By Brody Lovell
When Dave Morgan, the owner of SingleSpeed Brewing, started making beer in Cedar Falls in 2012, he had a seemingly simple goal — to bring “intriguing, quality ales” to area beer fans.
Thirteen years later, Morgan, who has since expanded operations to Waterloo and Des Moines, has another goal for beer — to make it the reason why craft beer lovers would travel to Waterloo to enjoy a variety of craft beers and bond with friends.
To that end, he has partnered with BackPocket Brewing, of Coralville, founded by Aaron Vargas in 2012, to merge operations under SingleSpeed’s signature location at 325 Commercial Street in Waterloo, once the home of the Wonder Bread bakery. The building of the bakery, which closed in 2012, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Fittingly, the merge operation will be called The Brewery at Wonder Bread.
The combined operation will also revive and carry some of the award-winning brews of a Knoxville, Iowa, brewery called Peace Tree Brewing, like its award-winning Blonde Fatale and Red Rambler. Originally founded by Megan McKay, the brewery was acquired by BackPocket in 2024, and its recipes and other intellectual property were held by Vargas.
The Wonder Bread facility, which became the SingleSpeed main location in 2016, will soon undergo expansion to accommodate the needs of the new entity. The company has received a grant from the City of Waterloo to help finance the project.
Morgan and Vargas have been mulling the idea for the merger for the past few months, with the goal of streamlining the production and the distribution for increased efficiency. This allows both companies to increase output and decrease overhead, sharing workforces and their distribution networks. Furthermore, it brings a local epicenter for craft brewing to the Cedar Valley.
“By bringing these teams together at our Wonder Bread facility, we’re building a destination that showcases the best of Iowa beer and sets the stage for future innovation,” Morgan told The Cedar Falls News Hub.
The two breweries had collaborated earlier this year when they created their “Berry Good Shandy,” a combination of SingleSpeed’s “Berry Good” and Backpocket’s “Lemon-made Shandy.”
The taproom will now feature beers from all three breweries once the project is complete, with ten more taps being added to the main bar’s twenty. Due to the volume of beer that will be produced throughout the year, rotations on tap will likely increase, offering crafted varieties to beer enthusiasts.
“We’ll go from about twenty taps to thirty total,” Morgan said. “It’s not about cramming in more beers just to say we did … it’s about giving all three brands space to shine. That rotation is what keeps people coming back.”
The storefront will remain the same with the SingleSpeed brand prominently displayed. The restaurant menu and hospitality will not make any major changes once the expansion has finished.
The Brewery at Wonder Bread will be a new opportunity for the local beer brands to grow. Morgan and Vargas are optimistic about the future of their brands.
“This is a win for Waterloo, for Iowa craft beer and for every fan who has supported our breweries along the way,” Morgan said in a press release.