Been banished by your best mate and drinking buddy? Worried you’ll spend St. Patrick’s Day with none but yer sister and miniature donkey?
Avoid a mental breakdown (and/or an Oscar nomination) and grab a pint at your neighborhood brewery, where you’ll find Iowa twists on Irish beer styles. From crisp reds to stormy stouts, these five craft breweries can supply the confidence you need to defend your honor, compose a fiddle tune or dance with your dog like no one’s watching.
Confluence Brewing Company
1235 Thomas Beck Rd, Des Moines
confluencebrewing.com
Blue Daba Dee Daba Dad
6.4% ABV
“Yo, listen up, here’s a story about a little barrel that made everyone so blue,” begins Confluence’s musical description of this wild stout — a twist on their Bourbon barrel-aged milk stout 50’s Dad. Brewers put it back in the barrel with some blueberries for a year, then added coffee from Des Moines brand BLK & Bold. “Now when you drink it, you’ll be anything but blue!”
Double desLites
8.5% ABV
Confluence are the masters of the milk stout (Milk Man is Iowa’s unofficial state stout, I do declare) and aren’t afraid to push the envelope a bit. This Imperial oatmeal cookie stout is the result of a double-mashed malt packed with oat, dark chocolate and caramel flavor. Toasted coconut is added to the mix, resulting in an indulgent taste reminiscent of Caramel deLites Girl Scout cookies.
Twisted Vine Brewery
112 SE 4th St, Des Moines
twistedvinebrewery.com
Mint Shock-O-Lot
6.3% ABV
You could drink a green-dyed lager, or you could drink a beer that tastes green. New DSM brewery, Twisted Vine, added mint to their chocolate milk stout for a flavor combo that cannot fail, especially during Shamrock Shake season.
Court Avenue Brewing Company
309 Court Ave, Des Moines
courtavebrew.com
I’m Sorry Dave
5.3% ABV
A classic Irish ale. So why the reference to 2001: A Space Odyssey? Well, CABC’s brewers say they developed the recipe “in tandem with an AI generator.” Has a 320-year-old beer style finally been cured of human error here in Des Moines? That’s not for this robo — er, human beer drinker to decide.
Fox Brewing
103 S 11th St, West Des Moines
foxbrewco.com
Fox Tail
5.8% ABV
No, that’s not a red velvet cake in a glass. This traditional Irish red ale has that ruby-amber color, crisp white head, and malt-caramel finish you look for in, well, a traditional Irish red. By far the most genuine and satisfying red thing to come out of a place called Fox.
515 Brewing Company
7700 University Ave Suite C, Clive
515brewing.com
Suburban Grind
6% ABV
Some coffee stouts put regular coffee to shame, and this is one. 515 brews this caffeinated stout with lactose and beans from Pammel Park Coffee Company, based in Winterset, Iowa. Who needs Bailey’s and coffee when you can have beer coffee?
Pitter Patter, Let’s Get At ‘Er
6% ABV
This remix on the Suburban Grind would make for a perfect dessert after a dinner of Shepherd’s Pie, stew and soda bread. “Suffused with maple and pecans, it’s like eating a pecan roll with a cup of coffee,” 515 says. Consider me sold.
Whose Pub?
Crawl around and decide which person’s place reigns supreme.
Finn’s Pub
7020 Douglas Ave A, Urbandale
Kathy’s Irish Pub
6705 Hickman Rd, Des Moines
Peggy’s Tavern
3020 Forest Ave, Des Moines
Sully’s Irish Pub
860 1st St, West Des Moines
Wellman’s Pub
2920 Ingersoll Ave, Des Moines
Annie’s Irish Pub
206 3rd St, Des Moines
McCuen’s Pub
2565 Wedgewood Rd, Des Moines
Bailey’s Pub N Grub
918 E Euclid Ave, Des Moines
Cooney’s Tavern
3708 Beaver Ave, Des Moines
This article was originally published in Little Village Central Iowa issue 012.
