Chew on This: Ely brewery opens soon, Bigg Daddy’s closes, 3 breweries medal

House Divided Brewery

A brewery is almost ready to open its doors in Ely. House Divided Brewery at 1620 Dows St., will celebrate its opening at 11 a.m. on Oct. 26. For now, it will serve guest beers from local craft breweries as the brewery waits for approval of its state brewers permit.

Bigg Daddy's closes

A week ago, Bigg Daddy's owner Chad Ginther was looking for a buyer for his barbecue and hot dog restaurant. Now, he's announced the business is closed.

On Oct. 8, he wrote on Facebook: 'I do apologize, however this may be my last post for quite some time. You see the sale of Bigg Daddy's has fallen through. I have already closed the restaurant as of yesterday afternoon and taken my personal effects. I have taken all my recipes with me. I am hoping some day in a few years after I take some time to get well that I will return. This saddens me dearly but my health needs my attention. I love and thank each and everyone of you that has followed me through the years. We are looking forward to a chance at bringing our mobile food cart back downtown next year. Please keep your ears and eyes open.”

The restaurant at 2201 16th Ave. SW, Cedar Rapids, had a menu of hot dogs, burgers and barbecue. Ginther started it as a food cart in 2008 in downtown Cedar Rapids before he and his wife, Deanna, opened a small brick-and-mortar location at 629 12th Ave. SE in 2013.

Great American Beer Festival

Three Iowa breweries took home honors at the Great American Beer Festival last weekend. The Brewers Association awarded 318 medals to 283 breweries across the United States at the festival, which took place Oct. 3 to 5 in Denver Colorado. Judges evaluated more than 9,000 entries from more than 2,000 breweries before selecting medal winners.

PIVO Brewery of Calmar won a gold medal in the chocolate beer category for its 'Old Balltown Bulleit Bourbon Barrel Aged Salted Caramel Dark Chocolate Brownie Milk Stout,” and a bronze medal in the historical beer category for its 'Decorah Nordic Gruit.”

Gezellig Brewing Co. of Newton, which is a fairly new brewery on the scene after opening in June, also took home accolades. It won two silver medals: 'All the Goodness” in the Belgian-style fruit beer category; and 'Hug Deal Gone Sideweiss” in the South German-style hefeweizen category.

Mistress Brewing Co. of Ankeny won a silver medal in the pumpkin/squash beer or pumpkin spice beer category for 'Pumpkin Rumble.”

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