Scooter's Bar Journal » Des Moines

1717 Brewing Co

scooterj — Sat, 06 Jul 2019 17:18:00 +0000

(Downtown, Des Moines, IA)

Scooter’s 1353rd bar, first visited in 2019.

This is a brand new brewery, only open for a few weeks at the time of our visit, directly across the street from Peace Tree. It’s owned by three brothers, and inside the tap room the build what I believe to be a replica of their childhood home.

I had their Irish Red and their Coffee Stout.

There were a couple of tables outside, but it was unclear if you could take drinks out there.

From here we went to Iowa Taproom (where we ate again before calling it a night. But I have that already logged in here from an earlier visit.

322 E Court Ave
Des Moines, IA 50309
US
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(515) 243-7868
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Peace Tree Brewing Co. – Des Moines Branch

scooterj — Sat, 06 Jul 2019 17:17:00 +0000

(Downtown, Des Moines, IA)

Scooter’s 1352nd bar, first visited in 2019.

There were a crap-ton of cyclists here. And, despite the rainbow banners outside, in one corner was a small group of very young kids wearing t-shirts that gave them impression they were from a pray-the-gay-away cult.

The tap room is nicely done, though as a first time visitor I was intimidated stepping in the door and finding myself immediately at the ordering counter. I had to wander away for a bit to figure out what I wanted.

I had their Nitro Cold Brew Coffee Stout and their Catwalk Swagger (pilsner).

317 E Court Ave
Des Moines, IA 50309
US
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(515) 883-2739
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AJ’s on East Court

scooterj — Sat, 06 Jul 2019 17:16:00 +0000

(Downtown, Des Moines, IA)

Scooter’s 1351st bar, first visited in 2019.

This is primarily a karaoke bar but we were here way too early for karaoke. So our entertainment was instead two people working on a laptop, a guy listening to podcasts, and a small group of people from the patio continuously circulating in for more drinks or less urine.

I had a Zoltan Session IPA by Exile Brewing Company

419 E Court Ave
Des Moines, IA 50309
US
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(515) 282-1888
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Up-Down DSM

scooterj — Sat, 06 Jul 2019 17:15:00 +0000

(Downtown, Des Moines, IA)

Scooter’s 1350th bar, first visited in 2019.

The original location! Though it had recently expanded and taken over a second level, it was originally just the basement bar.

The bouncer tried to photobomb my main photo but he wasn’t quick enough, which was a shame as it would have been a good shot.

We were hungry (again) and had some pizza and played lots of pinball. I had a Roxie Irish Red by Boone Valley Brewing Company

From here we went across the street to Locust Tap, but that’s already logged elsewhere in this journal.

500 E Locust St
Des Moines, IA 50309
US
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(515) 243-4322
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Buddy’s Corral

scooterj — Sat, 06 Jul 2019 17:14:00 +0000

(Downtown, Des Moines, IA)

Scooter’s 1349th bar, first visited in 2019.

This is a gay bar, but we got here too early in the day. We kind of felt like we were making the regulars uncomfortable.

I had a Busch Light.

418 E 5th St
Des Moines, IA 50309
US
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(515) 244-7140
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Ernie’s Boondock

scooterj — Sat, 06 Jul 2019 17:13:00 +0000

(Downtown, Des Moines, IA)

Scooter’s 1348th bar, first visited in 2019.

This is an odd duck in that it is a new-build dive bar. That’s really hard to do, you can’t normally just “build” dive bar. But they managed to pull it off and do it well.

There’s a food truck by the patio if you’re hungry, or you can duck on a pickled egg I guess. One of their specialties is classic canned crap beer.

I had a Schmidt by Pabst Brewing Company because it’s something we can’t get at home.

When I got up to use the restroom, I was extremely disappointed to find a clean modern restroom. I was about to cancel my classification of this as a dive bar because of it. By then I washed my hands and found… AN OLD SCHOOL POWERED SOAP DISPENSER NOT SEEN SINCE THE TRUCK STOPS AND JUNIOR HIGHS OF THE LATE-70S/EARLY-80S!!!!!

