February 8, 2012
I would not recommend this place to anyone, especially if you have to drive any amount out of your way to get here. The beer all had an off flavor and it was the same off flavor in every beer. The body of each beer, I tried eight of them, was the same, whether the style was a porter or a light lager. None of the beers were good and the best may have been passable as a homebrewers first attempt, but not something that should be on a commercial level. The interior is interesting in a different/unique way with ducks in random spots. The bartender was very uninterested as was the server and neither knew anything about beer. You would be better off going to a different bar and ordering a Guinness.

September 29, 2008 [ Updated March 16, 2009 ]
A nice-looking building, lots of new woodwork and neat old brickwork upstairs. A wide variety of beers on tap (about a dozen) at a reasonable $3/pint (cash only, though) However, *every* beer is suffering from a horrible quality control problem - each beer has a robust smoky flavor - perhaps an infection, or perhaps due to dirty lines or brewing equipment. Every beer was undrinkable, and I mean every beer. The group I was with sampled every beer (all dozen or so) they had on tap, and the smokiness was prevalent in each offering. Needless to say, I was tremendously disappointed with the quality of beer. Hopefully the brewmaster makes tracking down the source of this problem a top priority because I want them to succeed, but the beer was dreadful. Update March 2009: Beer still horrible quality, unchanged from 6 months ago. Avoid wasting your time here until they fix whatever issues they are having.

November 3, 2007
I am originally from the Ft. Madison area so of corse I am a bit biased. The owner, Tim is one of the nicest and least pretentious people you will ever meet. If you didn’t know him you would wonder why this nice Chiropractor is bar tending on the weekends? His staff is equally as friendly and courteous. This Brew Pub is immaculately clean and beautifully finished in all hard wood and brick. There is an amazing view of the river and reconstructed Ft. Madison. Lee county has for a very long time been one of the highest unemployment counties in the state. So to find this gem there is just this side of impossible. I will not comment on Tim’s beer because I haven’t been there in year of so, but I recall enjoying every thing in his collection. I will deliberately make a visit this fall with my rate beer print out in hand and a designated driver.

March 25, 2007 [ Updated May 19, 2007 ]
O.k., the brews, ales, ciders and lagers, for the most part are pretty bland, but all are better than your standard macro lager, and when they have a guest tap, it’s usually something interesting from another brewpub, like Capital in Iowa City. They allow smoking in the bar area, but the restaurant is smoke free. Good pub fare food, buffalo burgers, bratwurst from Sonny’s, pizza and mainly fried appetizers. They have their own homemade soda for the kids, try the cream soda, it’s excellent, makes me wish the Duck would brew a cream ale. Live music on the weekend, folk and blues, some are even national touring acts. Great views of the riverfront, if you are a train watcher, you will love this place. (www.livetrains.com) Near the longest double decker bridge, a dual car/train bridge, in North America, an local tourist site, oddity, that in itself is worth checking out. During the summer you can watch the activity at Old Fort Madison, another tourist site, out the front windows of the brewpub. I’ve never a problem with the service, friendly and efficient, and the owner/brewmaster is often on the premises. A nice friendly place to enjoy an evening, kids are welcomed, but if you’re a brewpub lover, don’t expect to find any big beers here, no IPA’s, DIPA’s, Imperial Stouts, or barley wines.

October 20, 2006 [ Updated February 13, 2007 ]
Great place on the main drag in Ft. Madison, IA (Southeast part of the state). It was about a 90 minute drive from Iowa City. I had never been to Ft. Madison before, but it was actually a very nice little town. The brewpub had 8 house beers and 2 visitor taps (pumpkin ale from Rock Bottom Des Moines and No Name Stout from Olde Main Brewing in Ames, IA). All of them were decent. The brewing hardware is upstairs. There are outstanding views of the Mississippi River from the front of the brewpub, especially upstairs. Food was decent pub fare. Defintiely check this place out if you’re in the neighbohood.

July 10, 2006 [ Updated August 4, 2008 ]
I recently returned and still enjoyed myself. The food is good and the staff is friendly. However, both of the pales I tried had some serious smoky tasting flaw. Still cash only, my biggest problem with this place. Original rating follows. Why did I wait so long to visit this place? I honestly had low expectations after trying a few brewpubs in this area. Then I found this small, out of the way gem. The setting is nice, right on the Mississippi river front with a very clean and classy looking bar. They obviously care about their appearance and were very friendly and happy to show me around. I was even introduced to the bar regulars. Admittedly, it was a slow afternoon, but I have never been treated so well just as a stranger walking into a brewpub. The beer was above average with a few well made lagers and a couple of decent ales on tap. The fruit ciders rock and they are made with local ingredients. They had raspberry on tap and a cherry one coming that was also very good when I sampled a taste. I had an interesting cheese burger pizza. I will definitely get back to The Lost Duck whenever I get a chance.