Confluence Brewing Company | Des Moines, IA
Beer Trip: Confluence Brewing Company in Des Moines, Iowa
Confluence means ‘a coming or meeting together,’ and Confluence Brewing Company offers the perfect place to do just that. Many Des Moines locals recommended this place to us - and we can easily see why. With a massive outdoor patio and too many beers to choose from, it was easy for us to kill a few hours here.
Walking through the facility to get to the taproom!
The Brewery
We didn’t know what to expect with Confluence, but pulling up and walking in the place is huge and clearly brews a LOT of beer! You actually stroll through the entire brewing facility to get to the tasting room located in the back (kind of neat)! The indoor space is large and feels even bigger than it is with its extremely high ceilings. Several walls are filled with graphics of both past and present beers, while another wall hosts a huge custom mural of biking the Iowa fields leading to a brewery.
Super cool mural wall featuring a large projector playing movies
Views of the bike path mural and large taproom
The spacious outdoor space sat unused on this incredibly windy day!
Unfortunately for us, the true gem of their space appeared to be the outdoor patio which was too cold for us to use during our visit. Their patio is one of the largest we’ve seen and features countless picnic tables, a big shaded canopy area, and even an outdoor bar. We will have to plan accordingly if we ever return to Des Moines!
The Beer
Can’t go wrong with a flight
Confluence offered as many beers as we have ever seen at a brewery across the country - we actually lost count after we hit 30! Their beer board is so robust that they color code them in sections based on their flavor guide (light, hoppy, malty, dark, barrel-aged, and sour). We were informed that only about 5 brews stay on as regulars, while the other 25+ rotate as they run out. With so many selections, we were very impressed with their graphic design team - every option had its own distinct tap graphic, can label, and even a small wall art piece which was displayed along the entire back wall of the bar.
More beers on tap than anywhere we’ve ever experienced!
Big fan of the stouts here
With so many options, we obviously weren’t able to try them all - but we did find most of their beer to be quite enjoyable. We found their sours to be loaded down with either fruitiness or were highly sour. It was actually quite impressive that they could pack that much punch into a glass! By far our favorite style they brewed were their stouts. If they are still available, we’d recommend the Oatmeal Cookie Stout and the Coffee & Cream Milk Man Milk Stout - both were fantastic, very smooth, and had perfect notes of their respected namesakes (cookie with cinnamon, and coffee respectively).
Food, Merch, & More
Lots of to-go options
Confluence doesn’t serve their own food, which was kind of an anomaly for the breweries in Des Moines; however, they continually have a food truck partner. We got to try a pie from Pie Mates when we visited - it was essentially a chicken pot pie, but they had many kinds of fillings available to choose from (we went with the classic Shepherd’s Pie). It was quite tasty! Confluence also sold local pretzels in a multitude of seasonings.
Countless tees to choose from!
If beer isn’t your thing, Confluence has a few wine choices. If you want a keepsake from your visit, they offered several shirt options, hats, glassware, and even some biking gear. We, of course, found the to-go beer cooler next to the bar and were surprised that nearly the entire beer menu was also available in cans!
Confluence provided several features that really made it stand out among our brewery experiences. We hope to be back someday to try the patio area. Who knows - maybe they’ll have 50 beers on tap by then!
Cheers!
Brewery + baby!
Chris thought it would be funny to ‘cheers’ this groundhog LOL
