Lost Duck Brewing Company

Polite staff when we visited. She spoke with a monotone drawl that was pleasant and relaxing. Not pushy on their service, very accommodating to my indecisive method of selecting a beverage. Prices were great and the woman who served us threw in a bunch of complimentary stickers. The beer is simple and maintains a flavor continuity across their entire selection. Great for someone with a picky pallate. Overall pleased with my visit. Not life changing but definitely refreshing.

Great place to hang out with a small group. Stunning view of the Mississippi River. Food is always great. The beer has good and bad nights…

We went here for dinner and drinks, but the food was better than the beer. We got the elk burger and jambalaya with fried duck for an appetizer. The duck was really good along with the raspberry chipotle sauce it came with (although the sauce had been kept in the fridge and should have been served room temperature). The service was pretty slow which is why I bumped down to four stars plus we had higher expectations for the beer as it was a brewery… it’s also cash or check only

Really nice place and view, though service was very poor. Cash only where they charge you (they collect a portion too) to ATM withdrawal to pay for your experience. No free refills on soft drinks and the beer isn’t worth paying for.
I won’t return

Must have ring neck, it’s the only beer I like there. Foods great. People are very friendly that work there

Nice view to the river and fort, good beer selection and had a very tasty Jumbalaya bowl. Place is clean and well taken care.

went there last week. The beer was pretty good, not the best I have had, but still pretty good. I had the pintail red ale and a porter. my daughter and I ate there for dinner. I had the shrimp po’boy and she had a meatloaf on mashed potatoes. She got the better of the deal. While my po’boy was ok her meatloaf was great, especially with the porter. All in all, a pretty decent restaurant/​bar. I will go back and maybe be a little more careful in my dinner choice. Unfortunately there is little choice in Fort Madison for a reasonably nice dinner

I’m a generally picky consumer, so I can’t understand how this place has only 2.5 stars. This was my first time in and I really enjoyed it. I was in town for a business trip and generally make it a point to try breweries in whatever area I find myself.
I sat at the bar and was served promptly. I really wanted a flight, but didn’t want 10, 6 oz samples while still having to drive. I sampled several beers and ended up ordering two full pints. The beers weren’t the best I’ve ever had, but were very good for such a small operation and I wish I could’ve tried more.
I had the elk burger with house fried chips and it was really good. The burger was cooked as ordered and was a surprising offering from a small town place. I hope to be back in the area again and look forward to trying more beers and food!

Terrible beer. Just terrible.
Maybe that sounds mean, but I really mean it. Full disclosure, I grew up in the northwest and lived for several years in Colorado, which has some of the best beers in the country, so I’m a bit of a beer snob. I have no problem with watered down domestic beer, but I could barely get the lost duck beer past my nose. There were just too many off flavors. I really hope they figure out how to brew better beer.

I really wanted to like this place. I’ve been wanting to go here for some time. The décor is awesome. The view of the River is awesome. The beer selection is good. The food — just so so.
Tenderloin sandwiches are huge and came recommended. However, on our visit they did not have enough for all who wanted one. The one we got appeared to be slightly undercooked as the crust was not browned at alll and the breading easily fell off. I’ve had much better in this area, so would not recommend this place for the Tenderloins.
The fried pickles, onion rings, and homemade chips were great.
The beer was good.
The Brats were WAY overcooked to the point of being dry & hard.
$$$$ Everything is WAY overpriced for what you get. Over $ 50 for just two and we did not order much. $$$$
There is no indication as to if you should wait to be seated or just pick a table.
** The do not take CREDIT or DEBIT cards and there is no ATM on site. Not very customer friendly in this regard. We had to walk a block away to the nearest ATM (a bank that does not have a walkup). I don’t revisit most places that do not take DEBIT/​CREDIT cards. **
I wouldn’t go out of my way to visit this place. Honestly, the Parthenon just down the street is a better option if your looking for a place to eat. Sad.