440 East Grand Ave
Des Moines, IA 50309
US
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Exile Brewing Company

scooterj — Sat, 06 Jul 2019 17:12:00 +0000

(Des Moines, IA)

Scooter’s 1347th bar, first visited in 2019.

We walked down here from Carl’s, and despite having had breakfast just 2 hours earlier, we were hungry again and got a light lunch.

In addition to some shrimp I had their Ruthie (pale lager), Styrian Slayer (New England pale ale), Dankalope IPA, and Sir Moch-A-Lot (milk stout).

1514 Walnut St
Des Moines, IA 50309
US
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(515) 883-2337
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Royal Mile

scooterj — Sat, 06 Jul 2019 17:11:00 +0000

(Downtown, Des Moines, IA)

Scooter’s 1345th bar, first visited in 2019.

This is a fantastic-looking English pub right in the heart of downtown. Along with the great interior, there is outdoor seating in the alley.

Upstairs is a Belgian bar that we wanted to go to later but ran out of time/stamina. (It didn’t open until evening and we were here for breakfast.)

In addition to my meat-only version of a traditional English breakfast (bangers and rashers and that’s it) I had a rather large bottle of Querkus Smoked Oaked Porter by Ridgeway Brewing to start off my day.

210 SW 4th St
Des Moines, IA 50309
US
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(515) 282-2012
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Carl’s Place

scooterj — Sat, 06 Jul 2019 17:11:00 +0000

(Sherman Hill, Des Moines, IA)

Scooter’s 1346th bar, first visited in 2019.

After breakfast we had an uber take us to what Yelp calls the best dive bar in all of DSM. Now, we were here way too early to experience it with a crowd, but I do remember getting out of the car and exclaiming “This… is…. PERFECT!”

Lots of dive bars have old coin-operated condom machines in the men’s room. Not many have only part of one, though.

1620 Woodland Ave
Des Moines, IA 50309
US
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(515) 243-9727
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El Bait Shop

scooterj — Fri, 05 Jul 2019 17:17:00 +0000

(Downtown, Des Moines, IA)

Scooter’s 1344th bar, first visited in 2019.

We returned after nearly an hour and found the place still way too crowded. Absolutely no way of getting a beer outside. We went outside, and found the patio completely full. As we were frustratingly considering giving up, we noticed a second patio with an outdoor bar that had a few seats. We took them. And we soon learned why this section had seating open — it was getting the full brunt of the July afternoon sun.

The brutality of the heat + the gigantic beer volume earlier at Hessen Haus meant this was going to be a shorter visit than I’d hoped for. But in between rounds of wiping sweat off my face I managed to get a few beers in.

My flight consisted of Dolphin Sparkles (imperial IPA)by Toppling Goliath Brewing Co., a Black Prism (sour Berliner Weisse) by August Schell Brewing Company, a Midnight Morning (imperial stout) by Grimm Artisanal Ales, and a Mocha Sombrero (Mexican chocolate stout) by Clown Shoes. I then ordered a taster of Must Kuld (imperial porter) by PÃµhjala out of Estonia, but I was accidentally served a full pour and powered through it like a champ.

200 SW 2nd S
Des Moines, IA 50309
US
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(515) 284-1970
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The High Life Lounge

scooterj — Fri, 05 Jul 2019 17:16:00 +0000

(Downtown, Des Moines, IA)

Scooter’s 1342nd bar, first visited in 2019.

When we stepped in the door there were only a couple of seats at the bar but there was a ton of table seating. Ten minutes later the place was packed with what had to have been a thirty-minute wait. Crap, we’d intersected with the happy hour crowd!

200 SW 2nd St
Des Moines, IA 50309
US
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(515) 280-1965
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Shorty’s Somewhat Fancy Bar

scooterj — Fri, 05 Jul 2019 17:16:00 +0000

(Downtown, Des Moines, IA)

Scooter’s 1343rd bar, first visited in 2019.

