Alluvial Brewing
- Thread starter baller21
- Start date
Yep, good brews at both Alluvial and Torrent. Alluvial will be a nice place to grab a brew and sit out on their patio looking at the Prairie in the summer I think. Suddenly Ames has three craft breweries with Olde Main planning to expand their operation: http://www.kcci.com/news/new-events-center-being-planned-in-ames/32015922
I went to both before the spring game. I expected to like Torrent a lot more but Alluvial was the one that surprised me. I liked the Torrent Double IPA but that's about it. The milk stout they had was terrible and the brown was just average. Le Mexu and Ox-Eye on Nitro was good from Alluvial. Both places are pretty good to visit and I only expect them to get better.
For Alluvial, this upgrade also requires a move to a new space. Their current brew house is located in the same building as the taproom but that will soon change as the beer will be made in an out building just a few feet North of the taproom. The move has required some repair and construction and by the looks of Matt Nissen's post, it won't be much longer.
While Alluvial is already in the Des Moines market, but at only a few locations, this expansion could mean even more taps around town. Also, there's talk of possibly canning beers and who doesn't want to crush a cold Lutris or Helix from a 16 ounce can? The fog is getting thicke
Awesome. I love Alluvial. Top 5 brewery in the state for sure. Arguably the best tap room.
Well you can’t spell Aluvial without Al-luv. lol
Agree that it’s top 5 and it’s only going to get better.
If anyone has extra Aurox bottles from the most recent release, I would love to trade for them.
Not at all. I went before the UNI and one other game last year. No crowd. It's just too far away from the stadium. You might have a few people coming through to grab growlers for their tailgate, but that's about it.
Never been, but it's probably not bad. It's way out on the north edge of town, far from the game day activities.
I've stopped on Friday nights before games and it was pretty packed, but in the way a healthy business should be, not 20 minute waits or anything like that.
Agreed. Its not a snobby place at all for how nice it is too.
They have a good problem: business is good but how much future planning can they do?
IMO, Olde Main is awful, and Torrent is really meh. So they can easily capture a lot of the local market.
Would be awesome if someone could take over Olde Main. The space should be one of the main attractions downtown, but even with the revamp of the beers (not that they are significantly improved, but at least not infected) the service and food make it an easy pass.
I had previously found Torrent "meh", but I stopped in this winter and really liked about everything they had on tap. There were some really good IPAs and pales. I'll be checking in next weekend, but based off my last visit I'd definitely recommend it.
While Olde Main leaves a ton on the table with lame beer, I've never had a problem with their service or food. The lack of focus on the beer is such a head scratcher though. A lot of people know how to make at least good beer, but they can't seem bothered to do it.
I might just be jealous that Solon a town of 2,500 can have a place like Big Grove which is everything I wish Olde Main could be.
I don't believe they have any TV' so the game day experience probably isn't the best. Plus, they don't open until 4pm. So unless it's a night game you won't be able to pre-party there either.
I need to kill a few hours between the men's and women's basketball games on Saturday an thought I'd finally check out Alluvial. I'll have my 10yr old daughter with me though. Anybody know if Alluvial is kid tolerant like 515 or The Hall in Des Moines?
Yes they are, they have popcorn and a few non alcoholic options available (kombucha rootbeer), along with a variety of board games.
