Quality was key--Millstream Brewing Co.

Head on down on  I-80 take a jaunt north on highway 151 and you arive in the Amana Colonies which boasts being Iowa's Handcrafted Escape, and what better place than this historic German community to house Iowa's oldest and largest microbrewery Millstream Brewing Co. So of course I had to take a trip over to the Amanas to check out Millstream and its amazing beer myself. I was greeted by one of the three owners Teresa Albert who owns and operates the brewery with her husband Tom and master brewer Chris Priebe. The trio bought the brewery,which was already fifteen years old at the time, in 2000 and began brewing shortly thereafter.  Teresa started my trip at the brewery at the top of the three levels at the brewery where they stay true to the handcrafted experience the Amanas have to offer by hoisting up and then dumping bag after bag of grain, each weighing in at 50 lbs or more. As most of you Iowans know 50 lbs bags of grain can get heavy real quick and I began to realize that this was no automated operation. We ventured back downstairs where Master brewer Chris was finishing up brewing in the brewhouse, took a quick trip to the basement where they house the majority of their fermenters and ended up on the second floor where they have their bottling line a referbished Coca-Cola filler.

Three of Millstreams Fermenters

After the quick tour we sat down in the small tasting room overlooking the brewhouse and I found a little bit more about how Teresa a 7-12 grade teacher her husband Tom and master brewer Chris have turned the failing Millstream Brewery into the success that it has become. At the time Teresa and the rest of her crew bought the brewery it was in bad shape, the brand was flawed the brewery was infection ridden and they had some work to do. They knew they had to be extremely cautious about the quality of beer that was going out to the stores. The brewery had a bad reputation that they had to change, so even though they produced 1,200 barrels of beer about 37,000 gallons in their first year, they had to throw out about 1/3 of the beer that first year. Quality was key and Teresa and her crew knew that they couldn't afford to send out any bad beer, they had to be dillegent about making and selling only high-quality beer. But after they worked out the infections and restored the brand Millstream Brewing Co. became an award winning brewery.

Award Winning Schild Brau

They now have five year round beers their Iowa Pale Ale, Windmill Wheat,Johns Generations White Ale,Back Road Stout , and the Schild Brau Amber a Vienna Style Lager that won a Gold at the World Beer Cup. For you non beer geeks out there, the world beer cup is a BIG DEAL, and an awesome accomplishment for Millstream. They also have four seasonals and most recently with the change in Iowa law they started producing their Brewmasters Extreme series where brew master Chris gets to flex his muscles and make high alcohol and full flavored beers. One of these beers the Big Honey a 9.5% hefeweizen with 120 lbs of honey is one of my new favorite high alcohol beers.
Teresa hopes to keep growing Millstream into a regional brewery and get into every state  surounding Iowa, three of which South Dakota, Wisconsin and Michigan they are already in. If Mllstream keeps on producing award winning beers like they have the past decade they will be right on track to that goal. So swing up off I-80 into the little handcrafted escape, and go get a tour at Iowas oldest brewery Millstream, and you probably should drink a few pints while your there too. Check in later on "My Brewing Adventure" with the Iowa Craft beer Tent.

Peace Tree Brewing Company - My Home away from home.

Peace Tree Brewing 107 Main Knoxville

Joe Patiently watching his boil

 So the first brewery that I will be writing about on this grand adventure for the Iowa Craft Beer Tent is my home away from home Peace Tree Brewing Co. I landed an internship at Peace Tree after doing an interview for a class project, and I havent left since.  Megan and Scott Ziller a husband and wife duo bought the run down  building that now houses the brewery because it was right across the street from their already established insurance agency, McKay Insurance.  After tossing around ideas of what to do with the building they ,along with Megans father Dan, decided what better thing than a microbrewery. So in the spring of '09 the Megan and Scott began developing the business plan that would become Peace Tree Brewing Co.,a name which the acquired from a local indian meeting spot.  Scott who was a homebrewer and had at first thought he would be the one doing the brewing, but the crew soon decided that they needed a professional. They hired Joe Kesteloot an ISU grad, who had been brewing with Cold Spring brewing in Cold Spring Minnesota. Joe started developing recipes and after fixing up the building and implementing their 20 barrel system Peace Tree Brewing Co. was underway in the spring of '10.

The award winning Blonde Fatale

 Since opening the brewery has expanded with more fermenters, more employees and continues to grow expanding their brand to four year round beers and many seasonals, one of which the Blonde Fatale just won a bronze medal at the North American Brewers Association. The brewery houses a tap-room open Thursdays Fridays and Saturdays where the fine people of Knoxville can come in and enjoy a pint or two of beer or even soda, but beware when drinking the 8.5% Blonde Fatale she'll sneak up on you.
Believe me when I say that Peace Tree is excited for the Iowa Craft Beer Tent and the opportunity to share their passion and their beer with the rest of the state. Peace Tree plans on bringing their Hop Wrangler IPA, My personal favorite and one of their seasonals the Hefeweizen. Come check out Peace Tree if your lucky  I'll even give you a tour if not make sure to stop by the Iowa Craft Beer Tent during the State fair and give em a whirl.

Road tripping through Iowa for the IOWA CRAFT BEER TENT

So Everybody its been awhile I know since I've been on here posting anything about anything, but guess what I'm back and in full swing. You'll be getting a blog post from me regularly now for the next month or two about an awesome event coming up at the IOWA STATE FAIR. The good people at Court Avenue Brewing downtown are helping put on the first ever Iowa Craft Beer Tent, from August 11th -21st (Fair time) there will be thirteen different breweries serving up awesome Iowa Craft beer to the many fair goers. I am one person lucky enough to know all thirteen that are going to be there, and because of just that luck I will be road tripping throughout Iowa and writing blogs on every brewery as they are announced to the rest of you lovely Iowans. Already announced Court Avenue, Rock Bottom, Back Pocket, Mad House , and Millstream all of which I will still be visiting and writing a blog about.  The rest of the breweries you will have to wait till they are announced on the Facebook page http://facebook.com/iowacraftbeertent, website www.iowacraftbeertent.com  or Twitter @IAcraftbeertent. Then you will be able to get a first hand account of the breweries, the people at the breweries, maybe a few snapshots and most importantly the BEER . Follow me on twitter @kaleblivingston or follow the Iowa Craft beer tent on Facebook and Twitter to catch more of "My Brewing Adventure" and learn a little bit more about the amazing beer Iowa has to offer.