Grizzly Growler

I finally made it into the Northside Kettlehouse to check out their Barrel Aged Cold Smoke, and I’m sure glad I did. It took a year of aging in bourbon barrels before the beer made it to tap, and the result is a 9 percent alcohol by volume Cold Smoke that has the sting of [...]

Like when there is a foot of snow on your grill in mid-January for instance. Luckily, there are some other really great food/beer combos out there. And if you’re a vegetarian, well, there are options there too. Last night I stopped off at Big Sky Brwewing Co. to catchup with all the latest tap room [...]

Hey all, time for more Stone Thrower Scotch Ale at Big Sky Brewing Co. Head over to the tap room for a sample and a growler. Prost, GG

Here’s the word from our neighbor to the north. WOO HOO!!! The Centennial Scottish Ale is FLOWING!! This smoky ale is tapped with a VERY low carbonation level. We thought it might be interesting to present a beer that might be similar to a beer served 100 years ago when force-carbonated beers were starting to [...]

Cool news out of Polson: Glacier Brewing Company TAPPING PARTY!!!! This Wednesday we are tapping our CENTENNIAL SCOTTISH ALE in honor of Polson’s 100-year birthday and in honor of Polson’s Scottish founder, David Polson! This is a smokey, Scottish ale with a little higher alcohol than most of our beers which means it will probably [...]

One of the coolest things about Missoula’s brewing community is the Community Brew, a partnership between Big Sky Brewing Co. and the Zoo City Zymurgists, our local home brew club. The local brewers hold a competition that is judged by brewers at Big Sky. The winner gets to brew 300 gallons of the winning batch [...]

It’s always fun to walk into the tap room at Big Sky Brewing Co. and find something new. Since we had a nice corned beef and cabbage in the crock pot, the wife, the daughter and I cruised over to Big Sky on St. Patrick’s Day for a little sample. Here’s what we had first: [...]

I don’t like making lists. Someone inevitably gets left off and then pissed off at me. But, I know some of you really like lists, so I’m going to round out the top local beers of 2008. I may or may not get around to doing my favorite beers anywhere list, so enjoy this one. [...]

Big Dipper Ice Cream has an interesting new ice cream flavor this week – Cold Smoke. As in Kettlehouse Brewing Co.’s legendary Scotch-style ale. The flavor comes from pre-fermented beer, or wort that captures the beer’s nature without having to deal with the fizz and foam or the alcohol of the finished product. I probably [...]

Missoula’s legendary beer is back, albeit in a different flavor and brewed in Whitefish. Highlander, that Scottish-themed beer that defined generations of Montana beer drinkers from the early 1900s until the 1960s, is back, at least for this weekend. The beer, which is brewed by Great Northern Brewing Co., will be available at the Garden [...]