Barn Town Brewing | Des Moines, IA
Beer Trip: Barn Town Brewing in Des Moines, Iowa
We were looking for a place to road-trip - with Des Moines only being 3 hours from Kansas City and us never having been before, we thought it would be a great place to try. The first brewery on this Iowa getaway was Barn Town Brewing. This farm-themed facility provided us with the perfect initial taste of all of the great places the Des Moines area had to offer!
Such a neat interior with many knick knacks to look at!
The Brewery
Just likes its namesake, Barn Town Brewing has a barn-like theme to it that you pick up on right away as you walk up. Once you’re in, you see a full-sized old Ford truck behind the live-edge wooden bar. Upon sitting down you start to take in the barn wood walls, filled with vintage farm and seed signs, wagon wheel lighting, and the awesome back wall of beer cans (strategically placed in the shape of the state of Iowa)!
Awesome draft backdrop
BTB + Iowa state outline
Morgan couldn’t resist a selfie with the beer tap handle bathroom sink
There is tons of seating inside and likely just as much outside with their wrap-around patio. Fortunate for us, the weather was great on our visit and they had their overhead doors open making the inside and outside flow together seamlessly. No detail here was overlooked, including bathroom sinks that featured a beer tap handle!
Garage doors open on a beautiful spring day!
Ample outdoor seating
The Beer
Groovy Ruby IPA
Barn Town has 12 of their own beers on tap, as well as several other local guest taps to provide you with a full menu to choose from. Of their brews, many of them are varying styles of IPA and sours - but they also have a pilsner, porter, stout, and golden ale among others. They constantly keep 5-6 of these as flagships and rotate out the rest.
One thing we noticed right away about their beer was their use of fruit within a vast majority of them (this was a big plus in our book)! We encountered everything from lemon, orange, apple, tangerine, and grapefruit thrown about in the various recipes and brewing styles. Our favorite brews here all featured their fruits, including their flagship IPA Groovy Ruby which featured grapefruit.
Perhaps the top beer Barn Town had was one of their rotators, the Caramel Apple GF Sour. Just like it sounds, this tasted exactly like a green apple covered in caramel, yet had a faint sour hint at the end. This one definitely stood out when poured, as it had a lime green color in its glass.
The green beer was certainly a sight to be seen!
They were actively distributing during our visit!
Food, Merch, & More
Much like many of the breweries in Des Moines, Barn Town Brewing had a full food menu (and a unique one, at that). They offered burgers, flat breads, sandwiches, salads, and mac and cheese as well as hand-cut fries. What really caught our eye, though, was actually dessert - they have beer slushies and beer ice cream onsite! In addition to serving food and beer, they also offer full bar service.
Buffalo chicken sandwich
Crab Rangoon flatbread
Glassware, hats, & stickers
Merchandise is aplenty here, with the area feeling like a t-shirt shop with so many options to select from. They also had hats, signs, glassware, and plenty of to-go beer - including most of their rotators, which was nice to be able to take even more home to try.
Overall Barn Town Brewery was the perfect first experience in Des Moines. With great beer, good food, and a true Iowa atmosphere, this is a brewery we would recommend to anyone.
Tons of to-go beer and t-shirts
Warren had a lot of fun here too!
Warren enjoyed milk instead of beer.
