Front Street Brewery | Davenport, IA
Beer Trip: Front Street Brewery in Davenport, Iowa
The Quad Cities have a nice selection of craft breweries to choose from. With us only being in town for one evening, we figured the second oldest brewery in Iowa would be worth checking out - so Front Street Brewery became the destination.
The Brewery
Front Street sits as close as you can get to the Mississippi River, right on the edge of downtown Davenport. They have a great outdoor patio overlooking the river, with tons of big shade trees to keep people cool even during the heat of summer. When we approached, there were way more people outside than inside - so clearly it’s quite popular! The brewery is an old freight house, so it still features the original red brick walls, along with modern yet rustic qualities like pallet wood, fermentation barrels, and corten signage.
Behind the L-shaped bar is the brewery itself, which is wide open for you to see the entire process while they’re actively brewing. Front Street brings lots of people through the door with their BINGO nights on Wednesdays and live music on most weekends throughout the summer.
Awesome patio area right on the river!
The Beer
Front Street has many beers to choose from, with fifteen of its own brews and three guest taps. Of their own fifteen, a whopping ten of them are core beers - meaning they are always on tap. The remaining five rotate once they’ve run out. One thing we found to be unique was that not a single one of their core taps was an IPA, which is very peculiar in this hop-loving time we live in. Their flagship styles ran the gauntlet and included a red ale, a hefeweizen, a blonde, and stouts among others. It wasn’t until you read down to their rotators that you find their IPA offerings.
This being our first visit, we asked the bartender for their most popular beer and he poured me their Cherry Bomb Blonde - he said it is, by far, their top seller. They dump full cherries into your glass prior to pouring the beer on top of them - so each one might taste slightly different with the varying amounts of cherries. Ours had a very heavy cherry flavor that combined nicely with the sweetness of the beer itself. Our favorite beer of the visit was their Vanilla Porter. This one was fantastic with a smooth vanilla taste and a nice coffee finish - this is a must-have when visiting!
Food, Merch, & More
This location (Taproom) only has a few chips for food options; however, they have a second location (Pub & Eatery) a few blocks away that includes a full menu - so it would be worth checking out if you needed to fill your stomach. In addition to their craft beer, Front Street also has a full bar along with spiked slushies. These appeared to be very popular, as the bartender had to make multiple batches while we were there.
As far as merchandise goes, there aren’t many breweries of this size that can rival Front Street. They have all kinds of things including shirts, flannels, glassware, koozies, and even tap handles (which were unfortunately a bit out of our price range). The one knock on their merchandise was that their sticker selection was pretty well picked over, leaving only some odds and ends to choose from.
After our visit, it was easy to see why Front Street has stayed in business for so long. With the great atmosphere, quality beer, and plenty of locals, this is a place worth visiting if you find yourself in the Quad Cities.
Cheers!
