My good friend Paul with two slow pour Pilsners!
2024 is year number three, doing a summer beercation with our good friends Kristi and Paul. Both families have some German heritage, so we thought the perfect place this year would be the Amana Colonies in Iowa! The Amana Colonies are seven townships on 26,000 acres in east-central Iowa, where German settlers made their way to in 1856 after a stay near Buffalo, New York. The colonies led a communal life until 1932. Today's community remains a vibrant town with shops, restaurants, wineries, and a brewery. Throughout the year, there are many German celebrations, including Oktoberfest!
Lua Brewing in Des Moines sits in a neighborhood outside the downtown area. As you pull into the parking lot, you see a beautiful patio and garage doors that open up into the taproom. We stopped here on the way to the Amana Colonies for lunch and beer. The brewery has a great lunch menu that we all enjoyed. Kristi was ready to try a sour, Paul the Pilsner, and me a hazy IPA. The best part is they have a great selection of to-go beers!
Behind the scenes, Mrs. Joe helping Paul get ready for the picture!
Here are the beers we tried:
Gil’s Pils—This slow-poured Bavarian Pilsner spends three months fermenting and lagering before being tapped. It has light, bready notes in a crisp and clean body. German malts and Hallertau Mittelfruh hops are used in this traditional Pilsner, which has a 5% ABV.
Say Yes - is a fruited sour with blackberry, boysenberry, and blue raspberry. Its thick, fruit-filled body is mildly tart and comes in at 7% ABV. Kristi enjoyed this one and brought some back!
Sun for Miles - is a hazy IPA with a nice soft body. Peach, pineapple, and passion fruit notes greet you with a mild hop finish at 6.6% ABV. This was my to-go choice!
El Bait Shop in Des Moines was close to Lua Brewing, and many friends told me it was a place I had to visit! With 250+ beers on tap, picking one was a tough decision! I wanted to go with a local selection and had the Neon Hazy IPA from Barn Town Brewing on the west side of Des Moines. There is much to take in with all the beer decor on the walls. There are lots of to-go options from the tap and also already in cans. I got three IPAs from Pulpit Rock Brewing Co., including What a Cutie, Easy Lover, and Catosphere—I'm looking forward to trying these soon!
We Made it to the Amana Colonies and the Millstream Brau Haus!
Amana’s Bierhalle and restaurant was a fun place we visited multiple times during our stay. It was a perfect place to be after a long day of shopping! The food was great, and the friendly staff treated us like family. As a matter of fact, as I was leaving, one of the charming waitresses wished us a wonderful life.
Millstream Brewing Co. German beer, Reuben sandwich, and German fries were the highlight of my visits to the Brau Haus. Here are a couple of the beers that stood out.
Nordic Pilsner— is super smooth with a light touch of sweetness. It is well balanced, with a finish of Saaz hops, and comes in at 4.5% ABV.
Schild Brau Amber - is a malty and slightly sweet Vienna Lager. It is super smooth and has caramel notes. This long-time flagship was one of our favorites and very sessionable at 4.9% ABV.
Rock Bock - is one of Millstream Brewing's stronger lagers. Paul and I gravitate towards Bocks, and this one has caramel and pecan notes and is 6.9% ABV.
Day Three Was a Visit to Iowa City
I was excited to visit Big Grove Brewery and Field Day Brewing on this Saturday!
Moon Rabbit Lager - Japanese Lager
Big Grove Brewery has become one of my top breweries in Iowa after they started distributing in Nebraska. Early next year, they will also have a taproom in Omaha! The taproom in Iowa City is vast, with lots of indoor and outdoor seating. Sitting at the bar was fun, and discovering how the Eddy series of IPAs was named was priceless! I found that it is because of white water rafting and the swirling pool after a large boulder in the water.
Here is a rundown of the flight of IPAs I had.
Raptoraid - is a light White IPA coming in at 6% ABV and a dry finish.
Tank Zero: Number One - is a NEIPA that has a light body with pear and melon notes coming in at 6% ABV. This was my favorite one of the flight!
Carrera 4.0 - is a DIPA with citrus and stone fruit. Citra Cryo, Idaho 7, and Comet hops - 7.8% ABV.
Starla - is a hazy DIPA with tropical pineapple and mango notes and a dank finish. It has an 8% ABV.
Paul and I got an excellent recommendation to check out Field Day Brewing Co. in North Liberty outside Iowa City. Initially, we thought this was a small and upcoming brewery. Yes, they have been in business for less than one year, but it is an incredible establishment! Jonah, who was so helpful in describing the beers and brewery, told us they specialize in German and Czech Lagers. I love that and the fact they cover other styles like IPAs.
The traditional Czech Mliko pour is a dessert pour typically at the end of the night!
Let’s get into the fantastic flight I had!
Keller - is a Kellerbier with German malt and hops. It is crisp and clean with a slightly hoppy finish. It is light at 5.2% ABV.
Helles - is a Helles Lager with bready notes, a light sweetness, and less of a hop finish. It uses all German malt and hops in this easy-drinking lager, which has a 5% ABV.
Moon Landing - is a double hazy IPA with an 8% ABV. It has a soft body with many tropical fruit notes and a mild hop finish.
Barrel Apparel - is a Baltic Porter that is rich with dark fruit, oak, and bourbon notes. It is an excellent beer, coming in at 10.2% ABV.
The experience of the day was having a Mliko pour of the dark lager. This mostly creamy head and just a splash of beer is a Czech tradition as a nightcap. The foam from a Lager increases the sweetness, like having a dessert.
The Last Stop as we Returned to Omaha - Barn Town Brewing!
Sunday’s drive home included a stop for brunch and beer at Barn Town Brewing in West Des Moines.
This is my second time going to Barn Town Brewing, and I knew the food and beer would be excellent! I had the perfect combination of a breakfast skillet with scrambled eggs, sausage, potatoes, and country gravy that paired well with Groovy Ruby! Groovy Ruby is a hazy grapefruit IPA that somehow is tart and sweet at the same time. Kristi was interested in having a flight of sours to see which ones she wanted to bring back. Raspberry Lemonade was her favorite!
What a fun trip! We enjoyed our visit to Iowa immensely. Some of the best moments were learning new words that I didn’t makeup and using them correctly. Hiking in the Amana forest or nature trails as they are referred to. We laughed and enjoyed each other’s company, including a GIF challenge. I may have won! Lastly, watching a huge tree limb fly from the window in the Airbnb we stayed in outside of Oxford, Iowa.
We met many friendly people along the way, adding to our incredible experience in the Amana Colonies. I always say you can have a good conversation over a pint, and we did!
I highly recommend checking out all of the places in this blog. Until next time. Prost!