RJ Tursi at Exile Brewing Company
8/6/2025
RJ Tursi is the creator and owner of Exile Brewing Company in the historic Fitch shampoo factory. It is the largest brewery in Des Moines and the third largest in Iowa. Its restaurant has added a new Tursi Family Classics section to its menu. RJ’s father, Bobby Tursi, owned and operated Tursi’s Latin King for 38 years.
We asked RJ to lunch last month and met in Exile’s dining room. Over dunkels, lagers, ales and chicken spiedini, we talked about breweries, traditions and business timing.
Fifty percent of new breweries and brew pubs don’t live to be 10. Exile is now 13. Is this teenager rebellious?
“I think we are comfortable with our identity. The brewery is expanding into new styles, but Ruthie is still our best seller. It serves Iowa’s taste for a smooth-flavored lager. It has more flavor than a national lager, but it doesn’t hurt your face.
“The restaurant knows it’s a brewery and sports bar first. Serving superb burgers is at the core of that. We work hard on the fries and onion haystacks here. Salads, wraps, fish and chips, mac and cheese, pretzels, fried pickles, chicken sandwiches, beer cheese soup, cheese steaks are part of that, too.
“Coming from a long family tradition in Italian fine dining, we have added ribeyes, chicken spiedini, meatballs, red sauce, brisket, pulled pork and meatloaf. Soon, we will be adding chicken picata and cavatelli, too.”
(That meat loaf has local style with Graziano’s pork sausage mixed with ground beef and served with an onion haystack and mashed potatoes. The fish and chips employs mahi mahi, a big upgrade from cod.)
Chicken spiedini, aka amogio, is a classic of Des Moines dining, right up there with steak de Burgo. It originated here with Latin King. Did Bobby invent it?
“No. It was something he picked up in Kansas City at Garozzo’s. They were making it with alfredo sauce. My parents developed the amogio with his chef, Pat Morris.”
In the 1980s, when a brew pub fad came and went quickly, most owners said customers were happy to try a fresh local brew once but then went back to ordering Budweiser. Breweries and brew pubs particularly were not taking off 15 years ago. When RJ first envisioned one in Des Moines, what did he see then in a model that was having more failures than successes?
“I graduated from college in 2009. At the time, local breweries, particularly on the West Coast, were doing well with IPAs, heavily hopped beers. That was encouraging, but I didn’t think it would work in Des Moines.”
An overwhelming percentage of all hops in America grow inside a 200-mile circle in Oregon, Idaho and Washington. Do they even grow in Iowa?
“Hardly. Some have tried, but there’s virtually none growing here anymore. My eyes really opened on a trip to Europe back then. My girlfriend, now my wife, was in the Czech Republic. I visited and was amazed at how the beer houses drew customers from all over the world. U Fleku (a 500-year-old brewery and restaurant in New Town Prague) blew my mind. But I wasn’t thinking about opening a brewery or restaurant then. My father gave me that idea a little later.
“Pilsners were a Czech invention, and I thought they might agree with Iowa tastes. Iowa is kind of an outlier. The most popular beer in the state is Busch Light. (It’s No. 8 nationally.) But I thought a good pilsner was similar enough to work in Des Moines. The Germans who originally created a national beer culture in America all made a flagship lager. No surprise then that Ruthie would be our best seller. It’s smooth, not too bitter.”
Exile’s top pilsner combines Tursi’s love of the style with his heritage. It’s the Italian style Tursi Pils.
“Most people think Italy is just a wine culture, but they also have a great beer culture, in the north, close to Bavaria. I find it interesting that cultures with the hottest, spiciest cuisines — Thailand, Mexico and Korea — all have serious beer cultures but not much wine history at all. Italy has both.”
Exile has an interesting Mexican beer, too.
“Maria. It’s doing well. We serve it with a lime. One can’t dismiss the popularity of Modelo and Corona in America.”
Yet, Exile’s most celebrated beer is its Munich style dunkel G.G.
“Yes, it won a silver medal and the World Beer Cup in 2024 and this year won the gold.”
It’s really cold, too. Draft beer needs to be cold. Distributors tell me that lots of bars in town are ending draft beer.
“I think you need to give customers an experience they can’t get at home. Draft beer at 33 degrees is a draw, in more ways than one.”
What Des Moines events are best for Exile’s business?
“The Western Gateway festivals, obviously. We’re so close to them. But, our biggest event by far is Snow Blow. That’s our annual Christmas pop-up, and we go completely over the top decorating the place for the season. From before Thanksgiving till after New Year’s, we get people stopping in to see it. We’ve been doing that since 2021, and it gets bigger every year. We do a similar thing for Halloween now, but the Christmas decorations are bigger. We are also doing well with ‘Music on the Patio’ every Sunday in the summer.”
Exile’s patio is really big, like the entire place. How big is the brewery?
“It is 27,000 square feet. This was where Fitch made their soap and shampoo. This was the factory. The national offices were across the street, and I think they built the first skywalk in Des Moines between the two buildings. They even had a railroad spur here.”
Exile also distinguishes itself from other beers with art work. Each brand has a unique logo and beer can design. Who does that?
“Ramona Muse originally and Sam Goldbluff lately. They do a fabulous job.”
I bought “Jesus on a Forklift” just for the label. Fortunately, I only bought one because it was about the strongest beer I ever tasted — 12.3% alcohol. Exile’s main logo is of the Statue of Liberty’s torch. Was that a family heritage thing?
“Completely. We wanted to memorialize my grandfather Joe and his journey from Calabria and all the opportunities it opened for the family.” ♦
