Backpocket Brewing

For the only well known brewery in Iowa City, it’s surprisingly good! I had both the classic and special beer flights and liked just about all of them. Favourites were their dunkel (basically a German style amber) and bock, which is dark and flavorful, both on the classic flight. The coffee stout was also on point. I also really liked the Jack Knife IPA, which is saying a lot since I don’t normally go for IPAs. It had a lot of crisp floral flavor and wasn’t overpowered by hops.
Their personal pizzas are also awesome! The best way to go is build your own. Only $.50 to add toppings, even meat! It was worth it even for a lactard like me. Just pop those pills and cram that pizza down your throat.

I am an active duty service member on leave from deployment. I drove 400 miles to visit my friend because he told me this brewery served boots. I arrived at the brewery at approx 830 pm with my friend. I was refused service because they would not serve two boots at the same time. This place disregards service members and paying customers. If you are for the United States military or the United States of America, do not support this establishment.

Beer selection awesome. Service awesome. Hoping to pop in again tomorrow night as I can’t make it through the whole beer menu in one night. Definitely worth another visit.

We stopped by for Octoberfest last night. While the management and our waitress (I wish I remembered her name, but she did have a lip piercing I believe) were wonderful, we experienced pretty awful service from the hostess. I understand working in the service industry, I’ve been there, but she was flat out rude in all of her responses and gave us attitude when we asked if we could grab drinks while we waited for a table. She basically rolled her eyes at us and made us feel unwelcome (also didn’t even take our name for the waiting list). The rest of the event was fun and everyone else treated us nicely, but I can’t help but complain about someone essentially not doing their job.

I’m sure their beer is good. Dropped in a little before closing trying to meet up with my buddy for his bachelor party. Could of had a quick beer, but Chris was pretty insistent that although it was «last call» they are now closed. Would have been happy to get in and out. Here for few more days but won’t be back. I even called ahead to see how late they stay open. Drove two hours to be here. Total let down.

One of my favorite bar in town. Unique homemade beers and good environment. If they offer more snack choices, then will be perfect

I come from Indiana to work in Coralville about once a month. There are quite a few really fun places nearby to have dinner and drinks and this is one of them!
I had the Blood on the Blade RPA — great flavor without being overwhelmingly bitter. And as for food, if you’re in the mood for pizza, the BBQ Chicken with cilantro is great!
Accompanied with live outdoor entertainment on a Wednesday night, this place has got it all.

One of the very few, if not the only, craft brewpub in the IC/​coralville area (I havent lived here in years so i may be wrong) but the beers I got were good,-the raygun and jackknife, we got a chips guac app which was fine, the food menu is pretty limited, just pizzas for entrees, so maybe not a good dinner place, but the beer is well priced, if you like craft beer id recommend going

Well, I gave it a try and now know that I never need to go back. I stopped in for lunch and was immediately underwhelmed by the food options on the menu. I ultimately ended up settling for a pizza since nothing else seemed all that appealing. My disappointment continued when I took my first bite of the BBQ Chicken pizza I ordered. It really wasn’t very good. I assume people head here for the beer and not the food. However, my beer was fine but not phenomenal. With craft beers being so big these days I’m sure there are plenty of other places in the area that can deliver on quality brews AND good food. Next time I will head elsewhere.

Pros:
1. Excellent atmosphere inside and out.
2. The food has been great, particularly the pizza and nachos.
3. Has great events that commonly feature other craft breweries from other states.
Cons:
1. Service is usually a bit too casual — have not sat at the bar though.
2. For my palate, the beer tends to be a bit too bland — hope this improves over time with their specialty brews.

Backpocket Brewery’s beer garden is absolutely perfect! A large fire pit encircled by patio chairs, several tables with umbrellas, and a grassy lawn which would be perfect for the beer garden movie nights (I have yet to make it to one). Backpocket plays host to some great gatherings (Border Hop, anyone?) and makes some crazy delicious fire-​baked pizza! That mushroom and blue cheese flatbread? oh. my. word.
The beer is good but nothing has topped my favorites list yet. They seem to specialize in bright summer brews so I was a little disappointed in the offerings through this past winter. They also make their own sodas and so far have always had root beer, plus an additional rotating option. I’ve tried the ginger ale and it wasn’t quite ginger-​y enough but otherwise delicious (not ridiculously sugary or over-​carbonated).
The biggest thing I’ve been disappointed with is the customer service. If you sit at the bar or outside, you’re golden. But sit in the booths lining the awesome wall of windows and you’ll likely be forgotten. I’m a regular here and even though I’m hardly ever around during busy times, I’ve had to walk up to the bar on multiple occasions to either get a refill on my beer, place a pizza order, or to get my bill.

Went and had the same thing as my last review, but the big difference was the service! Jake did a fantastic job! Very attentive to our drinks and food order. Food came out hot, fresh and a timely manner. Not rushed, and not waiting for our food. Great job! Will be back for more. Ps, if you don’t like chewy brick-​fired pizza, go elsewhere.

Between the three of us, we had Slingshot (dunkel), Wooden Nickel (peated bock), Swabian Hall Smoked Brown and Gold Coin (helles). All were wonderful! We also had brats with potato salad, pretzel and a special blue cheese bacon burger pizza. Very good with beer. Service was very good.

