Midwest Ale Works | East Moline, IL
Beer Trip: Midwest Ale Works in East Moline, Illinois
Work brought us to the Quad Cities area, so of course we had to scope out a brewery while in town. We opted for the Illinois side of the river this go-around and selected Midwest Ale Works (MAW for short) to spend the evening.
The Brewery
MAW is located near the Mississippi River in what appears to be an older warehouse-turned-strip mall with multiple other businesses occupying the complex. It maintains the rustic feel with its brick walls, wood ceiling, and copper bar top. The indoor space brings in lots of natural light through large windows and offers plenty of seating. Towards the back, they have a wall of close to ten pinball machines that were frequently used throughout our visit. The outdoor area is as spacious as the interior, with lots of tables spread around the face of the building. One other draw to this brewery is that the entire place is dog-friendly.
The Beer
Our other brewery experiences in the area led us to believe that 10-ish taps were the norm for the region, so we were pleasantly surprised to find 20 different brews at MAW. During our visit, the menu consisted of multiple IPAs, Kolsches, stouts, and blondes, along with a wide variety of other styles. Their brewers might do the best job we’ve ever seen of mixing unique ingredients into a multitude of different beers. They had drafts flavored as chocolate raspberry, passionfruit cheesecake, and spiced maple - just to name a few. One other fun twist with their menu was their choice of beer names. Titles such as Hazed & Abrewsed, Hickory Lickery Dock, and Chippery Doo Dah make it just as fun to order as they are to drink. In fact, the BAMF IPA seemed to take on an identity of its own with the locals, as we heard numerous people say “If you are one, drink one” whenever someone asked about it.
Already crediting the brewers with their selection of ingredients, they also do a fantastic job of mixing them together to create great beer. Midwest Ale Works, across the board, brews some of the best beer you will find anywhere (and this is coming from someone who has been to ~300+ breweries)! One of our favorites was the Lime Cheesecake Blonde. They have a few varieties of cheesecake blonde, but this one was very creamy with nice hints of lime to lighten it up - truly exactly what you would envision by its name. Another home run was the Da Rougarou, which is a red ale with a rich caramel taste that falls on the sweeter side for a red. The last brew that stood out was the Naughty Or Spice Winter Warmer. To be honest with you, this one is hard to describe - but the flavor combination of spicy and sweet perfectly contradict each other in a way we haven’t experienced in a beer.
Food, Merch, & More
If beer isn’t your thing, MAW is actually a full bar as well and makes a wide variety of custom drinks. There were a large number of folks around us having cocktails instead of beer. While you won’t find a full food menu here, they do have snacks consisting of chips, crackers, and by far the most popular item being a microwavable bag of popcorn that they will pop for you.
The merchandise section sits along the back wall of the bar and consists of bandanas, dog bowls, rubber cups, and multiple t-shirts with each one toting a design from one of their flagship beers.
We are definitely glad we stumbled across Midwest Ale Works. Offering some of the best beer out there, this is one place we aspire to return to!
Cheers!
