Here we go with part 2. Part 1 dominated by Iowa breweries so Part 2 I’ll mix it up a bit more. Once again, criteria has to be: 1) Available for purchase in Iowa in 2015 2) A beer I’ve ever tried before.
**Anchorage Brewing Love Buzz Saison – a style I’ve grown to love more and more and with Anchorage, Blackberry Farm (spoiler), and Lion Bridge constantly available, this is a style I’ll continue to enjoy! Roses, peppercorns, and orange peels star in this wonderful brew from Anchorage.
**Toppling Goliath Thresher – pale wheat ales were 1st introduced to me at Merkles’ Bar across from Wrigley in the form of 3 Floyds Gumballhead on tap. That was when I 1st started getting into craft so that beer and style are always exciting for me to try. Toppling Goliath takes a pale wheat and adds that TG IPAness to it. Very crushable and refreshing.
**Prairie Apple Brandy Noir – enjoyed this bottle for the 1st time at Lincoln Winebar thanks to Jesse. Served at a perfect temperature, this beer was one to sip on and enjoy. Apple cider, caramel, dark fruits and a bit of burn from the booze made this a perfect winter stout…I just wish I had more.
**Big Grove Brewery Trident XII – I think if there was a gun to my head and I had to pick my favorite beer I tried this year, this might be the winner. Melon and citrus flavors combine to bring this 11%ish double IPA seem like a deceitfully drinkable IPA.Plus, you know, I won my family beer fest with this brew.
**Oskar Blues Death By Coconut – I heard the 1st release of this was lacking coconut, luckily I got the second batch of this. This beer is an almond joy in beer form. Enjoyed it tailgating prior to the Iowa/Gopher game and hoping to see more of it our shelves. Oskar Blues outdid themselves with this one.
**515 Passe – had this all the way down in Parkville, MO at the Parkville Beer Festival. Dave and company might have made the best pale ale in Iowa with this beer. The perfect combination of citrus and tropical fruit make this one of the better beers of the year. 515 is just a fantastic place to visit and I wish I could get to Des Moines more often.
**Tallgrass Big RICC – I think if there was a vote on the best Tallgrass beer Big RICC might take home the gold. A 10.2% Russian Imperial Stout coming in a can that has a perfect balance of roasty malts, chocolate, and coffee. I hope Tallgrass keeps pushing this one down their lines!
Part 2 in the books! Let me know your thoughts!
Here it it! The schedule for Lion Bridge Breweries “barrel-aged January” is here and it looks wonderful!
I always enjoy looking back on a year of great beer drinking and this year was probably the best. So many great beers to choose from and what makes it even better is that there are so many great beers brewed here in Iowa that will makes this list. Don’t get me wrong, tons of good stuff on the shelves, but bringing home a growler of fresh Arms Race or Workman’s Compensation makes it that much more special to live in Eastern Iowa and have the opportunity to support our local breweries.
*Big Grove Brewery Buster
*Pulpit Rock Mr. Hoppy Pants
*Exile Raspberry Bohemian
*Turner Alley Czech Village Pilsner
*Firetrucker Black Walnut Alcova Brown Ale
Year 9 of my family’s beer festival is in the books and it was another great year of tasting some excellent brews. The cool thing about our beer festival is that there are many different palates and finding one beer that satisfies all of them can be really tough. Most of the guys prefer IPAs/Saisons/Sours and many of the ladies prefer stouts, porters, and fruit beers.
really enjoy this beer and scored it well. I don’t think anyone really disliked it, but I don’t think anyone was in love with it either. My mom’s entry.
very good showing for Backpocket with this beer. Between the 2 stouts I thought this one had more roasty malts and good coffee flavor compared to the TG stout. My dad’s entry.
Sculpin is tough to beat and this beer was fresh! Apparently right off the truck and into our glasses and an excellent 1st showing for Ballast Point, this was my brother’s entry and he almost won, except………….THE BARON BROUGHT HIS GAME!
A visit to a familiar area of Iowa City was in store for my wife and I as we were on our way to visit 
Walking into the restaurant you are greeted with an inviting pub feel. Dark wood tables and a bar area that highlights the booze and taps. Very cozy, a place that I could spend hours in and feel right at home. I of course noticed the 40 tap handles on the back wall and was excited to dig into a few beers.
pub fare, but Hudson’s gives you more than that. An upscale pub fare if you will. When checking out new places I like to order multiple items, or I’m a fat ass who overeats, could be either of those…but anyway, I started with some basic chicken wings.
I’m a big fan of great chicken wings…not breaded (except for the Wig and Pen, love those), fried until crisp, with the perfect amount of sauce, and I must say, Hudson’s has some of the best wings I’ve had in some time. Their homemade blue cheese dressing and ranch where icing on the cake. Would go back to try their other sauces, but I would have no problem ordering the basic Frank’s sauce wings again.
There are also some slider options on the menu and I went with the pulled pork slider. Perfect amount of sauce, excellent pork with a touch of smokiness, very good slider. My wife had a short rib philly cheese steak with jalapeno cream 
cheese. It was excellent, albeit a bit messy, but something we would order again. My main dish was the shrimp po’ boy. I’m a po’ boy junky, would eat them everyday and this one added it’s own touches to a traditional sandwich. A creole spiced may addition added to this sandwich. The shrimp were huge and cooked perfect and the bread was crunchy on the outside but nice and chewy in the middle.
All of these items, (I finished everything) were washed down with a 
Ballast Point will continue with another off-shoot of their popular Sculpin IPA by adding Pineapple Sculpin to the lineup joining the likes of Habanero Sculpin and Grapefruit Sculpin. I cannot confirm if Iowa will receive shipments of this beer or when it will be available yet but stay tuned for more on distro news. Here’s more information on this beer courtesy of the folks at 
Found news courtesy of BottleCaps80 on beeradvocate that Fulton Brewing out Minneapolis will be launching in Iowa at the Keg Stand in Des Moines on Thursday Dec. 3rd featuring six tap lines with bottles to follow soon after. I’m not sure if this is Des Moines area only release of if Eastern Iowa will eventually see it as well. Here’s the tweet from The Keg Stand on the Fulton launch:
Saw this at mybeerbuzz.blogspot.com and also on Stone’s website. An unfiltered IPA will be the latest from the Enjoy By Series. Iowa is on the list of markets to receive it. Here is more from Stone’s website: