MICROBREW MONTANA

Flathead Lake Brewing: Great View, Great People, Great Beer

Some Montana microbreweries are hard to find, tucked away in alleys or side streets or even up in the timber at the end of an unpaved road, but not Flathead Lake Brewing. You can't miss it; it's right in the middle of Woods Bay along scenic State Highway 35 at mile marker 26, which is also the name of one of its award-winning, handcrafted beers.

And when you walk into the taproom, you don't find owner Terry Leonard in back room brewing beer or counting his money. Instead, you find him sitting at the bar enjoying a cold brew with his customers.

MICROBREW MONTANA

Neptune’s Brewery: Where the Brew is Taylor-Made

One thing I didn't expect to find when I launched into the Microbrew Montana series was a brewery with a maritime theme. But then, I didn't know about Neptune's Brewery in Livingston, the self-proclaimed "Heart of the Rocky Mountains," and a small market (8,000 population) for a brewery. At Neptune's, everything is about the ocean, ships, sailing and maritime culture and lore--the logo, art, taproom furnishings, beer names, even the owner's only employee, Katrina.

You'd think a brewery in Livingston would feature a ranching or outdoor theme, or maybe even a movie star aura to appeal to all the local stars who have escaped Hollywood and landed in the Paradise Valley. So, of course, I had to ask why.

MICROBREW MONTANA

Kettle House Brewing: The Little Brewery That Cans

When you go into the Kettle House taproom, which is tucked away on a hard-to-find side street in mid-town Missoula, you find something you see at most Montana microbreweries--a crowd of local folks enjoying good beer and good conversation in their adopted neighborhood pub where it's always "Hoppy Hour." But when you peak into the back room or decide to buy some tasty Kettle House brew at the grocery store, you see something you don't see at or from any other Montana microbrewery, beer cans.

Because Kettle House is the only little Montana brewery that cans.

MICROBREW MONTANA

Lone Peak Brewing: Where You Get a Whole Pint

Big Sky is one of the newest communities in Montana, so it seems fitting that it has one of the state's two newest breweries. Lone Peak Brewing opened the doors of its new building in October 2007, about the same time Quarry Brewing opened in Butte.

Named after the mighty mountain casting its shadow over entire resort community of Big Sky, Lone Peak Brewery and its owners Steve and Vicky Nordahl definitely do some things differently than other Montana brewers.

For starters, Lone Peak Brewery is the only taproom I've visited (which, I confess, is a lot) where I know I always get a whole pint.

MICROBREW MONTANA

Montana Smith and the Temple of Malt Now Playing in Helena

After many long delays, Blackfoot River Brewing of Helena has finally opened its new facility, and it has been a hoppin' good time ever since.

Opened on October 7, the first week has been "incredible," according to co-owner Brian Smith. The first Friday night crowd was so huge, in fact, that his servers could barely handle it, so he had to institute a new system to manage the success--the three-pint check-off card used by many other microbreweries.

MICROBREW MONTANA

Red Lodge Ales: Montana’s Greenest Brewery

If you've been reading the Microbrew Montana series, you may have noticed a lot of similarities among breweries. That's true, sort of, with Red Lodge Ales, but owner Sam Hoffmann also likes to blaze his own trail. That's why he has a Hop Diver, Forklift Cowboy, Office Slug, and Director of Good Times on staff, why he has a refrigerator door on his cooler that opens right behind his taproom bar, and why he drives around with recycled restaurant grease in his gas tank.

"We have the passion," Hoffmann explains, "but other brewers do, too, but we're also pioneering some great things."

MICROBREW MONTANA

Bozeman Brewing: The Best Possible Use of an Old Pea Cannery

Todd Scott, owner and brewmaster at Bozeman Brewing Company thinks I have the world's second best job, traveling around visiting microbreweries, tasting some local brew, and writing about it, but of course, he also believes he has the best job, making that beer.

He is, in fact, so passionate about his job and his product that he mixed some of the chocolate malt he uses to make his Plum St. Porter with the drywall texture when he refurbished a corner of his facility, a retired pea cannery, into his tasting room, which is, according to Scott, "is a little known fact."

I told him I could keep his secret, but couldn't vouch anybody who used the Internet, so if you see chocolate addict chewing the taproom walls, well, you'll just have to blame it on me.

MICROBREW MONTANA

Montana Brewing: More Medals Than Any Other Montana Brewery

As near as I can figure, after visiting 20 of Montana's 23 microbreweries, Montana Brewing is unique. The company's owners have offered craft beer fans something that comes about as close to a brewpub as possible under Montana's archaic liquor laws.

Instead of a small brewery with a small taproom, which is the case with most Montana breweries, Montana Brewing is three businesses in one--a microbrewery, restaurant and sports bar, all separated but connected, right in downtown Billings.

THE FORCE IS WITH YOU

Score One for the Brewmasters

If you know how government works (or doesn't) and followed last week's quick reversal of a Montana Department of Revenue (DOR) proposed rule to limit taproom hours, you might be as amazed as I am.

Government officials usually dig in deep and don't like to admit mistakes, but in less than a week, we saw a rapid and decisive turnaround by the DOR and even an admission that the agency hadn't properly thought out the proposed rule before throwing it out into the public arena.

You might be saying, "No Big Deal," but for me, this little skirmish has a big back story.