Tallgrass Light		Homestead Red
RRBC's light beer. A high-quality alternative to commercially bought "barley pop." Based on the original recipe for Tallgrass Gold, Tallgrass Light is made most quaffable by the addition of rice as a fermentable source.		Rich Malty and sweet... The "less aggressive beer," this beer is balanced toward a malty sweetness from a generous contribution of crystal malts. If you came in for a Railyard, try a Homestead Red instead.
Bandit IPA	Vanilla Cream Ale	Stonecutter Stout
Bandit IPA is our most assertive and most highly hopped ale. Like the sly critter this beer is named for, the Bandit might sneak up on you. This higher gravity beer is brewed paler than many India Pale Ales and is aggressively hopped with centennial and cascade hops.	Our alternative to the common raspberry beers brewed at almost every brewpub in the country. Originally brewed on a whim as a light summer specialty brew, popular demand forced us to include the Vanilla Cream Ale in our house beer rotation.	Honoring the stone masons who worked on the State Capitol, the Hotel Fort Des Moines, and many of the other historic buildings in Des Moines, the Stonecutter is a complex and satisfying beer. The beer you need when you're feeling the need for restoration.

Seasonal Brews
Belgian White Ale	Cerveza Negra
Originally introduced at the 2003 Des Moines Art Festival, this Belgian-Style ale is brewed with a carefully selected yeast strain which gives the beer a wonderful acidic tartness. Additionally, this beer is "dry-spiced" with dried coriander and orange peel.	"Mexican Black Beer" Raccoon River's version of a beer in the style of Negra Modelo, our brewmaster's favorite Mexican beer. This dark ale is rich and sweet, but has none of the roasted bitterness usually associated with dark beers.
Downtown Brown	Dunkel Weizen
A light-bodied "session beer" with a sweet pallet and a very slight biscuity/toasty character. A "session" beer is a beer that can be consumed All Night Long (or for the entire session). Put another way, Downtown Brown is a beer that is easy to drink more than one of.	Literally translated to "Dark Wheat," this beer is a traditional German Hefe Weizen with a dark rich caramel sweetness complementing the expected banana and clove character of the specially selected yeast strain.
Java Joe’s Porter	MacCoy’s Scotch Ale
Lighter in body than our popular Stonecutter Stout, the Java Joe’s Porter is brewed with 50 pounds of imported coffee from Des Moines local coffee roaster – Java Joes. Brewed with more than one kind of "kick," this beer is one mean bean brew.	A highland alternative to traditional English Ales, Scotch Ales are brewed dark and malty. MacCoy’s Scotch is subtly enhanced with a small addition of imported smoked malt.
Maibock	Munich Helles
Pronounced "My Bock" this beer is a traditional spring bock beer which is brewed every year here at RRBC. This beer is aggressive, malty and pale German lager. With over six weeks aging time, this is one of Raccoon River’s most anticipated beers.	Brewed as one of our popular "Best of Show" beers, this beer was brewed based on an award wining homebrew recipe from Iowa’s State Fair Brewing Competition.A wonderfully refreshing light amber lager.
Octoberfest Lager	Overland Vice
Our most popular seasonal brew seems to sell out quicker every year. Our Octoberfest lager is released in late September every year. Like all our lagers, the Octoberfest is aged for atleast six weeks in our lager tank.	Anyone familiar with traditional Hefe Weizen should recognize the banana and clove spice flavors this beer exhibits. These flavors are "phenolics" produced by the special German yeast strain chosen for this beer – much like wine yeasts add fruit flavors to wines.
Pumpkin Ale	Ringed Tail Rye
A taste of the season, our Pumpkin Ale is brewed with a hearty compliment of pumpkin meat and traditional pie spices. Enjoy a "Slice" of pumpkin ale whenever you can!	This beer is a very smooth orange-to-amber colored ale with a nice toasty malt character from the addition of malted Rye.
Silent Brother Abbey Ale	West Coast Wheat
Belgian-style double ale. The Silent Brother Abbey Ale is a dark red ale with a rich and complex flavor. Our imported Belgian yeast strain imparts an intensely fruity nose with hints of plums. This style of beer is traditionally brewed by Trappist Monks to rejuvenate the soul.	A wheat beer with a decidedly "West Coast" hop character. Hopped exclusively with domestic Cascade hops and balanced with a sweet addition of crystal malts.

The Brewing Process

Purists insist that beer be made with nothing more than malted barley, hops, yeast and water. Purists miss out on many fantastic beers.

Basically what is required to make beer is a fermentable source (ie. something that will provide sugar for our yeasty friends), flavorings, yeast, and water.

Here at RRBC most of our fermentables are provided by the malted barley we ship in from the Northwest. However many breweries find fermentables in other sources such as wheat malt, rye, honey, sugar (especially brown and candy sugar), fruits and even apple cider. RRBC does and will use many of these other sources of fermentables in producing our ales.

When talking about flavorings for beers most people are considering the hopping that is added to the brew. However, flavor contributions come from everything that is put into the brewing process. From the sweet roasted character of chocolate malts, to the bitter bite of high alpha hops, everything added contributes to the final character of a beer.

Hops, the most common "flavoring" for beer, are the flowering portion of a tall vine-like plant that is now grown throughout the world. Different locations have produced different varieties of hops, each known for their varying bittering and aroma characteristics. RRBC uses both domestic and European varieties of hops.

Our yeast is a special house strain originally picked by the Wynkoop's founding brewer Russ Scherer. This is an English Ale strain that produces the nice fruity and smooth characteristic that you all will come to know and love. Every ingredient needs to be carefully picked in designing a brew, but the yeast used will provide the most subtle enhancements to the final characteristics of the beer.

Our water is, of course, our famous Des Moines city water.

ABOUT OUR BREWER
David Coy has been Raccoon River's brewer since its initial opening in 1997 and continues to bring forth beers combining the best of brewpub traditions in the US along with brews celebrating European traditions. Read more about Dave...

Join PAW (Pub After Work)! The $25 membership (good for one year) gets you... ... a Raccoon River Brewery logo pint ... a Raccoon River Brewery T-shirt ... one free entree on your birthday ... happy hour pricing all the time ($1 off pints of beer & $3 well drinks)

We would like to recognize and thank the American Homebrewers Association for its major role in growing the homebrewing hobby, which helped build the foundation and seeded the creation of the craft beer movement.