Grizzly Growler

I was pleasantly surprised to find that someone had delivered a box of beer to my office yesterday. Great Northern Brewing Co. sent me some Frog Hop Fresh Hopped Pale Ale as well as some Glacier Chaser Marzen Lager, which I’ll be tasting and writing about next week when I return from a short trip to Las Vegas.

Having beer arrive at my office hasn’t happened since I used to write the blog “Will Blog for Beer” many years ago in Salem, Oregon. At that time, breweries from around the U.S. would send me beer to write about. It was the best of times.

Things changed upon my arrival in Montana. For one thing, even well-stocked stores in Montana don’t carry a lot of craft beer brands, so my sources mostly dried up when they found out their beer was not available here. No reason to send it if there was no market for it, right?

For the last year, I’ve been purchasing beers through mail order when I can’t find something local, as it is a way to get your hands on something fun and new.

Yesterday, after putting the Great Northern Brewing Co. beers in the fridge to settle after their no-doubt bumpy ride to my doorstep, I started thinking about all the Montana beers I rarely get to try because they’re not available in the bottle or the distribution is limited.

So, I’m just putting this out there. If you’re a Montana brewer and you’d like to send me some beer via the U.S. Postal Service, I’d be happy to taste it, write about it and post pictures on the blog. Rest assured, I’ll purchase it when I see it here in town, but if you’ve go something special you want to bring some attention to, by all means, send me a sample.

That said, for all you brewers out there who don’t get mentioned much, I’d like to invite you once again to put me on your E-mail list, send me updates on new beers that you’re offering, events you’re hosting and all the fun happenings at your tasting rooms.

For any of you who might not have the info, this is where you can send me beer:

Grizzly Growler Beer Blog

C/O Tim Akimoff

500 S. Higgins

Missoula, Montana 59808

And if you’d like me to put out updates from your E-mail announcements, sign me up at tim.akimoff@lee.net.

Prost,

GG