Missoula’s Rhino joins First Friday festivities with Firkin Friday

Missoula’s acclaimed beer bar, the Rhino, is getting in on the First Friday fun with some cask-conditioned beer and some India pale ales. Stop by, and you’ll be able to sample three IPAs, Big Sky Brewing’s potent Double IPA in the firkin, Big Sky’s Double IPA on tap and, tentatively, an Imperial IPA from Blackfoot River Brewing. The idea is to taste the difference between cask-conditioned beer and draft beer. Big Sky Brewing is also brining down some food. So if you’re tired of looking at art, try to make a break for the Rhino and enjoy some beer.

Pair some treats and cask-conditioned beer on First Friday at the Rhinoceros in downtown Missoula. Cask-conditioned beer is an old style of beer, self carbonated and served at room temperature. Still fermenting in the firkin, it is often referred to as “live beer.” Try a different style of live beer with two traditional beers, with a morsel of food to bring out all the flavors at a great price. So raise a glass of what the British call “real ale,” and experience the beer love by Wordsworth, Dickens and Arthur Conan Doyle. See you on your travels and stop by the Rhinoceros on First Fridays. Cheers!

- Matt Pritchard

Chicago-based Goose Island Beer Co. to be sold to Anheuser-Busch, ugh

Just saw this article while cruising the McClatchy-Tribune news wire and I have to say, I’m a little sad. While I’ve only had one of Goose Island’s beers (they distribute on limited basis in Montana), I have friends in Chicago that love it. I don’t like to see big beer companies swallow up smaller ones, for fear that it could stifle innovation (i.e. Beer Wars). However, I can understand where Goose Island’s coming from, I guess. Full story after the jump. (more…)

Checking in with Missoula’s forthcoming Montgomery Distillery

Met up and had a pint yesterday with Ryan Montgomery who is starting Montgomery Distillery in Missoula, which is scheduled to open at the end of summer. Some of you may have heard about it in this Missoulian article. If not, Montgomery Distillery will be crafting vodka, gin and, in about three years, whiskey, at 139 E. Main St.

Montgomery recently moved to Missoula from Seattle and before that Malta (not the town in Montana), the tiny country located in the Mediterranean Sea. He’s an investment consultant of sorts and has worked in various countries in Africa. Montgomery was born in Florence (the town in Montana), and grew up in Lewistown.

Originally, Montgomery wanted to open a brewery, but having noticed the proliferation of those ventures, decided to take a different route. He studied distilling in Scotland and Spokane to get a handle on what is to become his new passion.

Montgomery and his wife have a hearing before the Missoula City Council in a few weeks for some zoning permits, and plan to begin construction over the next couple of months.

I’m definitely excited to see how this turns out, he sure seems to have the business sense to make it work.

Stay tuned for future updates.

- Matt Pritchard

Half pints: Good or bad idea?

Bill Hogan/Chicago Tribune

I recently ran across this story where the author is pleading for more bars and breweries to serve beer in half pints. It got me thinking, is this a good idea or a bad one?

First you could say that smaller glasses are already the norm in Montana breweries when it comes strong beers. Barley wines and imperials are generally served that way as to comply with state law, and so you don’t fall over after drinking one.

Aside from that however, I don’t see myself walking up and ordering a half pint when I can get a full one, just doesn’t seem right. (more…)

Missoula’s Caffe Dolce holds Blackfoot River Brewing beer tasting on Tuesday

Helena’s Blackfoot River Brewing Co. is coming to Missoula to host a beer tasting event at Caffe Dolce on Tuesday. The event features nine samples and tickets are $20. Spots are filling up fast, so if you want to go you’d better call soon. The number is (406) 830-3055 (ext. 3), and Caffe Dolce is located at 500 Brooks St. Here’s the rest of the info:

Caffè Dolce proudly hosts Helena’s Blackfoot River Brewing Co. on Tuesday, March 29.

Taste and experience nine exceptional hand-crafted beers from unique recipes produced by Blackfoot River Brewing all in one place!

This exclusive beer tasting includes 4 ounce samples of a wide variety of specialty ales and lagers delivered fresh from the brewery just for this event. Appetizers and treats to be served by Dolce to compliment the selection of specialty brews.

