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The 10 Best Breweries to Visit in Iowa
Breweries to keep an eye on in the Hawkeye State.
Photography courtesy of James Heckathorn | Lua Brewing
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We’ve heard this piece of feedback before: You don’t feature enough breweries from the Midwest. Please rest assured—the Midwest has a special place in our hearts. Senior Content Editor Grace Lee-Weitz may live on the West Coast in the Bay Area now, but she grew up in Minnesota and went to school in Chicago. She’s battled her whole life with jokes about winter lasting all year-round and questions around whether people really speak like the characters in the movie Fargo. (Outside of the big cities, yes, they do. And the real Fargo isn’t even in Minnesota! Thanks a lot, Cohen Brothers.) The Midwest constantly faces criticism as “flyover country,” but if you actually take the time to visit some of these states, you’ll find things like the largest truck stop in the world, the birthplace of sliced bread, and the house that inspired the famous painting American Gothic. Of course, I’m talking about Iowa, a state with more hogs than people, and a whole lot of corn. And amongst those “Field of Dreams,” you’ll find the breweries of your dreams.
According to the Brewers Association, as of 2024, Iowa ranks 25th, with 127 breweries inside its borders. Between the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers, the Hawkeye State keeps beer flowing, from the immutable kings of the jungle, Toppling Goliath, to award-winning newcomers making some of the state’s best hazies and European lagers. Iowa has plenty to keep your eye on. 😉
So please, don’t just consider the Midwest as a place to pass on your way to the coast. Take the time to visit some of these states and enjoy the beer gems they have to unearth. Here are our picks for the ten best breweries in Iowa.
Editor’s Note: Did we miss your favorite? Of course we did. There are over a hundred breweries in Iowa, so chances are we missed a few. Send us a DM on IG @hopculturemag and let us know which one we should add to the list!
Hop Culture’s Best Breweries to Visit in Iowa
Toppling Goliath Brewing Co.
1600 Prosperity Rd, Decorah, IA 52101 | (563) 387-6700
Photography courtesy of John A. Paradiso
Toppling Goliath, aka TG, is an OG in Iowa. You can’t mention the “Best Breweries of Iowa” without nodding to this absolute legend.
Started by Clark and Barbara Lewey in 2009, Toppling Goliath quickly became renowned for its hoppy ales that held court in the highest kingdom, such as Psuedo Sue, and barrel-aged stouts that slayed, such as Assassin and Kentucky Brunch Brand Stout (KBBS). The latter became one of the rarest and highest-rated beers in the world.
The original debuted in 2012, with only six people showing up for the release. Can you believe it? We couldn’t. Because after a mere few years, thousands from around the world started lining up for KBBS—eventually ranking as the top-rated beer in the world on BeerAdvocate and consistently as the best on RateBeer and winning gold at the U.S. Open Beer Championship in 2021.
If you check Untappd’s list of the top-rated beers since 2021, you’ll find the 2020 and 2021 iterations both within the top ten, with Double Barrel Assassin ranking as high as number four.
No doubt, TG makes some of the best imperial stouts out there, but then crushes it with approachable pales and IPAs, too.
You can’t visit Iowa without paying your respects to the T-Rex.
Lua Brewing
1525 High St, Des Moines, IA 50309 | (515) 630-5311
Photography courtesy of Lua Brewing
To get a good idea of Lua Brewing, just go there on a Friday night.
“It’s my favorite shift of the week,” says Lua Brewing General Manager Pete Holmgren, who came to Lua during its opening night and fell in love with the beer and the place.
Just one small room with two big garage doors that seamlessly open onto an outdoor patio, Lua’s taproom has been packed every Friday for about nine weeks straight—ever since USA Today 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards named them the best brewpub in the country this year.
“Fridays are bumpin’,” says Holmgren, who admits he has a pretty good playlist going. “It’s nonstop people for five or six hours, just having the best time.”
Everyone from the staff to the customers is in a good mood.
“Families, dogs, all kinds of people, young and old,” says Whitney. “It’s a space for anyone and everyone.”
It’s also one of the reasons that we named Lua Brewing to our list of “The Best Breweries to Watch in 2025.”
The Des Moines-based brewery ranks as the highest in Iowa, with a 4.22 overall rating on Untappd.
After opening in Des Moines in November of 2019, Lua has skyrocketed up the rankings, registering over 400 beers and 139k check-ins along the way!
Helmed by founders Scott and Whitney Selix and Head Brewer/Co-Founder Zack Dunbar (formerly of Forager Brewing), Lua Brewing earned both a spot as one of the top fifty breweries in the world and another for being a top restaurant in Des Moines in just its first eighteen months.
