Our destination included the historical outpost of the Amana Colonies in Iowa. The Amana Colonies were settled in the mid-1800s by a German religious movement--The Community of the True Inspiration, a sect that broke away from Lutheranism in the early 18th century in an area near Frankfurt, Germany. After being persecuted for their beliefs, a group of about 5,000 men, women and children packed what little belongings they could and headed from Europe to the new world, mid-nineteenth century. Their aim was simple: to find their own land, live a true communal way of life, and devote their lives to God, family and friends. At first they landed, and settled briefly, in upstate New York. After a short time there, and in need of more fertile and wider spaces, the commune trekked across the new nation and finally settled in a fertile valley along the Iowa River in east central Iowa. The Amana Colonies, as they became known, is really a collection of seven colonies that existed from 1850 until 1932, when the Depression, coupled with severe annual droughts, forced their community to give way to privatization of ownership to keep the community solvent.

Of course, hard work demanded skilled labor in their transition to America. For the colonies to thrive during their tenure, they relied on artisans of all kinds: farmers, shoemakers, iron smelters, leather manufacturers, vintners and brewers (unlike their Amish and Mennonite bretheren, the Inspirationalists saw no sin in imbibing, especially in times of celebrations, such as weddings). The Inspirationalists certainly had the fertile river valley to provide abundant crops (wheat, barley and hops), and livestock to keep everyone well-fed, and properly nourished. Although on our trip we encountered many wineries, the one spot that most attracted me was the only microbrewery in Iowa: the Millstream Brewing Company.

Adjacent to the Old Woolen Mill, this is one very picturesque microbrewery. Nestled in the heart of the river valley, with fields full of cattle in one direction, and up the road, the hustle and bustle of Main Street Amana. This place earned its right as an heir to the Amana heritage.

Founded in 1985 Iowa's oldest microbrewery (and currently, the only one) is brewing up some wonderful things these days. Operated by Brewmaster/Owner Aaron Taubman (who holds a degree in Biochemistry, and cultures his own lager yeast on premise), and staffed by just three other people, Millstream currently produces 3 full-time beers, 2 sodas, and 2 to 3 seasonal beers.

The first thing Kim and I noticed upon entering the brewery grounds was the beer garden out in 'front' of the brewery. I thought this to be very cool, as most beer gardens in Chicago taverns are found behind the building. The wooden garden was decked out wonderfully for autumn; with corn stalks, farming implements, and dead hop vines all about (in summer, hop flowers flourish in the garden). Once we got through the leading beer garden, we immediately entered the gift shop--one of the best I've been to at a brewery.

There are all sorts of very cool brewerania at Millstream's gift shop, from the requisite shirts, caps, glasses, to very rare German-made steins, flags, buttons, books, CD-ROMs, etc., plus many of their beers available for sale, either in six-pack, mixed-packs, growlers, or...you can buy pints off draught and consume on premise. Though many people were drinking pints that day, and taking them outside into the beer garden, Kim and I weren't that hardy, since the daytime temperature was only in the 30's--not optimal for quaffing in a beer garden (must be an Iowa thing)! Instead, we had a date with Aaron to keep. Millstream doesn't give regular tours, but I had emailed Aaron just 2 days earlier, and pre-arranged a private tour. And what a delight it was for Kim and I! Thank you, Aaron...

The brewery is a 3-tiered, 10-barrel brewhouse. Basically, the top level is where the malt is stored and cracked, the middle level (where we entered) is where the brew kettles reside for brewing, as well as the bottling line and kegging, and the basement is where the fermentation and lagering takes place.

The first thing we noticed upon the brew house, at the middle level was some of the older, but die-hard qualities of their equipment. Aaron told me that his stainless steel kettles were all hand-made, with the bracket rivets surrounding the opening self-evidently handcrafted, but it seemed to do the trick just fine. The bottling line, with flakes of rust on the cast iron frame, was a smaller bottling line that belonged to Pepsi back in the 1940's. All of his equipment, Aaron maintains, runs extremely well, and is mostly mechanized without computers. Although parts have to be replaced from time to time, Aaron says they are worth the trouble. As he put it, "constant greasing of the bottling lines, a little TLC with the brew kettles, and all is fine."

