Cedar Rapids Brewing Society

Posted: **Thu Apr 07, 2011 11:09 am**

Mr T wrote:Cj..were talking reds down town cr not north liberty..
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I was actually talking about Red's in NL.

Posted: **Thu Apr 07, 2011 12:02 pm**

No worries for me. Some of the best beer in town is brewed and served in my basement. Short commute.

Posted: **Thu Apr 07, 2011 12:09 pm**

My bad, thought were originally talking about Reds down town.. guess it shifted. Hard to keep up with Work and all the brew emails.. haha.

From: brownbeard [mailto:brew-news@crbeernuts.org]
Sent: Thursday, April 07, 2011 12:10 PM
To: brew-news@crbeernuts.org
Subject: Re: Hub City may soon be no more

Mr T wrote:
Cj..were talking reds down town cr not north liberty..
Sent from my U.S. CellularÂ® Android phone

I was actually talking about Red's in NL.

You can't get with this with a bad hip - Matt

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Posted: **Thu Apr 07, 2011 12:34 pm**

Matt F wrote:No worries for me. Some of the best beer in town is brewed and served in my basement. Short commute.

Cover charge?

Posted: **Thu Apr 07, 2011 12:38 pm**

Having two young kids I don't really go out to any bars anymore, but I will do lunch at Red's in NL every now and again and I always have a couple brews. I wouldn't go down there if it wasn't for their tap selection.

If we can actually get Founders here in Iowa, between them and Bell's, I'll be pretty frickin happy. Would love to see Stone on the shelves here though...

Posted: **Thu Apr 07, 2011 12:41 pm**

Was talking about Reds in North Liberty.

Mr T wrote:Cj..were talking reds down town cr not north liberty..
Sent from my U.S. CellularÂ® Android phone

BrewHound <brew-news@crbeernuts.org> wrote:

brownbeard wrote:
You can get to Red's Ale House in about 25 minutes from anywhere in CR. When I lived in Minneapolis, if I wanted to go to a good beer bar, in town, I would have to drive more than that. Unless you live in the right part of town, I am sure San Diego would even require more than 20 minutes to get to a great tap house. We are spoiled in that we can drive all the way across town in less than 10 minutes.

I would love to see a better beer bar in town. But if you have lived in Iowa for any amount of time, things are definitely looking up. There is every reason to be optimistic about our beer future in this area. People out west are begging for the Bell's beers we can buy in the grocery store. People out east cannot get the New Belgium "Lips of Faith" series that is on grocery store shelves in Iowa.

Chin up, you bunch of crybabies. It's a great time to be a beer drinker. My pint glass is half full.
Yes you can get to Red's inside of 20 minutes, however, that is a long way to drive and unlike many other places, that is out of town so 20 minutes is a larger distance then in most cities. The other part is around here that is one hell of a cab fair to get there and home, you are going to pay out the wazoo for it, and since I am cheap and not willing to make that drive after even having 1 or 2 beers, that kind of takes it off the list for me personally.

I will concur that things are looking up in Iowa, don't know about your analogy to Bell's beers and the New Belgian Lips of Faith series. We can't get Russian River or Stone stuff here, nore Dogfish head, Surly, etc... that is a matter of geography more then anything. Breweries are going to start local and expand outward by region closest to home taking into account states alcohol laws. So, I guess I would say that it is nice to see breweries doing well that they can expand and these items are starting to flow into Iowa, also the change in the law did really help our state.

The other thing I think is it has a lot to do with this area. Look at Iowa City they have a much better beer scene (speaking in bar service terms). This is because they the college kids and they are demanding better beer. CR does not seem to have as much of that demand. Guess CR must be filled with NASCAR folks, so long live "Bush light".

Seeing you with a half full pint must have been poured less then a minute ago or it would have been 1/8 full by now.

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Posted: **Thu Apr 07, 2011 12:48 pm**

brownbeard wrote: It's important to note that the beer law is less than one year old. And the change was immediate, and has been substantial. And it is only going to get better. Plus, distributors are taking notice that people here are buying craft beer. I know folks in IC who are driving to CR to buy La Folie and Le Terroir. Because they can't get it there. Outside of John's, our ability to buy beer in CR beats IC, hands down.

I would not say the change was immediate, but yes I agree that it has contributed to change and the change will continue. I would say store purchase wise they are equal in availabilty. I don't see why that would be the case. As most of the distributors who distribute to CR also distribute to IC. So why there would be much difference is beyond me, other then what the stores sign up to carry with the distributors.

brownbeard wrote:And I am not as convinced that their bar scene is that much better. I went to a concert downtown in IC last week. I had to search for a bar with a good beer selection. Most of it was nothing different than we have here. I did finally settle on a bar that a nice beer selection, but they were ALL Iowa beers. Most bars were offering Noble Pils as their premium draft. You can get that almost anywhere in CR on tap.

