Well if your ever in Des Moines, IA they just added a new bar to their already great establishments. Don't let the name scare you off, it is called El Bait Shop.
Here are the beers on tap and an article following:
Beer on tap
California
Anchor Liberty Ale
Anchor Porter
Anchor Steam
Sierra Nevada Pale Ale
Sierra Nevada Stout
Sierra Nevada Summerfest (seasonal)
Sierra Nevada Wheat
Colorado
Breckenridge (Downtown Brown)
Breckenridge Avalanche Ale
Breckenridge Hefe Proper
Breckenridge Oatmeal Stout
Breckenridge Summerbright (seasonal)
Breckenridge Trademark Pale
Breckenridge Vanilla Porter (seasonal)
Flying Dog In-Heat Wheat
Flying Dog Old Scratch Amber Lager (Golden Lager)
Flying Dog Pale Ale (Doggy Style)
Flying Dog Road Dog Porter
Flying Dog Snake Dog IPA
Flying Dog Tire Bite Golden Ale
Illinois
Goose Island 312 Urban Wheat
Goose Island Honkers Ale
Goose Island IPA
Goose Island Nut Brown Ale
Goose Island Summertime (seasonal)
Indiana
Three Floyds Alpha King
Three Floyds Robert the Bruce
Iowa
Court Avenue (seasonal)
Court Avenue Brewers Choice
Millstream John’s White
Millstream Schildbrau
Old Capital Brew Works
Raccoon River (seasonal)
Raccoon River Brewers Choice
Sutliff Cider
Massachusetts
Sam Adams (seasonal)
Sam Adams Lager
Minnesota
Grainbelt Premium
Summit Extra Pale Ale
Summit Grand
Summit Great Northern Porter
Summit Hefe
Summit IPA
Missouri
Anheuser-Busch (seasonal)
Boulevard Bully Porter
Boulevard Pale Ale
Boulevard Stout
Boulevard Wheat
New York
Saranac Adirondack Lager (Amber)
Saranac Belgian White (seasonal)
Saranac Black Forest
Saranac Pale Ale
Saranac Traditional Lager
Utica Club
Oregon
Eugene City Honey Orange Wheat
Issaquah BullFrog Ale
Redhook Blonde Ale
Redhook ESB
Rogue American Amber
Rogue Brutal Bitter
Rogue Chipotle Ale
Rogue Chocolate Stout
Rogue Dead Guy Ale
Rogue FestivAle
Rogue Half-e-Weizen
Rogue HazelNut Brown Nectar
Rogue John’s Locker Stock
Rogue Juniper Pale Ale
Rogue Kells Lager
Rogue Mocha Porter
Rogue Morimoto Soba Ale
Rogue Saint Rogue Red
Rogue Shakespeare Stout
Rogue Smoke Ale
Rogue Uberfest Pilsner
Rogue Younger’s Special Bitter
RogueOregon Golden Ale
Widmer Hefeweizen
Texas
Shiner Bock
Vermont
Woodchuck Amber Cider
Washington
Pyramid Amber
Pyramid Apricot
Pyramid Curveball (seasonal)
Pyramid Hefe
Wisconsin
Augsberger Dark
Augsberger Golden
Capital Brown Ale
Capital Maibock (seasonal)
Capital Wisconsin Amber
James Paige Ale
Jorge Curioso Special Ale
Leines Creamy Dark
Leines Honey Weiss
Stevens Point Amber
Stevens Point Bock
Stevens Point Cascade Pale Ale
Stevens Point Honey Light
Stevens Point Special Lager
Stevens Point White Biere
Belgium
Lindeman’s Framboise
England
Boddington’s
Fuller’s ESB
Germany
Ayinger Brau Weiss
Spaten Oktoberfest
Bottled beer
Arizona
Cave Creek Chili Beer
California
North Coast ACME Brown Ale
North Coast ACME IPA
North Coast ACME Pale Ale
North Coast Blue Star
North Coast Old #38 Stout
North Coast Red Seal
North Coast Scrimshaw
Sierra Nevada Bigfoot
Colorado
Flying Dog Gonzo Porter
Flying Dog K-9
Flying Horn Dog Barley Wine
Fort Collins Chocolate Stout
Fort Collins Doktor Lager
Fort Collins Edgar lager
Fort Collins Kidd Lager
Fort Collins Pomegranate Wheat
Fort Collins Retro Red
Fort Collins Z Lager
Great Divide Denver Pale Ale
Great Divide Fresh Hop Pale Ale
Great Divide Hotshot ESB
Great Divide Saint Bridget’s Porter
Great Divide Wild Raspberry Ale
Delaware
Dogfish Heaed 60 Minute
Dogfish Head Shelter Ale
Illinois
Elmwood Amber Ale
Elmwood Dunkel Weizen
Elmwood Nut Brown Ale
Elmwood Pale Ale
Goose Island Demolition
Goose Island Matilda
Goose Island Oatmeal Stout
Goose Island Pere Jacques
Indiana
3 Floyds Pride & Joy Mild
Iowa
Sutliff Cider
Maine
Seadog Bluepaw Wheat
Seadog Raspberry Wheat
Shipyard Battleground Ale
Shipyard IPA
Shipyard Old Thumper Special Ale
Massachusetts
Boston Beer Sam Adams Black Lager
Boston Beer Sam Adams Boston Ale
Boston Beer Sam Adams Cherry Wheat
Boston Beer Sam Adams Cream Stout
Boston Beer Sam Adams Hefeweizen
Boston Beer Sam Adams Pale Ale
Minnesota
August Schell Carmel Bock
August Schell Fire Brick
August Schell Pale Ale
August Schell Pils
Missouri
O’Fallons Blackberry Scottish Ale
