Grizzly Growler » community brew

Have a craft beer and support the Watson Children’s Shelter

Tim — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 18:56:37 +0000

Community Brew winner Mike Hoffer raises a glass of his own beer

It’s dark like midnight, and when it warms up you can taste the fruity amarillo hops and the tasty roasted malts, but the newest Community Brew,Whole Lot of Mischief, an India Brown Ale, has a lot more than that going on. Every growler filled raises money for a very important Missoula organization.

The Watson Children’s Shelter provides a home and caring environment for Missoula’s abused, neglected and abandoned children.

Community Brew winner Mike Hoffer brewed a 300-gallon batch of his brown ale with Big Sky Brewing Company, so there is plenty to go around.

The collaborative project between Big Sky Brewing Company and the Zoo City Zymurgists has been going on for five years, and on average, the project brings in around $800 for charities picked out by the homebrew club.

Big Sky head brewer Matt Long likes the whole project and the fact that they’re able to do this for Missoula’s charities. “The most satisfaction I get is the interaction with the homebrewers and getting to know them over the years,” Long said.

A large crew from the brewery and the Zoo City Zymurgists gathered at Big Sky to celebrate the launch of the India Brown Ale last night. Glasses were raised in toasts to Hoffer, Big Sky and Watson Children’s Shelter. There were a lot of winners last night.

Now it’s up to you. Make sure you stop in and pick up a growler of this beer for two reasons. One, you’ll like it. It’s a velvety, richly roasted beer with some great hop characteristics. And two, you’ll be making sure one of Missoula’s best resources for abused, neglected and abandoned children is supported.

Prost,

Community Brew Winner Announced

Tim — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 19:29:49 +0000

This year’s Community Brew is all about the IBA. That’s India Brown Ale. Here’s a note posted on the Zoo City Zymurgists web site talking about the best beers and winner Mike Hoffer.

Here are the results from head brewer, Matt Long:

A record 38 entries were submitted, but we were able to come up with a judging format that did not fatigue our palates.

We had 9 beers make it to the final table:

Rick Dahlen Beer #1
Rick Dahlen Beer #3
Colin Christiansen Golden Nugget
Mike Hoffer Barnacle Bill’s
Mike Hoffer Whole Lot of Mischief
Bill Ruediger #1
Ruediger #4
Mike Nielsen IBA (1)
Nick McClure

The best 4 of those were:

Dahlen #1
Ruediger #1
Nielsen
Hoffer Whole Lot of Mischief

And the winner goes to:

Mike Hoffer Whole Lot of Mischief!

Mike’s beer best represented what we though an IBA should be. A very nice malty presence with a unique hop explosion on the finish.

We have the beginning of a dynasty here as Mike was the winner of the 2^nd annual Community brew. Congratulations to Mike.

Yeah, congratulations Mike!

Prost,

India Brown Ale is the style as the Community Brew deadline nears

Tim — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 20:21:46 +0000

Hey Missoula, it’s time for the Big Sky Community Brew again. Here’s the latest on what you have to do to get your beer submitted to this year’s competition from Big Sky:

November 10: Big Sky Community Brew Sign-up Deadline. Each year Big Sky teams up with the Zoo City Zymurgists to create a Community Brew. This year the style is India Brown Ale. Members from the club submit their versions of the style to Big Sky Brewing between January 5-8. The brewers at Big Sky choose the winning beer and the home brewer gets to brew his beer at the brewery! The finished product is served in the taproom and the proceeds go to a local non-profit. For more information and rules, visit the Brew List.

Prost,