What's brewing in 2016

In Iowa, 2015 was a great year for beer, and 2016 is looking just as good.

About a dozen new breweries opened across the state in the last year, including four in the Corridor, bringing the state's total to about 60, according to J. Wilson, the 'Minister of Iowa Beer.'

The title was devised for him by the Iowa Brewers Guild, which advocates for the industry.

'It's a fancy way of saying executive director,' he said.

In 2015, Cedar Rapids gained Turner Alley Brewing Company, which tapped its first keg in May, and more recently the Quarter Barrel, which officially opened its doors on New Year's Eve. The downtown brewery offers vintage arcade games and will serve pizza as well as beer, though food and house-brewed beers will be unveiled throughout January.

What's pushing the industry? A growing national thirst for local and craft beers has helped, but the Iowa Legislature has also played a part.

Iowa City Brewlab also opened in 2015 and tapped its first house-brewed beer Dec. 29, 'Faversham's Finest Bird.'

'It's an English extra special bitter, kind of malty with some light fruitiness,' said co-owner Drew Letcher.

Iowa breweries

In 2016, he hopes to ramp up production and brew twice a week, with a goal of having about eight original beers on tap at a time. He's also gotten barrels from Cedar Ridge Winery and Distillery in Swisher to make sour beers later this year.

In Coralville, Reunion Brewery opened in November in partnership with Mondo's restaurant. They just adjusted their menu to bring back some of the old Mondo's favorites and have ramped up beer production to have about 10 beers on tap at a time.

'Give or take a few,' said head brewer Logan DePover. 'Beer is a living thing, so you can't always make it do what you want it to.'

Fan favorites so far are the Reunion IPA and the pub ale, he said. He's excited to expand his portfolio with sour and barrel aged beers as well.

'We hoping the beers keep turning out and people keep hearing about us,' he said.

2016 could see just as many — or more — new breweries as 2015 did.

'There are two dozen or so in planning that I'm aware of,' Wilson said.

One of those is the Iowa Brewing Company, which will be located at 708 Third St. SE in Cedar Rapids. The building is under renovation, with plans to start brewing in the next few weeks, said head brewer Troy Bervig.

They hope to open to the public in March.

A Marion brewery, meanwhile, is looking to expand. Another Road Brewing is renovating space at 631 Ninth Street for a new taproom with more capacity than its current tiny basement space at 1175 Eighth Ave.

For hard cider lovers, there is good news as well — Wilson's Orchard, just outside of Iowa City, started offering a variety of hard apple ciders in 2015, with plans to open a cider house in 2016 with room for storage, food preparation, a tasting room and dining.