O’Fallons Cherry Chocolate
O’Fallons Smoked Porter
O’Fallons Wheach
New York
Pete’s Strawberry Blonde
Pete’s Wicked Ale
Saranac Black & Tan
Oregon
Left Hand Black Jack Porter
Left Hand Deepcover Brown Ale
Left Hand Jackman Pale Ale
Left Hand JuJu Ginger Beer
Left Hand Milk Stout
Left Hand Sawtooth Ale
MacTarnahan Amber Ale
MacTarnahan Blackwatch Porter
MacTarnahan Oak Aged IPA
MacTarnahan Pale Ale
Redhook Nutbrown
Redhook Sun Rye (seasonal)
Rogue IPA
Rogue Morimoto Black Obi Soba Ale
Rogue Morimoto Imperial Pilsner
Rogue Old Crustacian Barley Wine
Rogue Russian Imperial Stout
Tabernash Weiss
Texas
Shiner Hefeweizen
Wisconsin
Leines Light
Leines Northwoods Lager
Leines Original
Leines Red
Sprecher Black Bavarian
Sprecher Pub Ale
Sprecher Special Amber
Belgium
Delerium Tremens
La Binchoise Reserve
Nostradamus
Piraat
St. Bernadus 12
Canada
Wyder’s Apple
Wyder’s Peach
Wyder’s Pear
Wyder’s Raspberry
Germany
Schlenkerla Marzen
Schlenkerla Urbock
Schlenkerla Weizen
Mexico
Bohemia
Carta Blanca
Corona
Dos Equis
Modelo Especial
Negra Modelo
Pacifico
Tecate
It almost sounds like a joke, a wacky idea so outside the box it must be a put-on: Open a bar downtown. Have 105 beers on tap, nearly all of them American microbrews. Serve Mexican food, barbecue and also Mexican barbecue. Rent fishing poles and sell lures and tackle. Play '70s cartoons. Oh, and stick a working shower inside the bar. Not sure what anyone will do with it, but put it there, anyway.
No joke, Des Moines. It's "el Bait Shop," and it opens Monday in the building that once housed Hairy Mary's, next door to High Life Lounge.
"It's outrageous and that's the point," said co-owner Jeff Bruning, 35. "None of this fits together. And that's why it fits together."
Lesser entrepreneurs might not get away with this. But these are the same guys whose fleet of unique bars have revamped the culture and nightlife scene in downtown Des Moines. Reputation alone should make this bar a hit.
First came Cajun eatery Buzzard Billy's in 1999. Then the Royal Mile, the amazingly authentic English pub, in 2001. In 2004 they opened German beer hall Hessen Haus, and put the Red Monk, a Belgian bar, upstairs at the Mile.
Last year they opened the High Life Lounge, which features the "Champagne of Beers" and teleports customers to their grandfathers' basements, circa 1964.
"We don't do anything — and don't want to do anything — that anyone else has done before," Bruning said.
With el Bait Shop, it started with all that beer. First, they wanted 35 beers on tap. Not enough. Then they thought 50 might make a statement. But when someone asked "Why not 100?" Nobody had a good answer. So 100 it was. Extra space allowed them to fit 105.
"Most places that open are going to have six to 12 beers on tap, and they never step outside of that," Bruning said. "I think there's a lot of people who want to drink new beer."
Bruning envisions a sportsmans' lounge by day. Decor is heavy on taxidermy — offbeat stuff like a fox, piranha, squirrel and a rather ravenous-looking chicken, all courtesy of eBay. Videos of "Wild Kingdom" and Jacques Cousteau will play on the TV.
"We'd love to have guys in hunting outfits fill this place during the day," he said.
At night, they'll turn up the black lights and play "Speed Racer," Jackson Five and vintage cartoons. With the High Life next door, patrons can walk between bars and also between decades.
The menu will be Mexican dishes like fish tacos and meats smoked on site. They wanted a vintage look for the bar, much like the High Life, but much less refined. The signs outside recall an old gas station. Inside, the walls and floor are all wood and there are exposed ducts on the ceiling. The walls are full of posters and other '70s remnants.
Then there's that shower near the door that leads to the High Life. Bruning doesn't know how — or if — people are ever going to use it, but it works, just in case.
There are plenty of other twisted plans swirling around for el Bait Shop that may or may not happen — like the one about painting the parking lot blue, or sticking an ice fishing lodge on the deck in the winter.
