Field Day + Urban Chestnut collab coming in cans via Abu Nawas plus much more!

URBAN CHESTNUT BREWING CO. 

  • FIELD DAY X URBAN CHESTNUT NUREMBERG STYLE RED LAGER 6/4/16oz CANS – Nuremberg Red Lager. Malt-forward Rotbier, this version is a more modern bottom fermented lager. Light notes of biscuit, caramel. A bit sweet and very drinkable! 4.7% ABV – IA/MO
  • URBAN CHESTNUT ZWICKEL 2/12oz CANS – TWELVE PACK! Awesome New Format, Packaging and Pricing for this OG CLASSIC!
  • URBAN CHESTNUT ZWICKEL LIGHT 2/12oz CANS – TWELVE PACK! Awesome New Format, Packaging and Pricing for this Delicious mini-me of Zwickel.
  • URBAN CHESTNUT Big Shark Tangerine Radler 6/4/16oz CANS – Tangerine Radler. In German, “Radler” means: cyclist and it also means: Bier-mixed-with-soda. Thirst quenching and exactly what you need for a summer day! 4.2% ABV – MO
  • URBAN CHESTNUT Big Shark Grapefruit Radler 6/4/16oz CANS – New this year: Grapefruit Radler. In German, “Radler” means: cyclist and it also means: Bier-mixed-with-soda. Thirst quenching and exactly what you need for a summer day! 4.2% ABV – MO
  • URBAN CHESTNUT URBAN UNDERDOG SAMPLER 3/8/16oz CANS – St. Louis’ other American Lager…Prost! 4.7% ABV – MO
  • URBAN CHESTNUT SAMPLER 3/8/16oz CANS – No new brands, no trendy styles…. Just a convenient sampler pack, that features some of your local favorites, and pays homage to the City that was built on Lager biers Each pack includes: 2 x Old Maibock Lager 2 x Stammtisch German Pilsner 2 x Dorfbier Bavarian Dunkel 2 x Zwickel Bavarian Lager
  • URBAN CHESTNUT ZWICKEL LIGHT 4/6/12oz CANS – Light Bavarian Lager. You Asked, They Delivered. All the deliciousness of Zwickel w/ 95 Calories, 3.7 Carbs, 4.0% ABV, and priced to compete with the big boys.
  • URBAN CHESTNUT BUSHELHEAD CIDER 6/4/16oz CANS – Brewed with local Missouri apples from “Happy Apples” and is easy drinking thanks to an excellent balance between sweetness and acidity. 5% ABV – MO
  • URBAN CHESTNUT STLIPA 6/4/16oz CANS – We pronounce it ‘sta-leep-ah’, you pronounce it how you like. STLIPA, an acronym for St. Louis India Pale Ale, is a well-balanced DIPA that uses Sterling, Cascade, Mt. Hood, Willamette, and Chinook hops. 8% ABV – MO
  • URBAN CHESTNUT FANTASYLAND 6/4/16oz CANS – Fantasyland – Noun; a place or circumstance existing only in the imagination or as an ideal; dream world. Origin – Midwest “Coast” of the United States. Need we say more?!, A wonderful West Coast Style IPA Midwestern Style, that uses Aramis, Citra, Mosaic, Cascade, Mandarina Bavaria hops. 7% ABV – MO
  • URBAN CHESTNUT BALKAN 6/4/16oz CANS – Balkan Helles Lager. This classic Helles Lager was brewed in collaboration with Balkan Treat Box and features notes of bread and a medium low hop bitterness along with a floral, spicy hop aroma. 4.8% ABV – MO
  • URBAN CHESTNUT GERMAN PORTER 6/4/16oz CANS – German Porter with notes of Dark chocolate, roast coffee. A lager that’s as rich as it is robust, and as dark as it is strong—does it get more German than that? UC’s version of the classic “Starkbier” is rightfully hefty, in both the ABV and mouthfeel departments. Less fruity than your traditional English recipes, this German Porter is best enjoyed after a long, hard day of winter chores… or, around a warm fire with friends and family this holiday season! 7% ABV – MO
  • URBAN CHESTNUT ZWICKEL 6/4/16oz BOTTLES – Bavarian Lager. Pronounced ‘zv-ick-el’, the flagship lager of Urban Chestnut. It is an unfiltered, unpasteurized, German classic that finishes as a smooth-drinking, naturally cloudy bier. 5% ABV – MO
  • URBAN CHESTNUT ZWICKEL 6/4/16oz CANS – Bavarian Lager. Pronounced ‘zv-ick-el’, the flagship lager of Urban Chestnut. It is an unfiltered, unpasteurized, German classic that finishes as a smooth-drinking, naturally cloudy bier. 5% ABV – MO
  • URBAN CHESTNUT DORFBIER 6/4/16oz CANS – Munich Dunkel. Some refer to the Dunkel style as the original bier of Munich and its surrounding villages (Dörfer). This everyday bier ranges in color and sweetness depending on the amount of Munich and roasted malts used. The sweetness of the malt is then balanced by the use of another Bavarian friend…the Hallertau hop…in this specific case, Hersbrucker, grown near Wolnzach, Hallertau. 5.2% ABV – MO
  • URBAN CHESTNUT STAMMTISCH 6/4/16oz CANS – German Pilsner. A “Stammtisch” is an informal group meeting held on a regular basis – more directly translating to ‘table for regulars’. Our Stammtisch was brewed to celebrate this idea of community and socializing. It’s a traditional German Pilsner featuring a blend of Hallertau and Strisselspalt hops, giving it a pronounced herbal and spicy aroma. It’s crisp and dry with a light grainy malt profile. We think it’s the perfect accompaniment to any gathering. 5.4% ABV – MO
  • URBAN CHESTNUT SCHNICKELFRITZ 6/4/16oz CANS – Bavarian Weissbier. The unmistakable characteristics of this Bavarian Weissbier are achieved with a yeast that is decidedly fruity and phenolic. You may note clove, nutmeg or even vanilla and/or banana-like aromas and flavors. 5% ABV – MO
  • URBAN CHESTNUT Prickly Pear Ku’damm 6/4/16oz CANS – Prickly Pear Berliner Weisse. Prickly Pear Berliner Weisse is pale gold and hazy with clean, lemon-like tartness, light body and light doughy-ness. 4.2% ABV – MO

