Grizzly Growler

Sorry for the delay in letting you all know that Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer signed HB 400 into law on April 9. That means that on October 1, Montana will join other states without ridiculously low ABV limits on beer.

Some brewers, like Kettlehouse Brewing Co. in Missoula, are already brewing up their batches of big beer to celebrate HB400.

“We brewed a big one last week,” Tim O’Leary of Kettlehouse said. “Mixed some Belgian abbey yeast with our house yeast. It’s dark and chewy, and we’ll probably dry hop it or bourbon barrel age it.”

For the passage of HB400, we must offer our thanks and raise a glass of ale, or a strong lager if you prefer, in honor of the 2009 Montana State Legislature. But, in all fairness, we should probably break out that rare and precious bottle of aged beer that resides in the dark recesses of our outdoor refrigerators and toast to Debbie Kottel of the House of Representatives and John Bruggeman of the Senate. For without their diligent shepherding, HB400 might have gone the way of other progressive alcohol laws in this state that actually are good for the economy and the state’s growing tourism industry, but I digress.

So, send those lawmakers a note: dkottel@ugf.edu and john@senatorjohn.net.

And get ready for some excellent beer.

Prost,

GG