During the Untappd Community Awards, Lua Brewing again showed its pedigree by winning thirty-three medals—including an impressive twelve golds in categories like German Pils, Berliner Weisse, Fruited Sour, Smoothie Sour, Oatmeal Stout, Stout (other), Hefeweizen, Doppelbock, Saison, DIPA, Triple Hazy IPA, and Pale Ale (other).
Celebrating its fifth anniversary last year, Lua Brewing has a lot to look forward to for the next five years.
Pulpit Rock Brewing Company
207 College Dr, Decorah, IA 52101 | (563) 380-3610
Photography courtesy of Pulpit Rock Brewing Company
At this year’s Untappd Community Awards, Pulpit Rock led all breweries in Iowa, winning the most number of medals with thirty-one chart-toppers.
Their eleven gold medals included wins in categories like “Stout – Imperial / Double Pastry,” “Barleywine – American,” and “IPA – American.”
That gives you a small idea of the breadth of this Decorah-based brewery.
Built in an old dairy building, Pulpit Rock has become a pillar of the community. Which is a pretty impressive achievement considering they’re located in the same town as Toppling Goliath.
Opened in 2015 by four Luther College alumni, Pulpit Rock has modest Midwestern heritage but worldwide earnestness.
The brewery’s name alludes to Preikestolen (“Pulpit Rock”), an area in Norway where founder Peter Espinosa’s mother’s family has roots.
That sense of connection and community permeates the brewery, whether in its top-rated beers or local events.
If you need any idea of the success of this highly regarded brewery, in just a decade, Pulpit Rock has achieved a rock-solid 4.21 rating on Untappd from over 226k ratings. That’s some solid stuff!
Big Grove Brewery
1225 S Gilbert St, Iowa City, IA 52240 | (319) 354-2687
555 17th St, Des Moines, IA 50309 | (515) 777-2337
101 W Main St, Solon, IA 52333 | (319) 624-2337
170 1st St SW, Cedar Rapids, IA 52404 | (319) 200-8674
Started in 2013 by Doug Goettsch, Faye Swift, and Matt Swift, Big Grove has grown in the hearts of Iowans, expanding to four locations.
In a post commemorating the brewery’s decade anniversary, Swift recalled that from day one the trio believed, “you have to give people a reason to leave their living room.”
While the original purpose started with beer, today that means elevated offerings for everyone, from spirit-based seltzers to cannabis-infused sparkling waters.
Still, the goal has always been “to produce clean, effervescent, aromatic beers using the best ingredients,” writes the brewery in its Untappd description.
Those like Iowa’s top-selling IPA, Easy Eddy, or the brewery’s namesake Big Grove IPA.
Along with the “Eddy Family” of beers, you’ll find a whole line focused on the citrus flavor—Citrus Surfer—plus sours, hop-forward ales, light and refreshing lagers, and dark and malty pints.
In this year’s Untappd Community Awards, Big Grove hauled in twenty-seven medals, including five golds in categories Munich dunkel, hefeweizen, fruited gose, altbier, and American lager.
Confluence Brewing Company
1235 Thomas Beck Rd, Des Moines, IA 50315 | (515) 285-9005
Where good times meet great beer, you’ll find Confluence Brewing.
In 2012, the Des Moines-based brewery opened in Suite A at 1235 Thomas Beck Road. Started by homebrewer and former construction management professional John Martin and fellow homebrewer Ken Broadhead, Confluence made a name for itself by brewing the highest quality beer.
What started as Martin delivering beer out of the back of his family’s Suburban quickly grew by word of mouth.
Today, words like “craft,” “camaraderie,” and “community” still mean something at Confluence. As does the brewery’s dedication to its Iowa roots. The brewery truly believes that good things happen when you bring people together over great beer.
Those like the Des Moines IPA, with a mix of two-row barley and medium crystal malts and citrusy, piney Pacific Northwest hops. “Des Moines IPA proudly represents the Hawkeye State in the category of American IPA,” writes the brewery in the beer’s Untappd description, “a favorite of beer connoisseurs all across the country.”
Or Farmer John’s Multi-Grain Ale, a nod to the third-generation farm boy and founder who grew up with a fascination for Iowa’s bountiful crops. With a base of two-row American barley, wheat, rye malt, unmalted oats, corn, and wheat, this golden ale is what Confluence calls “amber waves of grain in a glass.”
If you need to see more evidence of Confluence’s success, in this year’s Untappd Community Awards, Confluence harvested twenty-four awards, including golds for a Scotch ale, oatmeal stout, Scottish ale, golden ale, American amber ale, and smoked beer.