We tried to go to El Bait Shop next but it was wasn’t happening — far too crowded. So we walked a couple blocks north to find someplace to get out of the blistering heat and kill a little time.

Shorty’s is accessed through an alley and is in the basement of its building. The stairs down seem pitch black when you come in straight from daylight, and it’s pretty dark in the bar to until you acclimate.

I had a Guinness while we watched people play bar games and chatted with the bartender.

208 Court Ave
Des Moines, IA 50309
US
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(515) 282-3663
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Hessen Haus

scooterj — Fri, 05 Jul 2019 17:15:00 +0000

(Downtown, Des Moines, IA)

Scooter’s 1341st bar, first visited in 2019.

Since we foudn foot at Mullets we decided to save Iowa Taproom for tomorrow as originally planned. We checked into out hotel, ditched the car, and started walking southeast. After skipping a couple of places we were saving for later, we arrived here.

This is great German beer hall. Tons of choices in beer, few that I could pronounce. None in reasonably small sizes. What I wound up with was a beer they had just tapped and did not have it on the menu yet. With only the waitresses’s pronunciation to go on, this was a tough one to find and check in: I had a “small” (
20ish oz) Sünner Hircus Malz-Bock by Sünner Brauerei und Brennerei and it was truly delicious.

101 SW 4th St
Des Moines, IA 50309
US
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(515) 288-2520
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Mullets

scooterj — Fri, 05 Jul 2019 17:14:00 +0000

(McKinley School/ Columbus Park, Des Moines, IA)

Scooter’s 1340th bar, first visited in 2019.

Since Exile Brewing was closed we contoinued our attempt to go to Iowa Taproom a day ahead of schedule in order to get some lunch. But as we were about to cross a bridge, this place called out to us. And, as it turned out, it had food.

This place wants to be a dive bar but I just can’t classify it as that… it’s too clean and has too many good beer options.

It was packed and the kitchen was really backed up, but pizzas were at least quick so we went with that. In addition to pizza I had a 1939 Red Ale by Big Grove Brewery

1300 SE 1st S
Des Moines, IA 50315
US
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(515) 244-1443
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L D’s Corner Bar

scooterj — Fri, 05 Jul 2019 17:13:00 +0000

(McKinley School/ Columbus Park, Des Moines, IA)

Scooter’s 1339th bar, first visited in 2019.

Originally we had made the difficult decision of cutting this place from our itinerary. But after learning that Exile was closed for the afternoon sent us in a different direction, we realized we were close enough to here to visit. And I’m glad we did, this is a great little dive bar!

344 E Jackson Ave
Des Moines, IA 50315
US
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(515) 245-9050
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Confluence Brewing

scooterj — Fri, 05 Jul 2019 17:11:00 +0000

(Greater South Side, Des Moines, IA)

Scooter’s 1338th bar, first visited in 2019.

Though I’ve had some of their beer before, this is my first visit to an Iowa brewery. I had the Double Dry Hopped South Side Citra W/ Tangerine And Orange Peel, the Royal Roots Porter, the Camp Fire Black Lager (Port Barrel Aged), and one of the greatest beer experiences of all time, the Anniversary Porter 2014.

BTW the staff here was extremely friendly and helpful.

We found out our next stop, Exile, was not open yet after all due to the holiday. So we took off east instead of west, intending to have lunch at the Iowa Taproom, but we got distracted along the way…

1235 Thomas Beck Rd
Des Moines, IA 50315
US
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(515) 285-9005
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Fong’s Pizza

scooterj — Thu, 04 Apr 2019 17:13:00 +0000

(Downtown, Des Moines, IA)

Scooter’s 1314th bar, first visited in 2019.

An odd fusion of Chinese, Italian, and Polynesian in a borderline dive-bar setiing that somehow comes together and works. This is the original location, and where we finished the first night of this trip.