Greg Wermers, one of the co-founders and original brewers at Blackfoot River Brewing, will be guiding you through this tasting event. While sampling the wares, you will learn about the history of each beer style along with the unique nuances of each of these Blackfoot beers.

This beer tasting event will be scheduled in four separate flights of 15 people each, starting at 5:00 pm. Flights will run every 45 minutes thereafter. It will be a beer tasting to remember.

Cost is $20 per person.

Reservations required, call 830-3055 (ext. 3)

Black Star tallboys out now in time for spring

Black Star Double-Hopped Golden Lager is now out in 24 ounce cans and available in beer stores throughout Montana. If you’re a fan then this is some good news, as spring and summer are (hopefully) around the corner. (more…)

Max Wave benefit at Northside Kettlehouse on Wednesday evening

This week’s Community UNite fundraiser helps out Max Wave, with 50 cents from every pint sold going to the Missoula kayak project. It’s on Wednesday from 5-8 p.m. at the Northside Kettlehouse Brewing Co., 313 N. First St. W.

Please join us for a pint of delicious, Missoula-brewed beer at the Northside Kettlehouse on Wednesday from 5-8pm. As part of the Kettlehouse’s generous weekly Community UNite program, the Max Wave will receive 50 cents from every pint of beer sold that evening. Come help us reach our goal of selling more than 600 pints, which would be the highest number ever sold at this weekly event. We will have information about our project and Max Wave items for sale. We’re also excited to launch our Jackson Kayak Raffle that evening. Eric Jackson and Jackson Kayaks have kindly donated one of their 2011 kayaks, the raffle winner will be able to pick their boat of choice from this years kayak line-up. Tickets are $10 each and the drawing will take place at the 2011 USFKA Montana Whitewater Championships on June 30. Please stop by the Northside Kettlehouse at 313 N. First St. W., Missoula, located atop the Orange Street tunnel. We’re looking forward to seeing you there!

If you cannot join us, raffle tickets can be purchased at Strongwater or you can make a donation online at http://www.themaxmissoula.org/support/donate/

- Matt Pritchard

Modest Mouse to play Big Sky Brewing Amphitheater on May 27

I just rolled back from a nice weekend in Arizona and what do I hear? Modest Mouse is going to play at the Big Sky Brewing Amphitheater on Friday, May 27? It appears so, and boy does that make me happy. This is the second date announced for the newly reopened amphitheater behind Big Sky Brewing Co. in Missoula. The first being Ray LaMontange who will perform on Monday, June 20.

Modest Mouse is one of my favs and played a great show at the Wilma Theatre the last time Isaac Brock and company rolled through in September 2009. Tickets go on sale this Friday at 10 a.m. for $34 and can be purchased online at Ticketfly.com, or in person at Big Sky Brewing or Rockin Rudy’s.

See you there.

- Matt Pritchard

Winter Brewfest slides into Whitefish on Saturday

Whitefish plays host to the latest western Montana brewfest on Saturday from 1-5 p.m in the Whitefish Mountain Resort Village. More than a dozen breweries will be there, including Bayern, Big Sky, Bitterroot, Blackfoot, Blacksmith, Deschutes, Great Northern, Madison River, New Belgium, Sierra Nevada, Tamarack and more. Tickets are $25 at the door, or $20 in advance and can be purchased at the Whitefish Mountain Resort Information Center or the Whitefish Chamber of Commerce. David Boone will perform, and at 4 p.m. the third annual Dummy Derby gets under way, where contestants strap skis or a snowboard onto their dummy creations and watch them slide and then fly through the air. A brewfest and a dummy derby? What more could you want?

- Matt Pritchard

St. Patrick’s Day fun: Quarry Brewing, Missoula Firkin Tour

Illustration by Detroit Free Press

I’ve been to the St. Patrick’s Day party in Butte only once, and I think that’s about all I can handle. I made it until about 5 p.m. and then the fun got the best of me.

Anyway, if you can pace yourself better than me, and you’re heading to Butte on Thursday, stop by Quarry Brewing. They’ll be open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. and will have specials on Emerald Isle (green beer) and Sandstone Stout. It’s also kilt day, anyone who wears a kilt into the brewery gets $1 off each pint.

In Missoula, Bayern Brewing is hosting a Firkin Tour, with firkins filled with Killarney Red Lager. Here’s the schedule:

- Matt Pritchard