Grizzly Growler

If you’re looking for a last-minute weekend trip that involves craft beer, and you don’t feel like the Bigfork Brewfest this year, consider heading over to the Lewiston Brewfest on Saturday. There will be more that 30 breweries, including Bayern, Deschutes, Stone, New Belgium, Big Sky and plenty more. The all-ages event goes from noon-6 p.m. at the Nez [...]

The second installment of the Bigfork Brewfest is set Saturday from 3 to 7 p.m. on Electric Avenue in front of the Garden Bar. Tickets are $20 at the gate and good for 10 beers and a cup. Proceeds will go to area nonprofits and charities. Eleven breweries are on board, including Tamarack, Great Northern, [...]

Big Sky Brewing will again hold concerts this year at its own Big Sky Amphitheater next to the brewery. The site has been dormant since 2005, when acts such as Widespread Panic, B.B. King and Willie Nelson rolled through. This year, the first act that’s been announced is Ray LaMontagne with Brandi Carlile and Secret [...]

A German beer company is marketing its no-alcohol brew as the hot new “fitness drink” for athletes, in line with Gatorade and Powerade. Erdinger Alkoholfre supposedly is an “isotonic, vitamin-rich, no-additive beverage with natural regenerative powers that helps athletes recover from a workout.” It was recently handed out to several top European athletes at the Biathlon World Cup in Maine, [...]

I’m back in the office after a nice, long weekend of beer and snowboarding at Moonlight Basin and Big Sky. The weather cooperated and we had some great snow. On Friday evening, my girlfriend and I stopped by Quarry Brewing in Butte. I’ve had their beer before but never had the chance to visit the taproom. Head [...]

In a contentious and heated hearing, Senate Bill 202, which aims to shift hours that breweries can serve beer from 10 a.m.-8 p.m. to noon-10 p.m., was tabled on a 10-1 vote Thursday by the Senate Business, Labor and Economic Affairs Committee of the Montana Legislature, in a meeting that lasted nearly an hour and a half. The [...]

More than a year ago, Mike Ries, a Montana State University student, noticed his dog going to town on the remains of a batch of beer he had just made. Intrigued, Ries and Meredith Leavens looked up some recipes online and decided to bake some treats out of the spent malt barley. The result turned out to [...]

The Senate Business, Labor and Economic Affairs Committee will hear Senate Bill 202 by Sen. Ryan Zinke, R-Whitefish, at 9 a.m. Thursday in Room 422 at the Capitol in Helena. As written about before, the measure aims to shift taproom hours from 10 a.m.-8 p.m. to noon-10 p.m. If you support the bill there are a couple [...]

Around 4,000 people attended the Winter BrewFest at the Historic Missoula Mercantile on Saturday, 1,500 more than organizers had expected, according to a report in the Missoulian. I can vouch that it was extremely busy, and that I arrived far too late. By the time I walked through the doors at around 5:30 p.m., the glasses were gone (sold [...]

If you’re still scrambling for a gift for that special someone, and that special someone loves beer and chocolate, then consider Kettlehouse Brewing Co.’s Oatmeal Chocolate Porter, brewed with coco nibs from Missoula’s Posh Chocolate. It’s deep and dark with a robust chocolaty taste, perfect to satisfy anyone’s sweet tooth this Valentine’s Day. Throw in [...]