so wonder if they have bandwidth

 

[dmclone]

I've heard great things about the cidery in Winterset. Have you been there? (Sorry if I missed that in this thread.) Although, looks like they're closed for the next two years. Are there any great cideries in the area?

I checked out Wilson's out in Cumming's and was disappointed. I expected that location to have a great outdoors setup, which it didn't. I also expected it to be more taproom than restaurant, and once again it was the opposite. There is a bar with like 10 seats but 90% of the seating is booth style and it's all about the dining. Their store that's attached was pretty cool and had a lot of good looking food and drink. I guess it's not bad, just not what I expected.

 

[baller21]

I checked out Wilson's out in Cumming's and was disappointed. I expected that location to have a great outdoors setup, which it didn't. I also expected it to be more taproom than restaurant, and once again it was the opposite. There is a bar with like 10 seats but 90% of the seating is booth style and it's all about the dining. Their store that's attached was pretty cool and had a lot of good looking food and drink. I guess it's not bad, just not what I expected.

We checked it out too earlier this summer and pretty much thought the same. If I’m in that area I’d much rather go to The Chicken in Orilla.

 

[dmclone]

Not a tap room, and not in my area, but the next time I'm in the area I really want to check out The Dig Inn in Reinbeck. Looks like they have a great tap list along with spinning some vinyl.

 

[dmclone]

Franklin Street in Manchester is closing its doors. I really like their Drugstore Cowboy IPA

 

[Al_4_State]

Franklin Street in Manchester is closing its doors

That surprised me. I thought they had pretty solid traffic. They definitely had good beer.

Announcement read like the guys behind it were just kinda burned out and ready to move on, vs losing their ass. There are a lot of small businesses that generate a profit but don’t generate enough revenue to make it worth all the time. My guess is this was in that tier.

 

[dmclone]

That surprised me. I thought they had pretty solid traffic. They definitely had good beer.

Announcement read like the guys behind it were just kinda burned out and ready to move on, vs losing their ass. There are a lot of small businesses that generate a profit but don’t generate enough revenue to make it worth all the time. My guess is this was in that tier.

It really seems like in Iowa you need to stay really small or be really large to make things work, especially if you're distributing.

 

[Al_4_State]

It really seems like in Iowa you need to stay really small or be really large to make things work, especially if you're distributing.

Yup. I thought they were small enough, but they had leaned into distro.

Although, I’ll go back to my previous point that the business was probably viable, but just not lucrative enough to justify their efforts after a decade.

I figure a lot of small town breweries are situations where the owners have other jobs and are doing it for fun, just hoping to turn a profit.

 

[CyDegen]

Saw that Kalona and Franklin Street brewing over in Eastern Iowa are shutting down beer production. The end of the craft beer craze is going to keep putting more of these breweries under.

 

[CyDegen]

Kalona Brewing will close at the end of this month - Little Village

Kalona Brewing Company will close at the end of the month. The craft brewery and restaurant located in downtown Kalona will serve its final beers on Oct. 31. “Unfortunately, we […]

littlevillagemag.com

 

[CyDegen]

Franklin Street Brewing Company to close

A Manchester brewery affectionately known as Manchester’s Living Room will close.

www.manchesterpress.com

 

[cycloner29]

Keep hearing that Twisted Vine is looking to sell. They do have a pretty nice set up. Heard that WestO was a possible suitor.