Field Day Brewing Company
925 Liberty Way, North Liberty, IA 52317 | (319) 665-0025
We guess brewing runs in the family. Remember Scott Felix from Lua Brewing above? Turns out his brother, Joe Selix, wanted to take on the fun of running a brewery, too. So he opened Field Day Brewing in August 2023.
The 20,000-square-foot complex is truly a place to have a field day. The huge 400-seat space includes a duckpin bowling alley (sort of a miniature version of bowling with smaller pins and lighter bowling balls), outdoor beer garden, fire pits with Adirondack chairs overlooking the nearby bike trails, children’s playground, and full-scale brewpub menu.
While the space is all fun and games, when it comes to the beer, Field Day takes its Czech and German lager inspiration seriously.
A custom-built brewhouse means Field Day can make traditional Czech pale lagers with double decoction, Moravian malt, and Czech hops and serve them through LUKR side-pull faucets.
Similarly, German beers follow the Reinheitsgebot, the German purity law that says beer should have only water, malt, hops, and yeast.
So it’s no surprise to see that Field Day picked up ten golds in this year’s Untappd Community Awards, including medals for its Czech dark lager, kölsch, helles, festbier, and German pilsner, among others.
On the spectrum of breweries in Iowa, Field Day certainly stands out.
Adventurous Brewing
1040 State St, Bettendorf, IA 52722 | (563) 519-2229
The third highest-rated brewery in Iowa, according to Untappd, Adventurous Brewing does precisely what its name implies: brews adventurous beers.
Which probably accounts for the brewery’s super high 4.18 rating on Untappd.
Creative standouts include the Untappd Community Awards gold medal Barrel Aged Hooked on Filling, an imperial milk stout with chocolate cookies and milk sugar, and Heavenly Memories (pecan & granola) aged on house-roasted pecans and vanilla granola.
Dimensional Brewing Company
67 Main St, Dubuque, IA 52001 | (563) 265-2693
Iowa’s fifth highest-rated brewery, according to Untappd, Dimensional Brewing follows the mantra “What Dubuque makes, makes Dubuque.”
Inspired by its own city, which had a rich brewing tradition from the late 1800s, Dimensional Brewing brings those roots to the twenty-first century.
Starting in 2018 with co-founders Jeff Burds and Tom Rauen, Dimensional re-vamped an old Atlast Fluid Power Co. building.
Today, the brewery pumps out sensational sours, precision IPAs, and souped-up stouts that have gained acclaim, netting Dimensional a respectable 4.12 rating on the world’s largest social networking app for beer.
For instance, the gold medal-winning 3 Ninjas TIPA and Jumbled Up (Caramel Latte) coffee stout.
Marto Brewing Company
930 4th St, Sioux City, IA 51101 | (712) 226-2337
Marto Brewing Owner Erik Martin decided to write a business plan for the brewery after his wife suggested that all the time and money he spent on homebrewing could be a potential entrepreneurial opportunity.
Martin devoted himself to reading every brewery textbook and magazine, listening to every podcast he could, and spending all his free time building the perfect recipe.
Marto Brewing opened its doors in July 2019, serving Sioux City, IA, with not only glamorous beers but fantastic food too.
Accordingly, you’ll undoubtedly find award-winning beers at Marto, like Razzle and Midnight Speciál Dark Lager, which both won gold at the 2024 U.S. Open Beer Championship, or Lavender Fields Forever, which won a gold at the 2021 Great American Beer Festival.
But perhaps more surprisingly, you’ll find mouth-watering food, too. For instance, Erik’s Brew Burger, which has a cult-like following. The Certified Angus Beef ground chuck and bacon ground patty gets dosed with bacon jam, marinated onions, tomatoes, and arugula—all sandwiched on a toasted challah bun.
Marto Brewing is a must-stop if you’re in the Sioux City area.
Clock House Brewing
600 1st St SE, Cedar Rapids, IA 52401 | (319) 200-4099
Housed in a 107-year-old former clock house in downtown Cedar Rapids, the aptly named Clock House Brewing is the place to go when you want to have a good time (get it?).
Founder Todd Viall found a love of beer after tasting his uncle’s homebrew. Since 1994, Viall has been a homebrewer himself. Tossing around the idea of opening a brewery, Viall had a fateful conversation at a baseball game, connecting with the owner of Black Sheep Social Club.
Clock House opened in 2017 in a 2,600-square-foot space in back of that very restaurant. Nearly eight years later, Clock House continues to make a beer for every palate in Cedar Rapids.
Currently on the tap list, you’ll find everything from a pineapple jalapeno fruited sour to a Belgian quadrupel to a flagship hazy IPA called Witch Slap®.
With its 4.07 rating on Untappd, Clock House Brewing clocks in as the seventh-highest rated brewery in Iowa.
