Where To Celebrate American Beer Day In Des Moines

DES MOINES, IA — Grab a glass and raise a toast to whoever created Thursday's reason to celebrate: National American Beer Day. Before you complain that it isn't being held on a weekend, know that the unofficial event always is observed on Oct. 27.

But no one knows why. NationalDayCalendar.com, which tracks all sorts of lesser-known observations, said its research turned up no answers for how National American Beer Day came to be — but just don't confuse it with National Drink Beer Day, which is Sept. 28.

In 2016, the U.S. hit a milestone with 5,000 breweries nationwide, according to the Brewers Association, which considered that a defining moment in the industry as part of a year-end review. The Des Moines metro area has its fair share of establishments testing the waters — and other beer additives — with 10 breweries in 2014 and 18 either open or announced as of early this year.

(For more local news, click here to sign up for real-time news alerts and newsletters from Des Moines Patch, or click here to find your local Iowa Patch. Also, find us on Facebook and, if you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)

The Iowa Wine and Beer Promotion Board said craft breweries in Iowa created 40,786 barrels of beer in 2014 and it projected that to increase to 146,000 barrels by 2019. That would raise Iowa's market share among craft breweries nationwide from 1.2 percent to 5 percent in the same time period.

Yelp in December named Confluence Brewing Co. the best in the state. For those who want to conduct some subjective sampling, Yelp also picked its Top 10 Breweries in the Des Moines area. They are:

1. Confluence, 1235 Thomas Beck Road.
2. Exile Brewing Co., 1514 Walnut St.
3. Peace Tree, Des Moines Branch, 317 E. Court Ave.
4. Madhouse Brewing Co., 501 Scott Ave.
5. Court Avenue Brewing Co., 309 Court Ave.
6. 515 Brewing Co., 7700 University Ave., Clive
7. Twisted Vine Brewery, 3320 Westown Parkway, West Des Moines
8. Firetrucker Brewery 716 S.W. Third St., Ankeny
9. Fox Brewing, 103 S. 11th St., West Des Moines
10. Flix Brewhouse, 3800 Merle Hay Road

Today most new breweries in the United States are considered "craft breweries" by the Brewers Association because of their production size. The term sets them apart from the larger and older breweries that grab billions of dollars a year from consumers.

While you're letting the foam settle in your mug, consider this from Statista: The three top-selling domestic beers in the country in a one-year period ending in January 2017 were all light varieties: Bud Light ($2.03 billion), Coors Light ($1.06 billion) and Miller Lite ($899.2 million). Budweiser came in fourth — bring back the frogs! — followed by three more light beers, then Miller High Life and Busch. Sorry, PBR didn't crack the top 10.

Iowans must be mainstream, since Bud Light is the state's best seller, but for locally produced beers Iowans choose Kentucky Brunch Brand Stout (with 12 percent ABV) from Toppling Goliath Brewing Co. in Decorah, according to the Daily Meal.

The first commercial brewery in North America opened in 1632, according to anydayguide.com, which said the country's brewing traditions were brought to America by Dutch and English colonists. Steam beer was the first uniquely American beer style and it evolved in California during the 19th century. While American lager is the most commonly produced beer today, craft and microbreweries are churning out other indigenous styles, including American pale ale, American IPA, California common, amber ale and cream ale.

If you head out to celebrate Thursday, you might consider a toast to former Gov. Chet Culver, who raised Iowa's alcohol-by-weight restriction from 6 percent to 12 percent in 2010. The Iowa Brewers Guild said since the law’s passage, the number of breweries in Iowa has nearly tripled.

You can check out a map of all of Iowa Breweries here.

And please, drink responsibly.

Image via Pixabay