Big Grove collaborates with a Connecticut brewery on a beer dedicated to the USS Iowa

Susan Stapleton, Des Moines Register
·2 min read
Big Grove Brewery teamed up with Groton, Connecticut-based Outer Light Brewing on Rack Stowed Cream Ale, named as a nod to submarine life.
Big Grove Brewery teamed up with Groton, Connecticut-based Outer Light Brewing on Rack Stowed Cream Ale, named as a nod to submarine life.

Groton, Connecticut, is the submarine capital of the world, home to Naval Submarine Base New London with its 22 submarines and the USS Nautilus, the world’s first nuclear-powered submarine.

So when the U.S. Navy announced it was commissioning the USS Iowa SSN 797 nuclear submarine, a local brewery decided to get involved for a good cause.

Big Grove Brewery, based in Solon with taprooms in Iowa City and Des Moines, teamed up with Groton-based Outer Light Brewing to brew Rack Stowed Cream Ale. The incoming crew of the USS Iowa named the collaboration beer with a name that's a nod to submarine life.

The beer will be on hand at christening events June 17 and the Outer Light taproom.

More: Crew visits to namesake state ramp up as USS Iowa attack submarine nears christening

The USS Iowa SSN 797, the soon-to-be commissioned nuclear submarine for the U.S. Navy, will be the fourth U.S. Navy ship named after the state of Iowa, and the first submarine to bear the state's name and the first to have dedicated quarters for both women and men. It’s the first Navy vessel named for Iowa since the 1991 retirement of the battleship by that name, which launched in 1942.

Big Grove team members will be traveling to the christening to help serve Rack Stowed Cream Ale.

How can Iowans celebrate the USS Iowa?

Big Grove Brewery teamed up with Groton, Connecticut-based Outer Light Brewing on Rack Stowed Cream Ale, named as a nod to submarine life.
Big Grove Brewery teamed up with Groton, Connecticut-based Outer Light Brewing on Rack Stowed Cream Ale, named as a nod to submarine life.

In Iowa, Big Grove has other ways to celebrate the new submarine.

Beginning Memorial Day weekend through the Fourth of July, Iowans will find “Iowa’s Backyard Beer & BBQ” displays in stores across the state featuring the brewery, Cookies Food Products and the Iowa Pork Producers Association. The three companies plan to contribute a portion of sales of Big Grove's Citrus Surfer and Summer Jam Sour, Cookies barbecue sauces and Iowa-produced pork products to the SSN 797 Commissioning Committee. Big Grove already donated $5,000.

The Iowa-based Commissioning Committee hopes to raise $500,000 for upgraded features to ship habitability, recreation and dining equipment. Remaining funds will be used for crew activities and celebration events featuring Iowa products.

Tom Hudson, a retired Navy chief petty officer, serves as one of the executive directors of the committee and described the upgrades as a way to show Iowa's hospitality.

“It’s exciting to help us show what Iowa is all about to the 130 dedicated service men and women and their families,” Hudson said. “On the world's stage, it’s about connecting people to a submarine that will bear the pride of Iowa for the next 30-plus years.”

Susan Stapleton is the entertainment editor at The Des Moines Register. Follow her on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, or drop her a line at sstapleton@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Big Grove brews a beer for the USS Iowa sub with a Connecticut brewery