From the middle level, Aaron then took us up to the top level, where he has an office in which he keeps his laboratory, with the tools to culture yeast and the malting areas. He uses Briess malt (Wisconsin) exclusively for all his beers.

After the tour of the top and middle levels, he took us down to the basement where the fermentation takes place. Millstream produces roughly 2300 barrels a year. That's not too bad, he says, given the fact that they only sell in state, and that most of Iowa drinks 'crap' beer, as he puts it, making it difficult to achieve capacity. Once the beers have fermented, he lagers them away in a separate, very cold room, for about 4 weeks before kegging and/or bottling, and releasing to the drinking public.

Aaron is very passionate about his beer, and although in the past the brewery sold their wares in neighboring Minnesota and Wisconsin, he has scaled back (like many of the microbrewries in the US) to just selling in state--and in particular, eastern Iowa. Because of their proximity to the University of Iowa (just 1/2 hour a way), he gets a good amount of visitors and taverns that want to Millstream's products. He says the market for Millstream's products in the Quad Cities, Cedar Rapids, Des Moines and Dubuque are all decent.

So...speaking of their products, here's what we found and sampled on our trip to Millstream: Schild Brau (Amber lager), Schokolade Bock (seasonal bock), Colony Oatmeat Stout (also seasonal), wheat beer (Hefe-Weiss), and Pilsener. Most of these beers were better than average, with the Stout and Bock exceptional. The Stout, actually using a lager yeast (and resembling more of an intense Schwarzbier), was full-bodied and roasty. It was certainly opaque, had a nice brown head (which retained nicely), and had a smooth finish (due to the lager yeast, and filtering techniques, no doubt). The Schokolade (chocolate) Bock was certainly chocolatey, and scrumptious. This bock, coming in at around 6% ABV, had a pleasant hop nose, a strong chocolate flavor (due to the chocolate malts used), and a nice, sustained clean finish. This was my favorite beer of the lot. Unfortunately for me, they don't bottle this product; it's only available on draught at locals around eastern Iowa. Too bleepin' bad for me!

I enjoyed the Pilsner, too, as it was a very hoppy (think Saaz hops), medium-bodied and had a clean finish. The wheat, although clearly a hefe (meaning with yeast, which was nice) had a low head (unusual, I think, for a Hefe-weizen), but was still very zesty with a pronounced lemon taste. The Schild Brau, their amber beer, was my least favorite of the group, but still a nice beer. It had a nice bronze color, good head, but was a little 'grainy' with a light finish.

I had mentioned that Aaron uses Briess malt exclusively, but he uses a variety of hops, including Tettnang, Hallertauer & Saaz from Europe. He also uses Liberty, Cascade, Centennial and Northern Brewer from the U.S. Aaron confided to me that he occasionally will brew a true ale -- a pale ale in the spring -- but he brews lager beers nearly all the time.

My partner Kim, being primarily a non-beer drinker (something I'm working on to correct), really enjoyed Millstream's Root Beer. I tried it too, and I must say, that of all the root beers I've tried from various craft brewers, Millstream's is probably the best. It is unmistakeably 'rooty' through and through. I think it even rivals Barq's -- a truly great root beer.

Yes, indeed, our trip to Millstream specifically, but Amana in general, was not only historical, in terms of learning about the 'True Inspirationalists', but also learning about the 'True Craftsmen' of the brewing world. These 'craftsmen' of the operation include Chris, who is the president of the company and brewer. Chris also maintains the brewery equipment. There is also Teresa, who is in charge of the salesroom and works with advertising and marketing and oversees our outside sales. She also teaches at Clear-Creek Amana schools. Both Chris and Teresa's spouses are also employed by the brewery. Chris's wife, Jerri handles the bookkeeping and payroll, while Tom, Teresa's husband bottles, fills kegs and liters, works the salesroom, and provides a lot of the general labor. Between seasonal, part, and full-time staff the brewery employs a dozen people (this figure includes the owners.) They all work their butts off to bring quality beer to appreciative beer drinkers. Long may they prosper. If they retain the work ethic of the original settlers, based on the spirt of craftsmanship, I'm sure that they will.

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