Brewhaha

Iowa Taps the Craft Beer Renaissance 

Story by J. Wilson, Photography by Paul Gates

It’s 10 a.m. on a sunny September day, and John Bueltel wields a paintbrush and a hammer, adding finishing touches to the taproom decor. Randy Romens stands nearby talking on his cell phone, coordinating fence installation for the outdoor beer garden. Grant Hebel is pumping brew from one stainless-steel tank to another. Tonight’s festivities will demand ample supply.

Many years of dreaming and seven months of sweat and paperwork have come to a head. The friends and business partners are in the final scramble toward opening the doors of Keg Creek Brewing Company in the southwest Iowa community of Glenwood and represent a growing part of the population focused on quality, flavor, and an appreciation for locally produced food products.

“I’m a guy that likes to have a beer,” says Romens, who differentiates himself from mainstream beer drinkers by discussing quality and flavor over quantity and inexpensiveness. “I don’t want to get drunk. I don’t want a six-pack. I want a beer.”

This burgeoning beer scene in Iowa is not an anomaly. “The increasing interest and support for today’s local breweries is amazing,” says Julia Herz of the Brewers Association in Boulder, Colorado.

“Year after year we have had continued growth in sales and production and more breweries opening, all of which lead to a beautiful advancement of U.S. beer culture.”
 

Back to the Future

Producing just three barrels (93 gallons) per batch, Keg Creek joins more than two dozen other craft breweries in Iowa and over 1,700 such small businesses across the country, according to statistics from the Brewers Association. 

The growth in popularity and production in Iowa harkens back to a different era. 

Before Prohibition (1920–1933) wiped out over 800 breweries across the nation, small breweries were common. Between 1933 and 1982 brewery numbers dropped from around 700 to about 50, with flavor and variety also diminishing.

Spurred by an increase in home brewing in the 1970s — legalized by the stroke of President Jimmy Carter’s pen on October 14, 1978 — the craft brewing industry has gained momentum in recent decades.

Like many professional brewers, Hebel started out brewing at home, exploring the complexities that can be achieved with just four ingredients: malted barley, hops, yeast, and water.

“I’ve always enjoyed the ‘What makes this beer different?’ kind of thing. And that’s what got me into drinking craft beer,” says Hebel. 

Dave Coy, head brewer at Raccoon River Brewing Company in Des Moines and president of the Iowa Brewers Guild (IBG), also started out on a stovetop.

(Read more about Brewhaha)

Accessible to Zesty

Brewers combine four simple ingredients to make beer: malted barley, hops, water, and yeast. Though the ingredients are few, the styles are infinite.

Toast levels of barley, variety of hops and yeast, and fermentation and mashing temperatures are but a few of the factors involved in shaping a finished beer’s character. 

Brewers are an innovative bunch, so beer styles keep evolving — from ales and lagers to wood-aged and hybrid beer and beyond. You can stay on tap with incredibly detailed style guidelines from the Beer Judge Certification Program (bjcp.org).