Hailing from Oregon, where brewing has become both an art and a science, I was eager to test out what the Midwest had to offer. Back Pocket was the one place I made a point to test out twice, and with good reason.
It’s not exactly easy to find, located in some new development area. But they are very good at what they do, which is brewing beer. Only once did I order food, and don’t remember what it was. Probably because I was so focused on the beer.
Maybe it was timing, but every other time I tried going through Iowa City and scoping out breweries, the only other options were closed, or parking was an issue. But being a short jaunt off the highway, and with plenty of parking, Back Pocket was very convenient, with great outdoor seating. I particularly liked their Hefeweizen, or should I say Dunkelweizen. Any place deserves props for doing that.

Solid food, good beer, good service… what more could you ask for? Appetizers are pretty good. Honestly its a great place to get a beer and socialize. I like the beer cheese as an appetizer, it is pretty spicy but addicting. Pizza isn’t NYC pizza, but for Iowa its good. Never had a bad meal here. During the summer they have the grill open. Haven’t had anything from there, but looking forward to trying it this summer (if it ever gets here).

This place was pretty neat. I was staying at the Marriott next-​door for a conference and our weekend started here. The local alumni group had reserved their production area with tables and appetizers for any of us to enjoy. At times there wasn’t much space [there were a lot of us] but it wasn’t a huge concern for me. I was able to try a few slices of pizza, their cheese bread, nachos, and a few other goodies. I had low expectations for a brewery to serve good food, but man it was great! Service was phenomenal — the operations manager and a brewery worker kept on our drink orders as well as keeping the food coming out.
I was advised to try a couple of beers before ordering a pint, so I went ahead and ordered the massive Supa’ Fly’t. Unfortunately it was ⁵⁰⁄₅₀ like/​dislike on their beers. I was disappointed that there was no Hefe to try [temporarily out of stock I believe]. The few that stood out were the Bock, APA, IPA, and the cider. Everything else was not that great or just meh. I really enjoy darker-​color/​darker-​flavor beers [stouts, dunkels, etc] but I couldn’t finish my tasters after a small sip. One of the coolest things was drinking out of Das Boot! Roughly 7 – 8 glasses in total of one beer, and you cannot set the thing down, otherwise you pay for the entire beverage. My partner and I were helped out with a few other convention-​goers. What a nice way to network with people by helping a friend out with their beer!

Excellent wood fired pizza, brews, & atmosphere. They feature revolving visiting brews along with their own beers. I really enjoy the Slingshot dunkel.
The service has been ok on our visits-​we go for the beer. Note that their food selection includes appetizers and pizza, it’s not a full menu. The beer is the feature at Backpocket.
They also have a large patio with a fire pit which is nice to sit by while enjoying a beverage.
Check out the brewery tours there too. We haven’t been on one but look forward to it on a visit soon.

Took my folks to Backpocket to take the tour and try a few beers. The tour starts at 5, so we made sure to arrive a few minutes early. We approached the hostess and informed her we would like to take the tour. She went over to a guy drinking at the bar and spoke briefly to him. He smirked and said something to her. She came back and told us that the tour had already left. See, the thing about it is that there was no tour. You could clearly see into the brewing area, and no people. If you don’t want to do it, fine. Just don’t lie. It has a tendency to piss people off.
We were then seated, and same girl was our server. We were trying to decide between flights, and asked her about the different brews. Her response was that it was her first day and she didn’t know anything about the beers except their names. Now, call me crazy but if one is working at a brewery, one would most likely expect at least a rudimentary knowledge of the offerings. Sigh. There was no offer to get a knowledgeable person (how about the dude at the bar? Maybe he could help with all the time he saved by not doing our tour!), so we just got 2 flights of each and ordered some pizza. Our flights were delivered backwards but named in order, further underscoring the fact that our server was in over her head. You can’t tell me that the Pennywhistle is the one on the end that is as black as the heart of the dude at the bar who refused our tour.
So here’s the thing. I took my folks there because we all love beer. My brother brews, my hubs brews, WE. LOVE. BEER. Overall, disappointing in the experience/​product knowledge/​employee engagement areas. Beer was good, pizza was decent. I think I’ll buy sixers at hyvee and pick up some Wig and Pen next time so I can not have a tour in the comfort of my own home.

As a microbrewery, pretty solid. As a restaurant, it can be hit or miss.
The beer selection is decent. I’m not a huge fan of the standard offerings but the seasonal and guest need can be a treat.
The menu is limited but the food is good. The brick oven pizzas go especially well with a few beverages.
For what it is, I would give the place 4 stars, except for how they perform on busy nights. If it is packed, expect VERY slow service, possibly burnt pizza, overworked waiters, and a generally less than ideal experience. The beer is still okay.

Great beers, check.
Great pizza, check.
Can’t decide on what beer to get? No worries, get a flight and enjoy 5 of their delicious beers. If you are an IPA fan, I highly recommend the Raygun. If only I had a way to take it back home with me. You lucky people up here can fill up a growler and take home their brews, those of us that live 1000 miles away aren’t so lucky.
So take advantage of your location and give these guys a try.