Grizzly Growler

If you’re in Hamilton, or need a reason to go there, perhaps a keg of Black IPA at Bitter Root Brewing Co. will be enough to turn your Friday from good to great, or maybe from just OK to good – either way you win. From Bitter Root’s newsletter: We’re tapping a keg of Black [...]

The 19th annual Garden City Brewfest is fast approaching. A week from Saturday, Caras Park in downtown Missoula will be flowing with your favorite brews from around Montana and the country from noon until 8 p.m. More than 55 beers (!) will be on tap this year. $7 gets you a 7-ounce tasting glass with [...]

What’s the one topic that’s been on everyone’s mind in Missoula lately? The weather. This winter has been harsh, mostly in a good way. Tons of snow helped to make the slopes plentiful and extend the season, and hikers should have no problem finding places to slide for months to come. But all that snow [...]

The Montana Kaimin has a nice interview with Tamarack Brewing Co.’s co-owner and head brewer Craig Koontz that’s worth a read. Koontz talks about the inspiration for the brewery, Old Stache and the direction of Missoula’s craft-beer scene. Tamarack expanded its Lakeside operation last week by opening a pub/restaurant in Missoula at 231 W. Front [...]

Helena native and University of Montana graduate Colin Meloy will bring The Decemeberists back to Missoula again, this time at the Big Sky Brewing Amphitheater on Friday, July 22. Tickets go on sale this Friday at 10 a.m. for $30. They can be purchased at Ticketfly.com, Big Sky Brewing and Rockin Rudy’s. For those keeping [...]

A couple of weeks ago I went to Arizona to watch some spring training games (go White Sox!). While down there, I stopped by a Total Wine & More store, which has a large selection of wine, liquor and, most important, beer, for sale for some pretty decent prices. The beer aisle is set up [...]

The Brewers Association just released its list of the Top 50 Craft Brewing Companies in the U.S., and coming in at No. 39 is Missoula’s own Big Sky Brewing Co. The list is based on 2010 beer sales volume and contains only “small and independent craft brewers.” Boston Beer Co., maker of Samuel Adams, is [...]

One of my favorite Montana breweries, Helena’s Blackfoot River Brewing Co., is heading to the Rhino in Missoula on Thursday to host a special pint night starting at 4 p.m. Here’s the lowdown from Blackfoot’s newsletter: Join Blackfoot River Brewing partner Greg Wermers at the Rhino in Missoula, this Thursday, April 14th for a Blackfoot Pint [...]

Tamarack Brewing Co.’s new Missoula pub/restaurant in now open at 231 W. Front St. Hours, tentatively, are from 11 a.m. to around midnight seven days a week. The renovated building hosts a bar downstairs and a bar/restaurant upstairs. I haven’t made it in yet so there’s not much more I can report, other than Tamarack’s beers are, [...]

It’s technically spring, but it sure doesn’t feel like it. So while we wait for the weather to warm up, hopefully sometime before July, Bitter Root Brewing has something to tide us over – the 2011 release of Huckleberry Honey Ale in bottles. Here’s a line from the latest newsletter: Our first batch of Huckleberry [...]