Sample craft brews by more than 20 Iowa breweries and 80+ beers, along with a host of regional and national microbrews, live music, and food. Attendees will enjoy unlimited beer samplings along 10th Street between Walnut and Mulberry from 3-7pm. Advance tickets are available via Midwestix for $15 and day of tickets will sell for $20. The event will feature performances by Jefferson County Green Band and Seedlings. Guests can look forward to a wide variety of creative brews, including a number of collaborative beers aged in Templeton Rye barrels.

As the Iowa Craft Brew Festival winds down, guests are encouraged to stay for the official after party, Suds in the Street, hosted by Raccoon River Brewing Company. Favorite local bands The Workshy and Brother Trucker will entertain guests from 7:30-11pm. Daytime attendees receive free admission with their wristband. Tickets to the after party are also available at the gate for $5/guest. Concession stands featuring craft beer and grilled favorites will be provided.

Both events will take place rain or shine. If inclement weather occurs, the Iowa Craft Brew Festival will move to the Grand Ballroom of the Hotel Fort Des Moines. The Suds in the Street after party will move into Raccoon River Brewing Company.

The Iowa Craft Beer Festival is organized by the Iowa Brewers Guild, a non-profit with the purpose to showcase and improve the quality of beer brewed in Iowa, foster communication between the state’s brewers, advocate for the promotion of the local brewing community, and lobby for progressive changes in Iowa laws to benefit the craft brewing industry in the state.

Iowa Craft Brew Festival and Suds in the Street
Saturday, May 21
3-7pm Tasting
7:30-11pm After Party
10th Street between Walnut and Mulberry, downtown Des Moines
Tasting and After Party Tickets: $15 advance via Midwestix or $20 at the door
After Party Only Tickets: $5 at the door only
Spread the word! Invite your friends to the official Facebook event.

Live Music
3:00-4:15pm – Seedlings
4:45-7:00pm – Jefferson County Green Band
8:00pm-9:15pm – The Workshy
9:45pm-11:00pm – Brother Trucker

You can contact the Governor’s office at 515.281-5211 or online.

UPDATE: Please hold on phone calls at this point. We don’t think this was a false alarm, but we are now being told that the Governor’s office is supportive and we don’t need to call about the Iowa Beer Equality bill. Back down and reload folks! We’ll launch again if we need to.

Iowa breweries are at a competitive disadvantage because they are prohibited from selling beer above 5% ABW. Out of state breweries are not subject to this restriction and are currently distributing through the Iowa Alcoholic Beverages Division.

SF 2091 bill was introduced in the Iowa Senate yesterday. An amended version will be presented and voted on in the Senate’s State Government Committee Tuesday, February 9 at 9am.

Please email the members of the Senate’s State Government Committee TODAY and encourage them to support the amended version of SF 2091. The amended version of SF 2091 will…

• Provide an equal playing field for Iowa breweries and brewpubs to manufacture and sell beer up to 12% ABW just like out of state breweries are already doing in Iowa
• Allow Iowa’s beer wholesalers to distribute all beer up to 12% ABW, rather than the current distribution through the Iowa Alcoholic Beverages Division

Also help us spread the word by joining the I Support the Iowa Beer Equality Bill group on Facebook.

