Tuesday 24th of August 2010 09:55:42 AM

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Great River was an unexpected gem of a find on a recent trip to the Quad Cities. Their beer was of superior quality, and the best out of all the area brewpubs. After seeing a poster and cans at Trackside in Geneseo, IL, they were on my radar, and later a local friend recommended that we go here. Apparently the brewing operation used to be based at Old Capitol in Iowa City, and is now an independent brewery in Davenport.

From the street you can see pallets of cans stacked to the rafters, and fermenters behind a couple roll down garage doors. The tasting room bar has a corner door, and opens into the small lounge. The wood bar has 2 tap towers with 12 tap lines in all. 9 were running on our visit. There were a couple seasonals, a Hefeweizen and Far Out Espresso Stout, and the bartender mentioned they occasionally have barrel aged beers available. The beers were all fresh and brewed with high quality ingredients. The Espresso Stout was really rich and tasty, I left with a growler of it. The 483 Pale Ale was a bit hoppier than the random cans I picked up earlier, so get it fresh at the source if you can.

There were about 12 seats at the bar, one booth, and a table in the back, so there was seating for maybe 20 people at the most. The bar itself was darker wood with lighter inlay details. Music was playing from the bartender's ipod, and there were no tv's, making an ideal atmosphere for relaxed conversation and beer sampling. They don't offer food, but you can order in or bring your own food in also.

Our bartender was knowledgeable about the brewery and their beers. Apparently they were pouring at this years Great Taste, unfortunately I missed them there, but still got the chance to try their beers.

Quality beer here, I highly recommend a visit if you're in the Quad Cities area.