6 Best Brewpubs near Moline

“Have been coming to Bent River for over 2.5 years now and have never been disappointed. The building is clean and such a fun environment. We have been blessed several times with Debbie as our waitress and she is amazing! Very hospitable and always on her game! We will be back many times!“

“Excellent beers and staff is fantastic“

“Food was amazing. Great & friendly staff. We were in and out in about 30-40 minutes and they were super busy but we got a table right away. Prices are great for the servings you get. Will definitely be coming back now that I know their family friendly (first time at this place so wasn't sure what to expect)“

“Heavy metal riffage in a ice cold glass.

To round out a day of exploring the Quad Cities, Emily and I dropped into Wake Brewing to have a beer and a few rounds of Uno and a few other card games to relax before the drive. I didn’t look into the place before we stopped here so I assumed it was either surfer-themed or was attached to a coffeehouse. Little did we know it was a heavy metal/groove metal nanobrewery. I thrive on heavy metal so perfect for me, not so much for Emily.

There were about 10 beers on tap to pick from so I got the Midlife Crisis (fitting as I near 40) and Emily got the Green Mind. The place was filled with what felt like the regulars so we took a spot over in a corner to drink one last beer before the road and play some card games in my ‘pub kit’ as seen in the cover photo above. My pub kit is a simple plastic container I got from Walmart that is full of quick and easy games to play at breweries, coffeehouses, or wherever you are. It just happens to be plastered in stickers from my travels. 😀

Anywho, back to the topic at hand. I really liked Wake Brewing. I have been into IPAs lately and tried a West Coast one for the first time. It was tasty but since I’ve been drinking hazy or tropical ones, it didn’t quite hit like I am used to but that’s on me and not the beer itself. Emily really liked her gose beer. I was eyeing the other IPAs on the menu but with a 2 hour drive back, I didn’t want to delay us getting home before too late.

While we sat there, some really nice groove metal was playing. It reminded me of Tool but less technical and more foot tapping. Shazam said it was King Buffalo and I’ll have to check them out once life settles down a bit. If the heavy metal scene scares you, don’t be intimidated. Most metal heads are big nerds and are some of the chillest people around.

We didn’t stick around too long but I wish we had. I loved the entire vibe of this place and would’ve liked to try some of their other beers. They do have some merch for sell, so you know Emily and I got all their stickers for this trip. If luck finds us back here again, I will def get a shirt. Anything to support heavy metal (and beer).

As a side note, do know that trying to park here had me miss the parking lot’s few entrances quite a few times. So, if it’s your first time, be vigilant of the weird layout and multiple entrances.

Rock on!“

“Edit to original review of two stars:

After seeing my review, and confirming with staff what happened, Scott (owner) IMMEDIATELY called me and was as apologetic as someone could be. He took all responsibility. He offered to make it up to us the following day. We couldn’t make that happen. He left an open invitation to make it up to us. We scheduled but had to cancel because of my daughter getting Covid. Again, he reiterated his intention to make it up to us.

I’ll be honest, Scott went further than most anyone ever would have. He kept texting and kept in communication. When we had to cancel on him he kept in communication regarding my daughter’s health. He clearly means to do right and cares. Accidents happen. Nobody’s perfect. We have since and will continue to frequent Great River. It’s a great little spot.

Original review:

I want to recommend this place but it’s hard.

Great location and the staff is always nice.

That said, we reserved the back room for an early (5:15) dinner for a group of 21 after a movie across the street. They had a five day notice for this party. We called our order in the morning of (pizza and pretzels) to try to make prep easier for them. We requested that the food for the kids come out first as it was my daughter’s birthday.

When we arrived, there was a single cheese pizza and pretzel sitting in the window which sat there until I asked if it was ours to take back. It was cold. It was about 20 minutes before we saw more food come out. After an hour, 40 percent of our order still had not been made so we just had them stop making food and made do with what we had. The little ones needed to get back home.

There were a couple of times when there were long gaps in getting food out so I checked on it only to be told other orders were being made while ours was put on hold.

I understand it was a Sunday and staffing was light. There was one person in the kitchen and one bartender. The place was not slammed. I think aside from our group the most people we saw there were 8 additional people.

To make matters worse, some of the food came out well over cooked.

In fairness, we have reserved the back room for gatherings with more success in the past. The food that came out hot and not overdone was good, as always.

It sucks to say but I’m just not sure I’d gamble with this one again, at least for a group of any size.“