N/A URBAN CHESTNUT:

  • URBAN CHESTNUT PILOT N/A 4/6/12oz CANS – Made using the same Lagering techniques as the beloved Zwickel! minus the alcohol. Nicely carbonated, light-bodied, well-attenuated, refreshing NA lager. 0% – ABV – MO
  • URBAN CHESTNUT HOP WATER ORANGE 6/4/16oz CANS – Infused with natural Orange flavor and American hops, UC Orange Sparkling Hop Water is unsweetened and naturally free of both Alcohol and Calories. 0% ABV – MO
  • URBAN CHESTNUT HOP WATER GRAPEFRUIT 6/4/16oz CANS – Infused with natural Grapefruit flavor and American hops, UC Grapefruit Sparkling Hop Water is unsweetened and naturally free of both Alcohol and Calories. 0% ABV – MO

Cedar Rapids Brewing Society “Benzfest” set for Saturday, May 11th!

Press release:

The Cedar Rapids Brewing Society’s Drink Local Festival, previously held in August, is combining with Benzfest and will be moving to the second weekend in May.

The Cedar Rapids Brewing Society Benzfest will be held at Benz Beverage Depot on Saturday, May 11th. The event will include beers, ciders, meads, and spirits from a variety of vendors from around the Midwest and from homebrew clubs from around the state.

“We are very excited to continue our partnership with Benz. Combining these two great festivals will allow us to bring in even more vendors, while still featuring the many great homebrew clubs from around the state,” said Haley Rosendahl, Vice President of the Cedar Rapids Brewing Society. “Moving the event to May will hopefully result in more temperate weather than the previous Drink Local festivals in August.”

Look for tickets for the Cedar Rapids Brewing Society Benzfest to go on sale soon and stay tuned for announcements on vendor lineup. Follow CRBS on Facebook for announcements. https://www.facebook.com/CedarRapidsBrewingSociety

Iowa Eats: Either/Or; Des Moines, IA

I wrote this review for Little Village Magazine which you can check out by clicking HERE:

The latest venture from the group that brought you Lua Brewing company has seemingly taken over Grand Avenue in West Des Moines! Either/Or restaurant (6222 Grand Ave. Des Moines) opened their doors in early Fall of 2023 and has been consistently busy since. 

“Lua is about craft beer and food. It was our first, so it’s always our baby, but it’s small. Either/Or is bigger on just about every scale. We still do craft beer and handmade food as well as we can, but we have cocktails, we have a private event space, we have a huge patio with green space and a playscape and five fire pits. We have twice as many team members and so much more space. At Either/Or, you can do date night or you can do family night or you can do Friendsgiving. It’s really flexible for any occasion,” said owner Scott Selix. 