Traveling through SE Iowa and looking for a meal and warm spot to relax. We stooped at The Lost Duck. After a few moments we were seated. After a wait, a guy come to take our drink orders. Not desiring anything but water and soda to drink, we were informed that the kitchen was busy and it would be 45 minutes for food to be prepared. His attitude was gruff and the place was less than half full.
We walked across the parking lot and had a meal with good service at The Parthenon. I am not impressed at all!
I wonder if we had been drinking the service would have been different. As I do not typically drink while on a long drive. It is odd, I thought we were the paying customers and the life of a dining establishment.

This is a great small micro brew for a small town like Ft Madison. We went for a couple of beers and some appetizers. It was all very cheap and the micro brews were pretty good and you can tell they are home made. Service was fast and they were friendly once they opened up to you. Place is located downtown and it’s a perfect location to hang out. We will be back for sure.
They are cash only and closed on Sundays and Mondays so those are the negatives.

Well, we were in town for a family reunion for the night, and I always like to try local craft breweries when I can. Lost Duck seemed to fit the bill, so we ventured in. We perused the menu, largely consisting of bar food, but with a hint of gastro-​pub sensibility. I opted for the elk burger, and my wife tried the jambalaya. We could not have been more disappointed in the entrees. The burger was overcooked and painfully dry, which was a pity, because it was flavored nicely. The slice of tomato on the burger was cut at a pretty ridiculous angle, which just made it slide to one side. All in all, the burger I had the other day at Wendy’s was superior, which breaks my heart because I really wanted to like the food here. The jambalaya that my wife had was equally disapppointing… filled with tiny salad shrimp and bits of chicken (and maybe sausage?) it was dressed with an unseasoned tomato sauce, and served with a plain piece of sliced white bread (not even a roll? Really?) Not much flavor besides the tomato sauce, which is hardly the bar to set for a Cajun staple like jambalaya.
We had started the meal with the fried pickle spear appetizer… which I enjoyed, but the wife thought the breading was too thick for the cut of pickle. Overall, it was a nice appetizer, but could use some refinement.
The star of the food for us was their fresh-​fried potato chips… these aren’t just your basic fried potato, but wonderful thick-​cut REAL potato chips. 5-​stars for the chips, but the rest of the food needs some help.
Moving on to the primary reason I wanted to go here, the beers. I tried two of their offerings, one called American Wheat, and the other a flavored offering called Duck a la Orange. The wheat beer, while having that distinctive wheat flavor, was totally lacking in any depth of flavor. it just tasted watered down, which was disappointing. So, I moved on to the intriguingly named Duck a la Orange. This beer has a really wonderful aroma, like what you smell when you peel a fresh orange. The taste… well, you can taste the orange… and not much else. Still, I liked it well enough to bring home a growler, and would likely stop back in at this brewery next time I’m in town. We also tried one of their house-​made sodas, opting for their cream soda. They offer cream soda and root beer, but much to our chagrin, they serve it old-​fashioned, which means they serve it uncarbonated. You ever tried a pop after all the fizz has gone out of it? That’s pretty much what it was like. Stop in and sample the beer, but don’t expect a lot of of the food.
One other thing… the service. Now, this was a Saturday night, at about 6pm… but the place was NOT busy… there were a few people at the bar, and I think one other table when we were seated. Service was S… L…O…W…and kinda sporadic. When we finally got our bill, I handed the guy (who I presume was the owner) my debit card… and he politely tells me that they don’t accept cards. What kind of restaurant doesn’t accept a debit card in this day and age? Thankfully, I had enough cash on me to cover the tab and tip, but I don’t frequently carry cash. Might want to put a sign on the door or something to alert non-​local patrons that it’s a cash-​only establishment.

This brewery is a gem. The only craft Brewery in the region if you are in Fort Madison this is the place to be! Beer tasted a bit flat (Oktoberfest) and the wheat was a bit lacking in taste, but nevertheless a great place to visit if you are in town. Support your local brewery!

The fresh made chips were great and my elk burger was delicious. The wait staff was nice. I was, however, disappointed with their in-​house brews.