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OT: Brewery Recommendations Near DSM

nb06

nb06

Active Member
Feb 5, 2007
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My wife and I are traveling to the Des Moines area this Saturday, will get to town about around Noon. Would like to check out a couple breweries and then find a spot to have dinner and watch the ISU game. Not particularly familiar with the area.

Does anyone have any brewery recommendations?? Would like something with a patio possibly, to social distance as best as possible. Looks like the weather will be nice. Looking in a sh min radius of Downtown DSM.

Also, any good recommendations on a place to watch the game in the Covid era?

Any suggestions would be great. Thanks in advance!

Go Clones!
 
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Confluence gets my top vote, but 515 Brewing in Clive has some good beers and a small patio too. Peace Tree is also a solid choice with a small outdoor area.
 
West Hill in Indianola is awesome. Not the best place to watch a game, but worth hitting up before the game if you want.
 
Confluence probably has the biggest outdoor patio for social distancing and it’s close to downtown for game watching locations. I like 515s beer the best and they have a small patio.
 
Definitely stop at confluence before the game. They consistently make the best quality beer in the metro and have a good variety of styles. They have a big patio too but I don’t think they have any tv’s.

For the game I’d check out the Iowa Taproom. They serve all Iowa made beers, have pretty good food and lots of tv’s. They just opened a speakeasy style bar in the basement I haven’t had a chance to check out yet but looks pretty nice.

Peace Tree and 1717 Brewing are both within a block of the Iowa Taproom also.
 
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Two different things:

For Breweries:
BarnTown, Lua, and Confluence. All 3 have outdoor options but Barntown would be the smallest. Confluence has the best setup and their beer is consistent. The other two usually have beer that will wow you.

For the game:
The Hall seems like a good option. I can't think of any place where you're going to be able to watch the game outside but the Hall is probably the biggest building.

If you go this route and you're arriving at noon, I'd do something like this:

Drive to Confluence first and have a beer
Drive to Lua eat and have a beer
Spend a few hours doing other stuff either downtown or west side
Drive to Barntown and have a beer
Drive to the Hall and watch the game

The more I look at this, you may want to drop out one of the 3 unless you have a DD.

If you like NEIPA's
Confluence 1303
Confluence DDH Des Moines IPA
Barntown Pivit
Barntown Silent Steps
Barntown Neon


If you like Sours
Lua has great ones. Anything that has Pop in the name.

If you like Stouts
Barntown always has at least one good one. Just buy a small one because they are always super sweet.
The Hall has Singlespeed Double Donuts

The Hall actually has something for everyone when it comes to beer. You can see their tap list on untappd.
 
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Firetrucker in Ankeny has a good patio outdoor area.

Agree with the Hall to watch the game.

These two places are far away from each other though
 
I will plug the uptown garage in Ankeny, they have a nice patio and beers from all over iowa on tap, so more of a tap room but feels like a brewery, they have TVs so maybe able to get the game. You can also bring in your own pizza from the leaning tower across the street.
 
Official ranking of breweries in the metro-
1. Lua
1a. Barntown
2. Confluence
3. 515
4. Peace Tree
5. Exile
Other places to consider watching the game with TV/Space/Patio- The Hall, Uptown Garage, Iowa Taproom (limited patio), Trailside Tap, Sully's (limited patio).
 
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Clone5 said:
Official ranking of breweries in the metro-
1. Lua
1a. Barntown
2. Confluence
3. 515
4. Peace Tree
5. Exile
Other places to consider watching the game with TV/Space/Patio- The Hall, Uptown Garage, Iowa Taproom (limited patio), Trailside Tap, Sully's (limited patio).
Click to expand...

100% agree with this ranking
 
Confluence and Lua would be the two best spots in DSM proper. Lua has their own kitchen as well. Confluence will usually have a food truck. If you expand the area a bit, I'd highly recommend BarnTown in West Des Moines, who also has a full kitchen
 
Brightside (owners/brewers are Cyclone grads)
515
Lua
Barn Town

If you feel like making a short trip north to Huxley, Fenceline is also killing it.
 
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