Great River Brewery | Davenport, IA
Beer Trip: Great River Brewery in Davenport, Iowa
Another trip to the Quad Cities means another opportunity to try another new brewery. This visit brought us to Great River Brewery on the outskirts of downtown Davenport, not too far from the river. They have a great, friendly staff and a full lineup of beer on tap. It was easy to see why many locals chose this place as their happy hour destination!
The Brewery
Great River Brewery sits inside a former gas station, and the place still has a garage-like feel to it. The space is vast on the inside, with high ceilings and lots of natural light. There is a 12-person bar that everyone orders from, along with many tables, chairs, and some couch seating. They also have somewhat of a hidden upstairs area, with vintage checkered tile flooring that overlooks the entire space. Lastly, there’s a good-sized outdoor patio with a couple of fire pits that seemed like the place to be on a summer evening.
This place loves to host events, with weekly running club meetups, game nights, pop-up markets, and rotating fundraisers happening throughout the year. We happened to visit during happy hour, and were told that it is one of the best around. It was fun that the special rotates from day-to-day.
The Beer
Great River is set up to accommodate between 10 and 15 beers on tap at any given time. They maintain roughly 4 flagships, another 3-4 seasonal or series brews, and then rotate out the rest. Unfortunately, during our visit, they were out of nearly a third of the menu - so things were a bit different than they typically would be. Even with that, they still had a nice selection of IPAs, lagers, a blonde, a gose, and a stout on tap, along with a couple of ales available in cans. One unique thing we noticed about their beer is that nearly all of their brews are under 5.5% ABV, with only a couple of exceptions.
We actually enjoyed the beer here enough that we stopped in twice during our trip, so we were able to sample a good portion of the menu! Our favorite that we tried (and were told that it’s their most popular) is the flagship Juicy IPA. This American IPA gets its namesake for a reason: it’s juicy, which gels well with our taste buds; however, it also provides a faint bitterness with a lingering coating in the mouth. One other we enjoyed was a seasonal named Twomey’s Dry Irish Stout. Picture this: A Guinness, but a little more roasty.
Food, Merch, & More
Feel free to come here hungry, as Great River has a kitchen with a small food menu of salads, sandwiches, and homemade pizzas. We didn’t try a pizza, but one of the locals said that it’s their favorite slice in town. In addition to brewing beer, they also produce their own orange and root beer sodas. If you still want something different, there is a limited cocktail menu, seltzers, and wine.
The merchandise section is located near the front door, and with Chris being a fisherman himself, we liked the setup. There were a couple of old coolers and water jugs, and several of the shirts were fishing themed. One could purchase a multitude of tees, sweatshirts, or koozies here, as well as a nice selection of 4-pack beers to go.
After our experience, it was easy to see why Great River was so popular with the locals. This place is one that should certainly be on your shortlist when perusing the Quad Cities.
Cheers!