Senate’s State Government Committee

Staci Appel (D, District 37), Chair
staci.appel@legis.state.ia.us

John P. (Jack) Kibbie (D, District 4), Vice Chair
john.kibbie@legis.state.ia.us

Randy Feenstra (R, District 2), Ranking Member
randy.feenstra@legis.state.ia.us

Dennis H. Black (D, District 21)
dennis.black@legis.state.ia.us

Thomas G. Courtney (D, District 44)
thomas.courtney@legis.state.ia.us

Jeff Danielson (D, District 10)
jeff.danielson@legis.state.ia.us

Dick L. Dearden (D, District 34)
dick.dearden@legis.state.ia.us

David Hartsuch (R, District 41)
david.hartsuch@legis.state.ia.us

Jack Hatch (D, District 33)
jack.hatch@legis.state.ia.us

Wally E. Horn (D, District 17)
wally.horn@legis.state.ia.us

Pam Jochum (D, District 14)
Pam.Jochum@legis.state.ia.us

James A. Seymour (R, District 28)
james.seymour@legis.state.ia.us

Steven J. Sodders (D, District 22)
steve.sodders@legis.state.ia.us

Ron Wieck (R, District 27)
ron.wieck@legis.state.ia.us

Iowa is home to a diverse group of nearly 20 breweries spread across the entire state. One has been operating since the mid ’80s while others have only opened in the past few months. One is a maker of some of the best hard cider you’ll ever taste while others feature up to 13 different beers at a time. A few package their beers in bottles for off-site consumption, while others primarily serve at their brewery-restaurants. Find out more about each of the craft breweries in Iowa.

Four courses will be served, each paired with a different Olde Main beer. Brewery tours and a social hour will begin at 6pm, with the dinner service starting at 7pm. Olde Main brewers will be on hand to discuss the food and beer pairings. A limited number of tickets are available for $40/person (includes tax and gratuity) and can be purchased now at the restaurant and brewpub or by calling 515-232-0553. To hold a spot in the dinner you must pay the full $40 or a $20 deposit.

Course 1
Sodbuster Stout & Wild Mushroom Napoleon – Caramelized Crimini, oyster and shitaki mushrooms in puff pastry with a Sodbuster Stout demi glace.
Served with Sodbuster, Stout Ale

Course 2
Spinach Salad – Baby spinach with mandarin oranges, walnuts and red onions, topped with warm bacon vinaigrette.
Served with Dinkey Wheat, Belgian Style Wheat Ale

Course 3
Pepper Crusted Angus Tenderloin – 8-oz. Certified Angus Beef shoulder tenderloin crusted with cracked pepper then grilled to perfection. Served with warm potato salad and sautéed fresh green beans and baby carrots.
Served with Long Face, Amber Ale

Course 4
Pumpkin Cheesecake
Served with Horseman’s Revenge, Pumpkin Ale

Click here for information on pairing Olde Main beers with food and recipes for cooking with beer.

Alcohol Content in Beer
The Brewers Association (BA) believes the American beer drinker should have access to the widest range of domestically brewed beers made available by licensed breweries. The BA advocates for and supports state laws and regulatory protocols which expand beer drinker choice in the American marketplace. The accessibility of diverse American beer styles should reflect demand for these beers from responsible beer drinkers, and should not be restricted through artificial barriers to market entry.
BA believes that to provide the greatest ongoing choice for American beer drinkers, consistent with historical brewing tradition and beer’s valued role in American food and beverage culture, brewers should have the right to offer beers of varying alcohol content and not be restricted by limits of alcohol by volume (abv) or alcohol by weight (abw). Similarly, American beer drinkers should have the right to the responsible enjoyment of different beer styles with the appropriate alcohol strength without having to pay a different tax based on the alcohol content of the beer.

Read more of the Brewer’s Association’s position statements here.

What’s currently on tap at Olde Main:
- Dinkey Wheat, Belgian Style Wheat Ale
- Long Face, Amber Ale
- Off KILTer, Scottish Ale
- Clone, Pale Ale
- Sodbuster, Stout Ale
- Gryphonbraü, American Lager
- Red Monkey, Root Beer
- Bourbon Aged Sodbuster (brewpub exclusive)
- Yub Nub, Vanilla Lager (brewpub exclusive)
- Coming soon: Der Festen, Oktoberfest (seasonal)

Read more about all of Olde Main’s brews.

Cascade hops in the Worth Brewing Co. hop garden.

The first hops of the year were picked on August 23 and tossed in the brew kettle fresh the next day for our annual Wet Hop Ale. Forgoing the traditional drying process yields a different final beer with complex flavor and aroma properties. This ale is not more bitter (it’s less bitter than our Pale Ale) even though we use about five times more hops by weight than normal. The resulting ale is a refined, gentle brew, one of my favorites. I’ll decide whether to add more hops to the keg after post-fermentation tasting. Hops were harvested from the Pangburn farm as well as our field, pictured above (that red fruit in the background will find its way into our Five Season Cherry Elixer this winter).