Beer lovers, get ready for QC Craft Beer week.
The annual event, which focuses on the flavors and culture of region’s independent craft brewing, begins Monday, May 16, and runs through Saturday, May 21. QC Craft Beer Week is made possible through a partnership with Visit Quad Cities’ QC Ale Trail, Craft Quad Cities, and local breweries.
“Our craft beer community, industry and its story continue to create a lot of value for our tourism product and visitor experience,” said Dave Herrell, president and CEO of Visit Quad Cities. “Our craft breweries, the QC Ale Trail, and the product that is produced in the Quad Cities regional destination is amazing and I would stack it up against anyone in the country. QC Craft Beer Week is important as we celebrate, gather, and raise a glass to the importance of craft beer to the Quad Cities.”
Each day of QC Craft Beer Week brings a new adventure for craft brew lovers as different breweries across the corners of the Quad Cities are featured.
Here are the featured breweries during the week:
- Monday, May 16 – East Moline/Geneseo: Midwest Ale Works, Geneseo Brewing Co. and Great Revivalist Brew Lab.
- Tuesday, May 17 – Davenport/Muscatine: Front Street Brewery, Stompbox Brewing and Contrary Brewing Co.
- Wednesday, May 18 – Bettendorf/LeClaire: Crawford Brew Works, Five Cities Brewing, Nerdspeak Brewery, Twin Span Brewing, Adventurous Brewing and Green Tree Brewery. These breweries also all are creating a new 5272Brew to mark Bettendorf’s Zip Code Day, 5/27/22.
- Thursday, May 19 – Moline: Bent River Brew Pub, Galena Brewing Co. Ale House, Rebels & Lions Brewing/Rebellion Brew Haus.
- Friday, May 20 – Rock Island: Bent River Brewery, Blue Cat Brewing Co., Radicle Effect and Wake Brewing.
For more information on the week’s festivities, visit qcaletrail.com or craftqc.com. You can also follow the Facebook event to get updates about specials, tappings, or events from each brewery on their designated day.
QC Craft Beer Week falls during the third anniversary of the QC Ale Trail — a year-round, self-guided, gamified tour of the local craft beer scene. Hundreds of craft beer lovers from 23 states have already blazed the trail. Find out more at www.qcaletrail.com.
As an added bonus, people can do the Check-in Challenge. People can enter to win a grand prize basket on www.qcaletrail.com if they visit a brewery every day and check-in for the QC Ale Trail. There is an entry form to show which breweries you visited.
On Friday, May 20, wear your favorite craft brewery shirt and share on social media using #qccraftbeerweek.
To close out QC Craft Beer Week, there are two local events on Saturday, May 21. Local and regional breweries will be pouring samples of their beer in the shops of downtown LeClaire, Iowa, during Shops with Hops. Buy a $25 ticket in advance at www.shopswithhops.com and pick up a souvenir tasting glass at Green Tree Brewery in LeClaire. Sip, sample and shop from 3-6 p.m. before the after-party from 6-7 p.m. at Green Tree Brewery, with raffle prizes with proceeds going to Getting Heroes Home.
The QC Beer Battle on the Belle is a new event that gives attendees a Mississippi River cruise from 12-3 p.m., May 21, on Moline’s Celebration Belle riverboat while they enjoy samples of craft beer from 14 different regional brewers.
QC Beer Week was launched in 2011 by the local home brewing club, MUGZ. It was created to highlight the great places in the Quad Cities that celebrated craft beer, with different tapping events at both bars and breweries. As the local brewing landscape changed so has the event itself to focus on Quad Cities crafted brews.
