Montana Microbrew
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.
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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.
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MICROBREW MONTANA
Montana Smith and the Temple of Malt Now Playing in HelenaAfter 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.
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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."
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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.
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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.
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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.
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OVERWHELMED BY THE AMOUNT OF SUPPORT FOR LOCAL BREWERIES
Revenue Department Pulls Proposed Rule Restricting Taproom HoursFollowing a meeting this morning with representatives of the Montana State Brewers Association (MSBA), Montana Department of Revenue (DOR) Director Dan Bucks pulled the proposed administrative rule which was due to be hotly contested tomorrow afternoon in an official public hearing.
Meeting with Bucks and his staff were Sam Hoffmann, owner of Red Lodge Ales of Red Lodge, and Brian Smith and Brad Simshaw, co-owners of Blackfoot River Brewing of Helena. Hoffmann is president and Smith vice-president of MSBA.
This means tomorrow's hearing is essentially meaningless. It will be held, but will only cover minor issues of little or no concern to brewers.
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PUNISH THE VIOLATORS, NOT THE INDUSTRY
Here’s Your Chance to Support Your Local Brewer
I've been on the Montana Beer Trail for six months now, visiting 19 of our 24 microbreweries so far and writing profiles of their business operations for the Microbrew Montana series currently running on NewWest.Net and the Travel Montana website.
Besides being constantly reminded of the passion the brewmasters have for their product, I've been amazed how well this micro-segment of our economy is faring in the face of today's economic downturn. All Montana microbreweries are all running profitably at capacity, experiencing double-digit growth, or doing major expansions. Three new breweries opened in 2007.
So why does the Montana Department of Revenue (DOR) want to knock down the microbrewing industry? Has it been too successful?
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MICROBREW MONTANA
Blackfoot River Brewing: Real Good Beer Made by Real Good PeopleOf all Montana breweries, the taproom at Blackfoot River Brewing in Helena is one of the most popular, commonly crowded with devoted craft beer aficionados even on sweltering summer days when the inside temperatures climb so high the servers spray customers with plant misters to cool them off. But on a day soon to be determined, probably in the last week in August, Blackfoot's tiny tasting room will be rocking and stuffed with loyals for the last time because it will be the Grand Closing.
The thought of it might give the Helena microbrew faithful heart attacks, but fear not. The Blackfoot isn't closing. Not hardly. It's merely moving. For the owners, it's a big move, but not for customers because it's only fifteen feet to the south.
Some customers have joked that the new home of Blackfoot River Brewing, which is nearly completed, looks like a church, and co-owner Brian Smith agrees, sort of, because he calls it "The Temple of Malt."
"And did I mention we'll have A/C," he adds.
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