116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Field Day Brewing Company opens first brewery in North Liberty
Authentic German, Czech brews join only duckpin bowling alley in Corridor
Aug. 10, 2023 7:00 am, Updated: Aug. 10, 2023 7:51 am
NORTH LIBERTY — Provisions at North Liberty’s first brewery, opened Aug. 1, ensure diners can eat, drink and be merry with an unusual distinction of beers, elevated eats and a sprawling campus with activities for adults and kids alike.
In short, Field Day Brewing Company has designed its 20,000-square-foot building to be true to its name — a place to step out of your normal routine for a good time.
“We are native Iowans, we’re proud of this state, this is where we want to be. So it’s a play on cornfields, soybean fields, the agricultural aspect,” said Joe Selix, partner in the new brewery’s owner, Craft Concepts Restaurant Group. “We’ve also got a wide array of things to do. It’s the nostalgic field day from back in your childhood.”
With beers, foods and activities you won’t find at any other brewery in Eastern Iowa, see inside the new space that could soon become a destination in the city of 20,000 residents, lying between Cedar Rapids and Iowa City.
If you go
What: Field Day Brewing Company
Address: 925 Liberty Way, North Liberty
Hours: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Friday; 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday; 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday
Phone: (319) 665-0025
Website: fielddaybrewing.com/
Details: Enjoy a wide variety of traditional and modern beer styles, including German and Czech lagers, with a menu of upscale brewpub cuisine including giant pretzels, well-dressed fries, smashburgers, and other unique eats averaging around $15. Enjoy in the expansive taproom, while playing duckpin bowling, on the large covered and heated patio or uncovered patio overlooking a water feature with a nearby children’s play area.
The space
The duckpin bowling area at Field Day Brewing Co. in North Liberty, Iowa on Wednesday, July 26, 2023. (Savannah Blake/The Gazette)
The duckpin area at Field Day Brewing Co. in North Liberty, Iowa on Wednesday, July 26, 2023. (Savannah Blake/The Gazette)
Funky architecture and colorful paint gives Field Day Brewing Co. in North Liberty, Iowa a fun and unique atmosphere. (Savannah Blake/The Gazette)
A large outdoor seating area features fire pits and a view of the lake at Field Day Brewing Co. in North Liberty, Iowa on Wednesday, July 26, 2023. (Savannah Blake/The Gazette)
The covered outdoor seating area at Field Day Brewing Co. in North Liberty, Iowa on Wednesday, July 26, 2023. (Savannah Blake/The Gazette)
A glass of field day pilsner sits on display at Field Day Brewing Co. in North Liberty, Iowa on Wednesday, July 26, 2023. (Savannah Blake/The Gazette)
With seating capacity for 400 people throughout ample indoor and outdoor space, visitors will be hard-pressed to find themselves bored in this space.
The open concept warehouse combines round table booths, an elevated seating area above the main bar, high-tops and long tables into what could be construed as a modern re-imagining of traditional German beer halls. Lit naturally through glass walls, a gift shop of T-shirts and trinkets reinforces the new brand in a style similar to other local breweries, like ReUnion and Big Grove.
Right around the corner, a second bar complements four lanes of duckpin bowling, where food and beverages can be enjoyed without changing into rental shoes.
With smaller pins and lighter bowling balls, it’s an even more casual way to play the traditional 10-pin game. Pins attached to strings are reset in a slightly different way after each hit.
“It’s just bowling on a smaller scale,” Selix explained. “We find people don’t just come for beer. They come for food, they come for atmosphere and activities.”
Outside the door, a beer garden awaits where patrons can drink in the sun or the shade, even during chilly weather.
A large covered patio with seasonal heating allows enjoyment during the hot summer months and the cooler shoulder months, lengthening Iowa’s short patio season to about eight months from March to October.
A step away, adirondack chairs circle around fire pits in an area overlooking a nearby water feature and bike trail. A children’s playground on the property, all within view of parents enjoying themselves, gives kids another outlet to play, too.
Selix, who helped start the nearby Tin Roost in 2017 after living several years in Colorado, designed Field Day to set the tone for breweries as places that can be family friendly. The founders sought to fill a need for a city that, with its size and proximity, was overdue for a brewery.
“We really wanted to let people know this is a place where you can bring your family, have a good time, and not feel awkward about it,” Selix said. “We wanted to give (North Liberty) a hometown brewery. It’s got 20,000 people, it’s amazing to me that there was not a brewery here.”
