I had noticed quite a few check-ins on untappd coming from Ramsey’s in Marion and talking with Leisha at Benz she highly recommend I give the place a try. Located on 7th avenue amongst the quaint and unique looking strip of stores in Marion, Ramseys is definitely a hidden treasure for wine, food, and more importantly for me…..beer.
Upon entering the restaurant you can’t help but notice the
walls of the place lined with hundreds of bottles of wine. Now, I’ll be the first to admit, I don’t know shit about wine. I wish I did, but I don’t. But the amount of wine that was neatly shelved to the ceiling in this place was a pretty awesome view. According to their website they house 140 different wines, 70 bottled beers,
and 10 tap beers.
The tap lines are what I wanted to see. I customarily bellied up to the bar, was greeted with a beer and food menu and we were off.
A recent expansion has given Ramseys a perfect spot on the other side of the bar to house their 10 lines and I was really thirsting for a taste of North Coast Tart Cherry Berliner Weisse and the Funkwerks Dry-Hopped Provincial, both of which I had heard were on tap. Started with the Tart Cherry and was very happy with the choice. Good fruit, not overly sweet, add in that bit of tartness and it’s an excellent drinking companion for the summer months. Another perk of the trip was being able to sit and talk with Josh about the restaurant, other local places, and the beer they have or want to have. Excellent guy to talk the food scene and beer with!
Onto the food. Grilled cheese, salads, paninis, subs, and always a daily special which the night I was there was a smoked pork loin dish. It didn’t take me long to figure out I was going with the Italian panini. Throw some pepperoni and pastrami on any sandwich with some pepperoncinis and I’m sold. Food arrived fairly quick and I was ready for beer #2 as well. Funkwerks Dry Hopped Provincial it is. Absolutely wonderful beer! Tropic fruits with that dry hopped addition make this a beer to seek if you haven’t tried it yet! This beer with the tartness from the pepperoncinis on my sandwich made this a pleasantly surprising pairing.
I would like to think that when I go back I would try the special or something else on the menu, but the sandwich is made for me. Loved it! If you find yourself in Marion or nearby, give Ramseys Metro Market a shot, you won’t be disappointed. Check out their Facebook page for their daily specials: Ramseys
Man, where was this all summer? What a 
wonderfully refreshing brew on warm Thursday afternoon. Big Grove Brewery in Solon just possibly made the perfect summer brew. If you like white wine, margaritas, fruity beers, or just beer in general then this is one you are going to want to get your hands on.
Big Grove Brewery will be releasing Raspberry Que Sera to various accounts throughout the the Cedar Rapids and Iowa City areas. A play on their popular Que Sera Berliner Weisse, they add 20+ pounds of raspberries into a 7 bbl batch. You will be able to find this refreshing brew at the following locations:
Blackstone restaurant in Iowa City will once again be hosting another great Tap War as Stone Brewing Company and Ballast Point Brewing will be engaging in the West Coast Tap War on July 29th starting @ 3 p.m. Xocoveza and Apricot Wench will be tapped at 5:00. Here are the lineups for this big event:
Stone
Ballast Point
Stone has released the schedule for the remainder of 2016 for their immensely popular Enjoy By Series. This list covers the rest of 2016 and part of 2017. The schedule is below courtesy of Stone’s website:
I just received the following email from Tallgrass Brewing Company with some release informations. It looks like Zombie Monkey is returning soon at it’s going to join their year round portfolio. Here’s more info:
New Release: Flyin’ Hawaiian
This past Friday evening I was lucky enough to be part of a group that was able to tour the Iowa City beer caves. Need to give special thanks to Chad Young of Big Grove for giving me the opportunity to go and also Nate Kaeding for setting up the tour.
There were a few spots where there was accumulating water and Mr. Ingalls believes this water was used to float the kegs/barrels down and made transferring of the heavy barrels a bit easier for the workers. After some questions about if the caves had exits, Mr. Ingalls did confirm they do not lead to the Iowa River but there are still a few parts of the caves that they are not sure what they were used for.
**Stone Oakmeal Bourbon Barrel Stout**
**Destihl Wild Sour Series: Synchopathic** 
**Deschutes Jubalale** 
**Boulevard Cranberry Orange Radler**
The wait is over…The Pig and Porter has finally opened and I was able to make a trip over with wife and my 2 year old daughter (she did better than I thought she would, and yes! they have high chairs!). I’ve had my eye on this place as soon as the sign went up in front, anytime you include the fine swine, you know it’s gotta be good!
A busy night as the outdoor seating was starting to pick up, we were initially sitting where the sun was hitting but their server was kind enough to ask if we’d like to move which was a great gesture. So we moved close to the open kitchen, which I love, as you get to see the chefs in their element.
After the fries we were lucky enough to get a taste of the Red Hot Sausage with house smoked beans. The sausage was made in house as were the beans and topped with an over easy egg, homemade corn bread croutons, and some thin sliced onion! AWESOME! Loved it. The sausage was spicy so make sure you have a cold beer nearby but it was packed with flavor. The house-made beans were some of the best beans I’ve ever had. A little sweet, a little smoky and a perfect pairing with that sausage. Crack that egg yolk over the top of all of it and it could make for a heavenly breakfast. 
