Check out Willamette Week’s awesome President of Beers

Willamette Week, an alternative weekly in the Portland area that covers news and culture, has a great series going on right now on its website entitled the President of Beers. WW managed to acquire “flagship” beers from each state, meaning the signature beer from a given state’s biggest brewery, not necessarily the best, as it points out. And as writer Martin Cizmar says, probably broke some laws in the process. After laboring to get all those beers from all those states, the weekly rounded up 12 tasters to blindly try all the beers and rank them on a scale of 1-100.

The countdown began on Aug. 24 and the first 5 (meaning the worst 5) are as follows:

50. Pennsylvania: Yuengling Lager
49. Maine: Shipyard Export Ale
48. Louisiana: Abita Purple Haze
47. Texas: Shiner Bock
46. West Virginia: Bridge Brew Works Belgian-Style Tripel

The countdown goes until Oct. 3, when the top 10 and the winner will be revealed. I encourage you to go and check it out, it’s definitely a cool way to rank beers.

As for Montana, I can only guess that Moose Drool gets picked. It’s the signature beer from Big Sky Brewing Co., after all.

Update:: Montana comes in at No. 16 with Big Sky Brewing’s Moose Drool.

- Matt Pritchard

Philipsburg Brewing Co. opens doors

Just a quick note, Philpsburg Brewing Co. is now open at 101 W. Broadway in, well, P-Berg. The brewery launched on Aug. 25 and is open seven days a week from 10 a.m. until 7 pm. Haven’t had a chance to make it there yet, but the beer should be good with Mike Elliot, who used to work at Kettlehouse Brewing Co., as the head brewer.

For more info, call (406) 859-2739, or check out this story from the Montana Standard.

- Matt Pritchard

Mondays are crazy at Draught Works; brewery looking to distribute

I had my first Zimorino’s Monday experience this week at Draught Works and if you’re looking for cheap pizza, it’s a no-brainer to get yourself down there.

How it works: Between 5 and 8 p.m. on Mondays at Draught Works, Zimorino’s offers any medium pizza for $5. All you have to do is get a table (if you can find one) and call. Zimorino’s will deliver what you want right to your table while you’re drinking beer. Just a warning though, the brewery gets busy fast.

In other Draught Works news, co-owner and brewer Jeff Grant told me that they are working on getting some new tanks in the near future to begin distributing their beer.

- Matt Pritchard

Maverick Brewfest takes over Caras Park on Sept. 7

In what will be the first of at least two (possibly three) beer festivals in Missoula over the next couple of months, the 14th annual Mavs Brewfest is set once again to take place at Caras Park on Friday, Sept. 7. The brewfest is a major fundraiser for the Missoula Athletic Council, which helps support youth sports in western Montana.

The Maverick Brewfest will be held from 4 to 10 p.m., and will feature more than 40 beers from around Montana and the Northwest. Tickets are $10, and that comes with a small glass (they’re piling up at my house) and three drinks. Each extra sample is $1. If you want to purchase tickets early, you can here.

Here’s a partial and initial list of beers/breweries that are slated to be available: (more…)

Kettlehouse Brewing’s Fresh Bong Water filtered with orange peels

Alas, summer is nearing its demise. The days are getting noticeably shorter, the nights a little cooler and the rivers a tad shallower. My girlfriend even had to go back to work today for pre-school year meetings. Yikes. Not that I’m complaining too much though, football is right around the corner.

But if you love summer and don’t want to see it go away, there’s a bit of a reprieve over at Kettlehouse Brewing on Myrtle Street. On tap is Kettlehouse’s usual Fresh Bong Water Pale Ale, but now it’s infused with fresh orange peels through the Randall. The Randall, pioneered by Dogfish Head, is a filter that takes beer from the tap and flows it through a capsule that’s generally filled with hops. In Kettlehouse’s case, they’ve filled the Randall with orange peels to impart just a little something extra into Fresh Bong Water.

I had my fair share of pints of this over the weekend and it makes for a great summer beer, even as the days grow shorter.

- Matt Pritchard

Tour beers from around Flathead Lake, eat some barbecue in Polson on Saturday

As part of the fourth annual Smokin’ on the Water BBQ Cook-Off in Polson on Saturday, those looking for delicious smoky meat can also enjoy beers from around the Flathead Valley. In what’s being dubbed a “Brew Tour” rather than a “Brewfest,” the event will feature beer from Tamarack, Great Northern, Flathead Lake Brewing and Glacier Brewing. The Brew Tour starts at 11 a.m. and lasts until 8 p.m. at the KwaTaqNuk Resort, where $3 will get you a cup of beer or $7 will get you a souvenir glass pint with a fill.

