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Brewery offers 'Will Work for Beer' event to clean up after flood

DAVENPORT, Iowa — A brewery in Iowa is offering free beer in exchange for a little elbow grease. Managers at Front Street Brewery in Iowa needed volunteers to help clean the business that was damaged by the water from the Mississippi River, so they made an offer few could refuse.

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Things are finally looking up for the businesses in downtown Davenport as the water continues to go down, a drastic difference compared to just a week ago.

Tim Baldwin, the owner of the Front Street Brewery, told WHBF, "Now that this has become a couple weeks' old news, we're not seeing as many people down here to assist, and this is when we all really need the help."

Almost everything has been stripped away from the main floor of Front Street Brewery, but downstairs is a different story. Last week, you couldn't even get into the basement, and now that the water is gone, the extent of the mess is apparent. "It's like a bomb went off. It's just mass destruction down there," said Baldwin. "It was much worse than I had expected, honestly."

The floodwaters have completely destroyed the space, leaving Baldwin with a lot of work ahead of him.

During the first round of cleanup last Friday, they made a lot of progress. "When I saw all those people working and this space emptied, that's when a ray of hope started to shine," said Baldwin.

But there's still so much more to be done, which is why he said if you'll work for beer, he could use the help. "You know, even if people can just come out during their lunch hour, every little bit helps," said Baldwin.

Baldwin hopes the Front Street Brewery will come back better than ever before, and soon.