About Maquoketa Brewing

Born of the desire to combine the love of craft brewing with a strong sense of community pride, Maquoketa Brewing officially opened its doors on January 1, 2021. Despite the ill-fated timing of launching during a global pandemic, Mark and Judy Lyon are thrilled to have the taproom and brewery open to the public!

As an extension of a humble homebrewing hobby among a few friends, Mark & Judy decided to establish a local brewpub. This highly anticipated addition to downtown Maquoketa allows local beer lovers to enjoy a locally brewed beer without having to travel a considerable distance. Mark, a Maquoketa city councilman since 2017, was inspired by an article in The Atlantic, entitled “Eleven Signs a City Will Succeed.” This article outlined eleven characteristics of thriving communities, many of which Maquoketa enjoys. The last indicator of a flourishing community, according to the author of the article, was a local craft brewery. With that, the spark was lit!

With a little research, one can find that this is not the first brewery to serve Maquoketa residents. However, it is the first in over 100 years. Iowa instituted a ban on brewing five years prior to federal Prohibition, shuttering Maquoketa’s own brewery. In recent years, the craft brewing industry has enjoyed a significant resurgence in popularity with many micro-breweries popping up throughout the US. With this and Mark’s well-timed retirement, it was decided that it was high time Maquoketa had a brewpub of its own!

In addition to his love of brewing tasty beverages, Mark wanted to create something that would give back to the community. Born and raised in Maquoketa, he hoped to not only create a comfortable tasting room to bring beer-lovers together, but to establish a vehicle to benefit the many non-profit organizations whose services bolster the quality of life that this small town enjoys. It is the intention that a portion of the beer sales will serve as a means of fundraising and to raise awareness for these organizations and their varied missions.

Non-beer lovers should fear not! While the brewery offers a wide spectrum of beer styles, one of Judy’s requirements for this endeavor was that the brewery have two things: always have a cider on tap and purse hooks at every table. Needless to say, there are purse hooks at every table – and cider. “Happy wife, happy life!” Maquoketa Brewing is proud to feature guest beers and ciders from other Iowa craft breweries.

In addition to the craft brews and ciders on tap, the brewery offers wine and a small selection of seltzers and old-fashioned Coca-Cola. There are even free juice boxes for the little ones who enjoy the company of adults. Guests are welcome to bring snacks or order in food from local restaurants.

The taproom opened to the public on January 7, 2021. In the immediate future, social distancing efforts will be followed which will limit the capacity of the taproom. Mark, Judy and the staff of Maquoketa Brewing look forward to welcoming you! Please stop by and enjoy a beverage, fill a growler or shop the merchandise to show your support. We look forward to seeing you!