The Smokin’ on the Water BBQ Cook-Off will take place from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. with the following categories being featured:

• 2:00 pm – Sauce
• 2:30 pm – Beef
• 3:00 pm – Pork
• 3:30 pm – Chicken
• 4:00 pm – Open category (anything that is “edible and grilled”)

Awards for the food are slated to be presented around 4:30 p.m.

- Matt Pritchard

As baseball phenom Mike Trout turns 21, some beer suggestions

Ben Margot/Associated Press

Mike Trout may well be the best player in baseball. He leads the league in runs (86) and stolen bases (36), he’s third in batting average (.348), sixth in on-base percentage (.411), and he has 19 home runs as of Tuesday evening. Oh, and he just turned 21.

With Trout now being able to drink legally as of Tuesday, Kevin Kaduk over at Yahoo! Sports has some suggestions for the phenom, with the first two including beers made right in Missoula: Big Sky Brewing’s Trout Slayer and Bayern Brewing’s Dancing Trout. Other recommendations include Mogollon Brewery’s Apache Trout Stout, Mammoth Brewing’s Golden Trout Ale, Trout River Brewing’s Trout River Rainbow Red Ale and Denver Beer Co.’s Clown Question, Bro Canadian Lager (named after another crazy good rookie Bryce Harper’s quote).

If Mike Trout’s out there and has a hankering for some Missoula beers with his name on them, I’d be happy to send him some. I’m sure we could work something out.

- Matt Pritchard

Wow, Great American Beer Festival sells out in 45 minutes

To try and get an idea of just how popular craft beer has become, one need look no further than the Great American Beer Festival. The 2012 event takes place Oct. 11-13 in Denver and is one of the largest beer festivals in the U.S. Tickets went on sale Thursday, Aug. 2., and sold out in 45 minutes - all 49,000 of them. Even with that, some are saying it sold out much faster and scalpers are to blame, which obviously would be lame. Last year, tickets sold out in seven days, and five years ago they didn’t sell out until the week of the festival.

If you were lucky enough to have gotten a ticket, be sure to give some love to the Montana breweries who are signed up to take part: Carter’s Brewing, Überbrew, Montana Brewing Company, Great Northern Brewing Company, Lewis & Clark Brewing Company, Kettlehouse Brewing Company, Quarry Brewing LLC and Red Lodge Ales Brewing Company.

- Matt Pritchard

New Belgium’s Clips of Faith film, beer tour heads to Missoula on Aug. 17

Missoula is again one of the 18 lucky cities to host New Belgium’s Clips of Faith tour. The annual film and beer celebration comes to Caras Park on Friday, Aug. 17, beginning at 8 p.m. and lasting until 11. The event, which pairs New Belgium’s beers with user-submitted short films, will be a fundraiser for Bike/Walk Alliance for Missoula. Last year’s Missoula stop raised more than $2,200 for the nonprofit.

Beers slated to be in attendance include Cocoa Mole Ale, Biere de Mars, Tart Lychee, Somersault, La Folie, Fat Tire, Ranger, 1554, Trippel, Abbey, Blue Paddle, Belgo IPA, Shift and possibly more. Food will also be available from one of my favorite spots, Blue Bison, and Empanadas.

Here’s the full spiel from New Belgium:

“We took our love for beer and fans and put them together in this one-of-a-New-Belgium-kind event. You’ll get to try our most esoteric beer offerings – up to 16 varieties on tap! – and pair them with inspiring short films created by fans. The best part is that 100% of the proceeds from beer sales benefit a local non-profit who are working to improve your community.

“Fans of our Lips of Faith beers know these unique brews are not always easy to find. There will also be your favorite New Belgium classics and you can try them in 3oz samples, or a 12oz pour. Served up by our local beneficiary volunteers, there’s plenty of beer fun to be had with our other traveling tricks and contests. Plus, local vendors will be serving food. When the darkness engulfs us, the films start rolling and you get to cozy up on your blanket or chairs and enjoy the show.

“So, find the city nearest you and support your community by coming out and drinking beer!”

- Matt Pritchard