Their cuisine can be described as elevated American fare with the focus being on the quality of the food that they put out. All of their burgers are ground in house, juices squeezed fresh for their amazing cocktails, and the always fresh and never frozen concept. “We have a great team. Our head brewer, Zack, did the draft beer list with input from all of us. Our chefs, James and Cesar, did the food menu. And then it was a group effort on making high-end cocktails. So it was a collection of people. And the one thing they all had in common was we created what we like. The beer list has Bierstadt and Sierra Nevada and Confluence and Lua, but also High Life and Duchesse, because that’s what we like to drink. The food menu was a collection of foods we’ve been inspired by. Cesar, our chef de cuisine, is of Mexican heritage, and so there’s some fresh Mexican inspired dishes. But he and James love Asian food as well, so there’s some Asian influence. We also make homemade bologna, which is a very lengthy process and is distinctly European/American. We grind our own burgers everyday, and we only source 100% Iowa-sourced Certified Angus Beef. We pretty much said “let’s create a restaurant we’d want to dine at,” and that’s what we did! So the food is approachable, but unlike stuff you’ll find elsewhere and always homemade (see the Bologna).” 


On why the ownership group chose this particular location for Either/Or, Selix responded, “It’s actually just barely east of the WDM border, so still in Des Moines by about 100 yards. But I played soccer at the soccer fields just south of Either/Or. Some partners on the building showed us the space and once whit and I saw it, we were set on it being a restaurant. Those partners live within walking distance, so they saw potential in the building. And then we saw it right away too. The huge patio, the connection to my old soccer club, the great location on Des Moines’ front porch from WDM, it all came together pretty quick with the tremendous team we have.” 

On this particular Friday, I had the pleasure of taking my two daughters with me to check out this restaurant. They are both familiar with Lua Brewing as we’ve frequented that place many times, and so when I told them the owners of Lua(Scott and Whitney Selix) have opened a restaurant and we are going to get to try it tonight, they were extremely excited. Upon entering, you are greeted with colorful and eclectic decor. The bar pops and the open kitchen gives you an inside look at how your dishes are put together. A very cool, casual, and comfortable feel right away. 

We were seated immediately, although the place was already very busy. The menu had many options that appealed to us so limiting what to order was a tall task for 3 hungry patrons. The beer list was loaded with delicious options, noticing that Lua had multiple beers on tap made my decision easy though.

BEER
I went with their latest double IPA, Dancer. Although it checks in at 8.6% ABV, it’s scarily drinkable and I had to convince myself to not order another. I love the hop combo on this beer and the creamy texture it brings. Lua makes some of the best beers in Iowa and this one is right up there for me as a favorite. Fantastic beer, a beer of the year candidate for sure! 

APPETIZER

Quite a few delicious options on the appetizer portion of the menu, but the clear cut favorite that my daughter’s chose were the Mexican cheese curds. If cheese curds are on the menu, there’s a 99% chance that my kids would have me order them. These cheese curds, however, were very much more inspired than just your basic fried cheese curd. House battered and served with pickled fresno chiles, cilantro and a chipotle ranch dressing these were some of the best cheese curds any of us had ever eaten. The perfect bite consisted of a curd, a pickled fresno, and a leaf of cilantro with just a tiny bit of dressing. It hit all the taste buds. A great dish. 

MAIN COURSE

We decided to do a bit of sharing and order a couple of sandwiches. I asked our waiter what Either/Or was known for besides the smash burgers, the fried bologna was recommended. I also wanted to try a vegetarian dish so I got the Italian mushroom sandwich. This bologna sandwich is unlike any you have had. It’s not your Oscar Meyer bologna sandwich. It’s made in house and the flavor is off the charts. Almost a pepperoni spice to it, it melts in your mouth and they stack this sandwich high with it. An excellent sandwich. The mushroom melt made you forget you weren’t eating meat. Loaded with perfectly cooked mushrooms and topped with a delicious homemade giardiniera and a side of jus, this sandwich would be perfect for not only a vegetarian diet, but even the biggest carnivores can get behind a sandwich this tasty! 

DESSERT
There was no question what dessert we were going to order. My kids have been rice pudding lovers since they were little. Either/Or’s rice pudding was extraordinary. Either/Or added some apple compote and then topped their pudding off with a sesame tuile, which is a baked wafer. A great final dish to cap off a really wonderful meal. 

OVERALL
I’m really excited to see what Either/Or brings to their menu and what they will come up with for their seasonal offerings. Their menu is ever changing and the way they play with fresh ingredients and the detail put into their dishes is commendable and appreciated. This place will be consistently busy, their food is delicious and approachable. This ownership group is doing all the right things and they continue to set the bar high for other establishments. If you are in the West Des Moines area, this is a must stop for a truly wonderful meal!