Iowa’s Big Grove Brewery opened a massive brewery and restaurant on the edge of downtown Des Moines in late July as part of an effort to establish a foothold for the brand in the middle of its home state.
Big Grove, which operates a flagship production brewery in Iowa City and its original brewery and restaurant in Solon in eastern Iowa, distributes its beer statewide via Doll Distributing, but wanted a physical touchpoint in the capital city to give consumers a touchpoint, Big Grove co-founder and CEO Matt Swift told Brewbound.
“It really felt like if we wanted to be rooted in Iowa, we need to be in the center of the state capital,” Swift explained. “Des Moines basically checks every box from us from demographics and kind of where we want to be. It’s been a smash since we opened.”
Big Grove’s brick-and-mortar entry into Des Moines is part of an influx of other Iowa craft breweries into the city. Waterloo-based SingleSpeed Brewing Co. will open a taproom in the city in mid-2023. Coralville’s Backpocket Brewing plans to open a taproom in Des Moines’ suburb Johnston this fall. And Toppling Goliath is reportedly exploring options in the city as well.
Big Grove anchors a 12,720 sq. ft. piece of a former Crescent Chevrolet car dealership that was renovated by real estate developer and property management company Krause+ as part of a $17 million project, according to the Des Moines Register.
“This being the old Crescent Chevrolet building, it was kind of an iconic building in Des Moines that was set to be demolished,” Swift said. “We were lucky enough to come in and snag it on the backside with our partners the Krause[Plus] Group and make this thing happen.”
Swift declined to put an exact figure on Big Grove’s investment into the Des Moines location, but said it is the most the company has spent on one project at one time.
The indoor-outdoor space is capable of hosting around 800 people, with a covered outdoor patio with games and fire pits, two indoor bar areas featuring 20 taps and a full-service restaurant menu with seating. Big Grove operates a pilot brewing system at the location to produce research-and-development beers for on-site consumption.
“Big Grove is a brewery first and foremost, but it’s also this really cool restaurant, culinary experience,” said Swift, who came from a family of restaurateurs.
“The whole idea has been to connect people to the food but then have beer that rivals that food experience,” Janelle Buxton, Big Grove’s head of brand marketing, added.
When Big Grove opened its Solon brewery in 2013, the goal was to produce “destination worthy” beer, Swift said. However, he said the company was able to take its food program to the next level with the addition of culinary director Ben Smart, who brought a “blend of high end and comfort food.
“I like big bold flavors and so you’ll see a lot of those things represented in this menu,” Smart said.
On Pace for 25,000 Barrels in 2022
Big Grove’s move into Des Moines comes as the company expects its biggest output yet, pushing 25,000 barrels, not including hard seltzer production, Swift said. The company has been on a steady growth trajectory since its founding in 2013, increasing output from 3,500 barrels in 2017 to 19,759 barrels in 2021, according to data from the Brewers Association. Production increased +37% from 2020 and 2021, with the company achieving regional brewery status for the first time (more than 15,000 barrels produced and sold primarily through distribution).
Big Grove’s growth strategy is to remain focused on growing deep within its home state, while thus far eschewing out-of-state distribution. According to Swift, the opportunity is by attracting some of 87-90% of domestic light beer drinkers in Iowa to Big Grove’s offerings.
In Solon, the company operates a three-and-a-half-barrel brewery, while Big Grove’s main production facility in Iowa City operates out of a 28,000 sq. ft. facility and pumps out the majority of its beers for statewide distribution.
More than half of the company’s output is flagship Easy Eddy hazy IPA (6% ABV), which Buxton said is the “fastest growing hazy IPA in Iowa,” she added.
Building on the success of Easy Eddy, the company has created a brand family, with Royal Eddy imperial IPA (9% ABV) and West Eddy West Coast-style IPA (6.8% ABV) and recently released a variety pack.
Last year, the company launched the Squeeze line of hard seltzers (4.8% ABV). Due to supply chain struggles, the Year One launch followed Labor Day, missing the peak hard seltzer season. Buxton said this year is the “proving year” for the line, which has given Big Grove a non-beer alternative at its three taprooms.
Beyond seltzers, Big Grove is working on a vodka-based, ready-to-drink canned cocktail line, pending licensing approvals.
Big Grove’s runway for growth, though, is constrained by its production capacity, which is close to maxed out. The company will begin capital projects over the next eight months to add larger tanks in Iowa City to scale its core brands, Swift said.
“It’s really the big brand production in the summer where we get stuck,” he said. “If we were perfect, and nothing changed all year, we could probably put out 34,000 [barrels]. But with the ebbs and flows of the Iowa business, the big ups and big downs, we end up not having enough capacity in the summer.”
In addition to the added capacity, Big Grove plans to break ground in October on a fourth taproom, this one in Cedar Rapids, about 40 minutes north of Iowa City. The goal is to open late summer 2023, pending construction.
“Could we be a top 50 brewery or a top 75 brewery that only sells in Iowa? I think that’s a very real possibility,” Swift said. “People will attach to a brand that matters to them.”