MICROBREW MONTANA
Glacier Brewing: A Taste of the Wild West
When you drive up the main street of Polson to Glacier Brewing, you get a little flashback to the Wild West. Swinging saloon doors always do that.
The weathered BREWERY sign above the swinging doors helps, too. Later, I found it came from the historic H.S. Gilbert Brewery in Virginia City, which was Montana's first-ever brewery--and where the Virginia City Players still act out a comedy called The Brewery Follies. (The webiste touts the follies as all "satire, nonsense, foolishness and absurdity," so that sounds like something that fits into the Montana Microbrew series, don't you think?)
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mICROBREW mONTANA
Tamarack Brewing: A Brewpub, Montana Style
When I'm interviewing brewery owners for the Microbrew Montana series, I always ask the same question: What's different about your operation compared to the other 26 Montana breweries?
When visiting Tamarack Brewing in Lakeside, a rapidly growing berg on the west shore of expansive Flathead Lake, I thought I knew the answer as soon as I walked through the front door. But when the co-owner Craig Koontz brought out the brandy snifters, I realized I knew only part of the answer.
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AMERICA'S MOST REMOTE BREWERY
Microbrew Montana: Lang Creek Brewing
When visiting Lang Creek Brewing, getting there is half the reward.
I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised. The owners left a clue right on the top of their website by advertising themselves as "America's most remote brewery."
So, be sure to call ahead for directions. If you don't, you might be too old to enjoy those tasty brews when you finally get there.
Editor's Note: For a complete list of Microbrew Montana articles to date, click here.
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WILD BILL ON THE BEER TRAIL
The Microbrew Montana Chronology
In a moment of weakness, I decided to take on a new challenge, a year-long tour of Montana's microbreweries and write an article on each one, plus related news on this rapidly growing micro-industry. In addition to NewWest.Net most articles will appear on on the Travel Montana website, visitmt.com. Here's a chronologcial list of the postings so far. [more]
2,864 BEERS. 644 BREWERIES IN COMPETITION
Montana Brewing Scores Big at World Beer Cup
Montana Brewing of Billings scored big at what's considered "the most prestigious beer competition in the world," the World Beer Cup held April 19 in San Diego.
World Beer Cup 2008 winners were selected by an international panel of 129 beer judges from 21 countries. A massive field of 2,864 entries from 644 breweries in 58 countries made up the competition. More than 3,800 breweries in 100 countries were invited to compete.
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12 OTHER BREWERIES SHARE JUDGED AWARDS
Flathead Lake Brewing Wins “People’s Choice” at Montana Beer Festival
Flathead Lake Brewing, nestled away up at Wood's Bay on its namesake, Flathead Lake, won the big prize at the second annual Montana Beer Festival, held April 11 in Bozeman for Rising Sun Espresso Porter.
The participants of the beer fest decide the People's Choice Awards. At the gate, everybody received a ballot with their tasting glass and rated the brews as they sampled the 85 craft beers throughout the evening.
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Home of the Fly Beers
Microbrew Montana: Madison River Brewing
I've been worried about readers thinking it's a stretch for the outdoor editor to write the Microbrew Montana series, but not since my visit to Madison River Brewing of Belgrade. There, in the taproom, a long cast from its namesake, the famous, trout-rich river, you can order a Hopper, Yellow Humpy, Salmon Fly, Black Ghost, Copper John, Rubber Legged Razz, or my favorite, the Irresistible.
For the non-fishaholics among us, those are all names of fishing flies, but Madison River Brewing, located in one of the hottest travel destinations in the world for fly anglers, uses them as names for their tasty, craft beers.
From a marketing standpoint, you could call that connecting the dots.
Editor"s Note: For a complete list of Microbrew Montana articles to date, click here.
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SECOND ANNUAL MONTANA BEER FESTIVAL
Beer Fans Flock to Bozeman
It only happens once each year, a chance for beer aficionados to taste the signature brews of three-dozen craft breweries without leaving the building. And that's exactly what a couple of thousand of them did Friday night in Bozeman at the Second Annual Montana Beer Festival.
At the door, after paying the $28 fee, everybody received an "Official Tasting Guide & Program" and a special six-ounce tasting glass--and a classy one, by the way, not a plastic cup--that they could fill up at no additional cost all night, from 5 pm to midnight.
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INTRODUCING MICROBREW MONTANA
Montana Brewers, Taprooms Prosper in Local Markets, Drawing Tourists
Editor's Note: A couple months ago, in a moment of weakness, I decided to take on a new challenge, a year-long tour of Montana's microbreweries and write an article on each one. Today, I'm launching that new series on NewWest.Net with this overview of the industry and how microbreweries fit into the economic and tourism pictures in Montana. I'm also posting the first of long series of features on individual breweries starting with the Lewis & Clark Brewing in Helena. You will also be able to see the articles on the Travel Montana website, visitmt.com. Throughout the year, I'll be visiting most microbreweries in the state and posting profiles on them and their owners. After I finish this series, my byline might be a little scarce for a few months while I'm in recovery.-- Bill Schneider
Click more below for the first installment and check in with www.newwest.net/microbrew to tag along with Bill.
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