I really enjoyed the eggrolled cheeseticks and the eggrolled cheesecake. Didn’t care as much for my pizza — too little meat / too many veggies.

Beer-wise, I had a Tip the Cow (milk stout) by SingleSpeed Brewing Company

223 4th St
Des Moines, IA 50309
US
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(515) 323-3333
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Iowa Taproom

scooterj — Thu, 04 Apr 2019 17:12:00 +0000

(Downtown, Des Moines, IA)

Scooter’s 1313th bar, first visited in 2019.

I tried to visit this place a couple of years ago, but some sort of bike event/street party (not RAGBRAI) made it so crowded I decided to save it for another day.

This craft beer bar has 99 taps, all serving beer only from breweries in Iowa. There is partially-covered outdoor seating available in the alley. They do serve food, but that’s not why I was there.

I could have easily stayed here until close, but alas I only had 45 minutes before I would have to leave to rejoin my group. So I had as many 4oz pours as I could during that time.

What I drank:

Oreo Speed Wagon by Lake Time Brewery (milk stout)

De Olla BA Rye Imperial Stout by Keg Creek Brewing Company

CocO Stout by West O Beer

Rhymes With Orange by Brightside Aleworks (stout)

Electric Banshee by ReUnion Brewery (stout)

Freedom Toast by Madhouse Brewing Company (Jesus Christ, this bourbon maple barrel-aged Wee-Heavy with cinnamon and vanilla stuck with me for two days!)

V.I.P. by Madhouse Brewing Company (imperial porter)

215 E 3rd St
Des Moines, IA 50309
US
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(515) 243-0827
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Beechwood Lounge

scooterj — Thu, 04 Apr 2019 17:10:00 +0000

(Downtown, Des Moines, IA)

Scooter’s 1312th bar, first visited in 2019.

I was walking from Locust Tap to Iowa Tap Room and spotted this place along the way. It looked too inviting to not stop in.

The main level is up a short flight of stairs, the lower level wasn’t open so I didn’t get to see what was downstairs. There’s also a patio around back that I didn’t notice until I was leaving.

Unlike what the outside presents, I wouldn’t quite call this a dive bar. A little too nice, and the beer selection a little too good.

Amenitites that I noticed included a handful of video games (including video slots/poker), a popcorn cart, and an ATM. I have no idea what might have been downstairs.

I had a ChewBOCKa German-Style Doppelbock by Confluence Brewing Company

416 E Walnut St
Des Moines, IA 50309
US
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(515) 288-2337
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Zombie Burger + Drink Lab

scooterj — Sun, 16 Jul 2017 17:10:00 +0000

(Downtown, Des Moines, IA)

Scooter’s 1203rd bar, first visited in 2017.

Popped in here for a hangover lunch / some hair of the dog. Zombie themed burger bar. When we first got here it wasn’t terribly busy, by the time we left it was so crowded that when I went to found the restroom I discovered it would have been easier to go outside, walk around the block, and re-enter the building from the other side.

Beer consumed: Cofluence Milk Man

300 E. Grand Ave
Des Moines, IA 50309
US
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(515) 244-9292
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Locust Tap

scooterj — Sat, 15 Jul 2017 17:10:00 +0000

(Downtown, Des Moines, IA)

Scooter’s 1202nd bar, first visited in 2017.

FANTASTIC historic dive bar, an old school gem in a highly-gentrified neighborhood. Great people, great times, and a great selection of local/regional craft beer for such a small dive. We indented to spend the evening barhopping. This was the first bar we went to and we ended up staying the whole evening.

Beers consumed: Pace Tree Red Rambler, Peace Tree Blonde Fatale, Surly Xtra Citra, Toppling Goliath Pseudo Sue, Boone Valley Roxie Irish Red, Confluence East Side Attitude, Exile Hahhah, and Left Hand Milk Stout Nitro.

434 E Locust St
Des Moines, IA 50309
US
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(515) 689-9654
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