The beer
Co-founder Alec Travis pours a glass of puddle jumpers beer at Field Day Brewing Co. in North Liberty, Iowa on Wednesday, July 26, 2023. (Savannah Blake/The Gazette)
The juice belly hazy IPA at Field Day Brewing Co. in North Liberty, Iowa on Wednesday, July 26, 2023. (Savannah Blake/The Gazette)
Beer taps sit on display in the duckpin area at Field Day Brewing Co. in North Liberty, Iowa on Wednesday, July 26, 2023. (Savannah Blake/The Gazette)
The Czech premium at Field Day Brewing Co. in North Liberty, Iowa on Wednesday, July 26, 2023. (Savannah Blake/The Gazette)
A glass of field day pilsner sits on display at Field Day Brewing Co. in North Liberty, Iowa on Wednesday, July 26, 2023. (Savannah Blake/The Gazette)
While Field Day is the first and only brewery in North Liberty, the owners wanted it to also be the best one. With more than half the building’s space dedicated to an array of niche and mainstream beer types, Field Day is well on its way.
The four-vessel, 15-barrel system seen there today dwarfs the original plans for a five to seven barrel system — until the founders realized it just wasn’t enough for their 6,000 square foot taproom.
“It takes a lot of space to make beer. It takes even more space to make good beer,” said partner Alec Travis, who brings multiple gold medals from his work over the past nine years at SingleSpeed Brewing Company in Waterloo and Lion Bridge Brewing Company in Cedar Rapids’ Czech Village.
With a custom system that can break down and process locally sourced ingredients in-house, he said Field Day’s biggest distinction from other local breweries will be on the taps.
“It’s really just trying to bring all the different styles of the world as close as we possibly can to one spot in North Liberty,” Travis said. “We want everybody to be able to come in and find something they enjoy.”
Specialty Czech pale lagers are brewed the traditional way — double-decocted using Moravian malt and Czech hops — before being poured through Czech side pull faucets into Czech mugs.
German pilsners are made according to strict German purity laws — nothing more than malt, hops, yeast and water. Water for each brew is stripped down and rebuilt to come as close to the water of the country each beer originates from.
But for those who don’t care as much about the details, a full menu is rounded out by a variety of IPAs, sours and light, sessionable beers that allow drinkers to enjoy multiple rounds over conversation without getting too tipsy.
A mimosa-inspired sour, fermented with mango and passion fruit, mimics the base of grape champagne with its acidity, making the 7.7 percent beer taste like a 2 percent — a great choice for brunch or morning drinking on football game days.
The food
The Korean fries at Field Day Brewing Co. in North Liberty, Iowa on Wednesday, July 26, 2023. (Savannah Blake/The Gazette)
The Chicago pretzel at Field Day Brewing Co. in North Liberty, Iowa on Wednesday, July 26, 2023. (Savannah Blake/The Gazette)
The Iowan fries at Field Day Brewing Co. in North Liberty, Iowa on Wednesday, July 26, 2023. (Savannah Blake/The Gazette)
The pickle pretzel at Field Day Brewing Co. in North Liberty, Iowa on Wednesday, July 26, 2023. (Savannah Blake/The Gazette)
The crab pimento cheese dip at Field Day Brewing Co. in North Liberty, Iowa on Wednesday, July 26, 2023. (Savannah Blake/The Gazette)
The FD burger at Field Day Brewing Co. in North Liberty, Iowa on Wednesday, July 26, 2023. (Savannah Blake/The Gazette)
Beer and entertainment did not come at the expense of quality food. At the helm of executive chef Jake Wegmann, previously member of the opening team at Cobble Hill in Cedar Rapids, the word “elevated” is more true to taste here than in many casual establishments.
At the heart, a selection of giant pretzels, well-dressed fries and smashburgers carry the menu with an emphasis on share-ability.
Chicago pretzels are dusted in poppy seeds, topped with Vienna hot dogs and provolone, and taken with a sharp dollop of giardinera or dip of yellow mustard. The Pickle Pretzel is formed around a pile of house dill slices and accessorized with slices of pastrami, swiss, dill and ranch.
Brewery fries are available in five varieties, including the Iowa style with pulled pork and ranch; the Korean with kimchi and Gochujang barbecue sauce; and the poutine-style Canadian option.
Elote Mexican-style corn dip, crab pimento cheese dip and other small plates hold their own against cheaper — but not cheaply made — bar snacks like popcorn popped in duck fat and marinated olives.
Comments: (319) 398-8340; elijah.decious@thegazette.com
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