I am no expert on Iowa City by any means don't even go there very often. I do consider Reds more Iowa City then CR. Also I have heard others in the beer club talk about several bars having Hopslam on tap in Iowa City during its availability. There was not one bar in CR that had Hopslam on tap when it was available. So, I don't know, I just go on the indicators that I hear from people in the club who work in IC. However, this is by no means evidence of them having a better bar scene. Also just because you went there for a concert and could not find one does not provide much proof they don't exist there. I am fairly familar with who has what in CR, but not IC, because I live here. I am sure this is similar for you too Tim. You live here, most of your friends live here. I am sure you have a much better understanding of bars here then there. However, I will not speak for you, this is my assumption. on the scene, I just would like one good beer bar, that is all I ask.

Posted: **Thu Apr 07, 2011 12:54 pm**

brownbeard wrote:
Mr T wrote:Cj..were talking reds down town cr not north liberty..
Sent from my U.S. CellularÂ® Android phone

I was actually talking about Red's in NL.

I understood that you were talking about Red's in NL.

Posted: **Thu Apr 07, 2011 12:59 pm**

Biggest difference I see between the bars in IC and CR is there are a lot more moms at the bars in CR.

Posted: **Thu Apr 07, 2011 1:16 pm**

Nicely put franklin
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Matt F <brew-news@crbeernuts.org> wrote:

Biggest difference I see between the bars in IC and CR is there are a lot more moms at the bars in CR. [Wink]

------------------------
Matt Franklin
Slappy Brewing North

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Posted: **Thu Apr 07, 2011 2:07 pm**

As far as I know, college kids drink terrible beer. In fact, when you go to a college bar (read meat market) everyone is drinking shitty light beer or cocktails. Craft beer is definitely an post graduate industry.

IC liquor stores are not getting the same beers we are, because it is not selling as well in IC. CR has been getting cases of beers that were previously destined for Des Moines, because demand is so high in CR. I got that from talking to a distributor.

Whatever IC has in college students, we make up for in population. Working adults can spend more on beer than poor college students. That's why $1 draws of bud light will pack a college bar. But $3 pints of craft beer will go unnoticed.

Posted: **Thu Apr 07, 2011 4:08 pm**

CR gets good beers because they are requested by the stores. Matt at Benz puts in an order for the big seasonals and requests anything new that is avaliable. He knows people want the one off beers.

Posted: **Thu Apr 07, 2011 4:11 pm**

As far as a good beer bar, I don't know why CR doesn't have one. I'm sure we could support something as easy as an Old Chicago, which has better beers then anywhere in CR. Mahoneys looks to be upping the ante though.

Posted: **Fri Apr 08, 2011 10:12 am**

Thinking about paying respects to Hub City before they close. Trying to get a head count on interest about going up tomorrow/Saturday about 2 pm for quick tour of the new and now going brewery. I haven’t double checked yet to see if they are still open, but I did reach out to the CRAZE club as well to meet up with us and if there is any further interest we could swing by the lava lounge for dinner.

From: tompb [mailto:brew-news@crbeernuts.org]
Sent: Thursday, April 07, 2011 5:12 PM
To: brew-news@crbeernuts.org
Subject: Re: Hub City may soon be no more

As far as a good beer bar, I don't know why CR doesn't have one. I'm sure we could support something as easy as an Old Chicago, which has better beers then anywhere in CR. Mahoneys looks to be upping the ante though.

Runamok Brewing

Jesus must have been a yeast. Who else could turn water into wine?

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Posted: **Fri Apr 08, 2011 6:36 pm**

I forgot we had the barrel deal at CJ’s Saturday, so I don’t want to conflict with that. But if anyone is interested I would like to work something up either on a school night or weekend to make a quick visit/tour/tasting in the next couple of weeks. Sound off if your interested. If no one cares then let me know to shut up.. haha.

Had some good times with Hub, and they have treated me well personally at least, so I plan to head up one way or another.

Cheers all.

From: Matt F [mailto:brew-news@crbeernuts.org]
Sent: Thursday, April 07, 2011 2:00 PM
To: brew-news@crbeernuts.org
Subject: Re: Hub City may soon be no more

Biggest difference I see between the bars in IC and CR is there are a lot more moms at the bars in CR.

Matt Franklin
Slappy Brewing North

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