Being exiled isn't really all that bad. Especially when going into Exile means spending a sunny Saturday afternoon at one of Des Moines' coolest hot spots with Greg and my friend Maeg. Exile Brewing Co. is hand-crafted brewery inspired by the immigrants and exiles that abandoned their homelands to reach for the American Dream.
Exile brews up beers Hannah, Betty, Ruthie, and Gigi, all given lovely lady names and represented by adorable pinup-esque characters. Gigi, the Munich Dunkel Lager, was my favorite sampling of Exile when I first tried their beers back at the Des Moines Craft Brew Fest. I think they really need a Red IPA, represented by a cute redhead character. Named Jessica? ;) Yessss.
Greg and I both opted for the seasonal Isabelle, Kölsch style ale that we found to be quite refreshing that hot afternoon. It was also a fantastic beer for food, an excellent match for both Greg's Philly cheese steak sandwich and my mouthwatering order of fish'n'chips. Alas, we did not have our handy dandy beer notebooks with us to jot down reviews... but we both gave this light, crisp beer a thumbs up.
I really love the atmosphere, architecture, and decor at Exile. Industrial meets modern meets history in this former warehouse turned brewery. The building that houses Exile was originally the Fitch Soap Co. Building. It sat for years as a rundown, vacant warehouse. I'm so happy to see another dilapidated ruin of Iowa history transformed into a hip gathering place for people to enjoy good times, good food, and (of course!) good beer.
I'd been longing to check out this brewery for far too long and I'm so glad we finally got the chance. One Des Moines brewery down, many more to go!
So have you been to Exile? What's your favorite Exile brew?
Check out the Exile website. The Exile blog has lots of great posts, including the building's history, their brewery's beers, and the construction process. Like Exile on Facebook here and follow Exile on Twitter here.
Iowa brew-peeps, if you'd ever like to meet up and drink beers with us at an Iowa brewery... let us know! We love gathering and talking beer with fellow brew-lovers.
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