Ingersoll’s Banshees: St. Des Moines beer picks for Paddy’s Day

Have you been fired by your best friend and drinking buddy? Worried about spending St. Patrick’s Day with just your sister and your miniature donkey?

Avoid a mental breakdown (and/or Oscar nomination) and grab a beer at the neighborhood brewery, where you’ll find Iowa twists on Irish beer styles. From crunchy reds to boisterous stouts, these five boutique breweries can provide the confidence you need to defend your honor, compose a violin tune, or dance with your dog like no one is watching.

Confluence Brewing Company

1235 Thomas Beck Road, Des Moines
confluencebrewing.com

Blue Daba Dee Daba Baba

6.4% ABV

“Hey, listen, here’s a story about a little vat that turns everyone so blue,” begins Confluence’s musical description of this wild stout – skewered milk in a Bourbon cask, a twist on the ’50s Dad. Brewers put it back in the barrel with some blueberries for a year, then added coffee from Des Moines brand BLK & Bold. “Now when you drink it, you’ll be anything but blue!”

double deslite

8.5% ABV

Confluence are masters of the milk skewer (Milk Man is Iowa’s unofficial state fat, I declare) and they’re not afraid to push the limits a little. This Imperial oatmeal cookie stout is the result of a double mashed malt filled with the flavor of oats, dark chocolate and caramel. Toasted coconut is added to the mix, resulting in a pleasant taste reminiscent of Caramel deLites Girl Scout cookies.

Twisted Vine Brewery

112 SE 4th Street, Des Moines
twistedvinebrewery.com

Mint Shock-O-Lot

6.3% ABV

You can have a green-painted beer, or you can have a beer. pleasures green. New DSM brewery Twisted Vine has added mint to its chocolate milk stock for a flavor combination that won’t fail, especially during Shamrock Shake season.

Court Street Brewing Company

309 Court Street, Des Moines
kurtavebrew.com

Sorry Dave

5.3% ABV

A classic Irish beer. So why reference? 2001: A Space Odyssey? CABC’s brewers say they developed the recipe “with an artificial intelligence generator.” Has a 320-year-old style of beer in Des Moines finally survived human error? This robo-er who will decide it is not for the human beer drinker.

Fox Beer

103 S 11th St, West Des Moines
foxbrewco.com

Foxtail

5.8% ABV

No, it’s not a red velvet cake in a glass. This traditional Irish red ale has the ruby ​​amber color you look for in a traditional Irish red, a sharp white head and a malt-caramel finish. By far the most real and satisfying red thing to come out of a place called Fox.

515 Brewing Companies

7700 University Ave Suite C, Clive
515brewing.com

suburban grind

6% ABV

Some coffee stock puts regular coffee to shame, and this is one. 515 brews this caffeinated stout with lactose and beans from Pammel Park Coffee Company, headquartered in Winterset, Iowa. Who needs Bailey’s and coffee when beer can drink coffee?

Pitter Patter, Let’s Go to the Er

6% ABV

This remix from Suburban Grind makes the perfect dessert after a dinner of Shepherd’s Pie, casserole, and soda bread. “It’s like eating a walnut roll with a cup of coffee, filled with maple and pecans,” 515 says. Say you sold me.

Who’s Is it a bar?

Go around and decide which person has the upper hand.

Finn’s Bar
7020 Douglas Ave A, Urbandale

Kathy’s Irish Bar
6705 Hickman Rd, Des Moines

Peggy’s Tavern
3020 Forest Boulevard, Des Moines

Sully’s Irish Bar
860 1st Street, West Des Moines

Wellman’s Bar
2920 Ingersoll Avenue, Des Moines

Annie’s Irish Bar
206 3rd Street, Des Moines

McCuen’s Bar
2565 Wedgewood Road, Des Moines

Bailey’s Pub N Grub
918 E Euclid Ave, Des Moines

Cooney’s Tavern
3708 Beaver Avenue, Des Moines

This article was originally published in Little Village Central Iowa issue 012.