Deschutes Brewery to bring week of events to Missoula
Deschutes Brewery, makers of too many delicious brews to name here, is bringing its Base Camp tour to Missoula from Oct. 9-13, with plenty of beer tastings, food pairings and, well, Woody.
Base Camp is a touring “multi-venue, multi event celebration of Mirror Pond, where any serious craft brew exploration begins,” or so says the brewery. What’s Woody? Well it’s a “giant beer barrel on wheels.” Deschtes brewers will also be in town taking part in the festivities.
Deschutes will be visiting Worden’s, Orange Street Food Farm and Pattee Creek Market; host a beer dinner at Cafe Dolce; attend pint night at the Rhino; and tailgate at Washington-Grizzly Stadium. Pretty much an all out assault on Missoula, in a good way.
There are a bunch of events so hit the jump if you’re interested. (more…)
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
Tips to be safe on New Year’s Eve, feel better New Year’s Day
Drinking beer is fun. Feeling terrible after drinking too much on New Year’s Eve isn’t.
Lifehacker.com has a guide that puts hangover cures and myths to the test, basically what works and what doesn’t. The bottom line to the article is: eat and drink water, lots of water. Sounds like common sense, but how many times have you forgotten these simple steps?
And since it is almost New Year’s and many out there will be having fun, remember to plan ahead and leave the car at home. There will be increased DUI patrols around Missoula, not the way to start 2012. On that note, here are some of the cab services available around town:
Yellow Cab: (406) 728-8294
Green Taxi: (406) 543-6644
UCallus: (406) 880-01673. A free cab service, but they do accept donations.
Happy New Year.
- Matt Pritchard
Kettlehouse to host 3rd annual ‘Hop Picking Party’
If you have hops and friends, then Kettlehouse Brewing needs you. Read on:
We at Kettlehouse Brewing Co are hosting the 3rd annual “Hop Picking Party” on Tuesday, Sept. 27, at 6 p.m. at 817 Grant, one block west of the North Tap room. Our usual hop supply was severely damaged in a wind storm and is not yielding hops this year. We need any and all hops you can muster. Bring hops and friends. A keg will be provided … come on over!
- Matt Pritchard
In Hamilton, every stein has a story
Get ready for some good beer and some good stories. Sapphire Lutheran Homes in Hamilton is hosting Steins and Stories on Wednesday, where residents, family and friends will share tales behind their classic German beer steins. The event features Bitter Root Brewing’s Oktoberfest and German fare. Here’s the lowdown from Will Moss:
By WILL MOSS Ravalli Republic
HAMILTON – Cole Hardin knows the residents of his retirement center have some stories to tell, he just needed a way to tap into those memories.
So … he’s decided to tap some kegs.
On Wednesday, Sapphire Lutheran Homes in Hamilton will host a Steins and Stories event featuring ornate German beer steins, traditional German meals and extra helpings of fellowship and storytelling.
“It’s a fall celebration as well as a chance for people to get to know one another and the public to get to know Sapphire,” explained Hardin, Sapphire’s director. “We’re trying to eek out some of the wisdom from some of the residents here.”
The basic premise is this: Residents and their families and friends are encouraged to bring classic German beer steins down to the retirement center and share the stories behind them.
“A lot of folks of retirement age are World War II veterans who have brought back a lot of memorabilia and stories from (Germany),” Hardin said. “Sometimes it’s a simple as ‘I got this from a German town during a tour of duty,’ other times it was something somebody’s grandfather sent back.” (more…)
Road Bowling and Highlander Beer are just two of many activities at the Celtic Festival Missoula this weekend
What is Road Bowling, well, as this road bowling page explains, it’s an old Irish sport whereby players toss small cannon balls along a roadway. Much like golf, the lowest number of throws along a pre-determined course wins. There’s much more to it, but if this intrigues you, you’ll be able to play it this coming Saturday, when the Celtic Festival Missoula begins.
The Celtic celebration is twofold, really, one fold is the celebration of Celtic traditions, food and music. The other fold is that it’s a celebration of the 100th anniversary of Highlander beer, Missoula’s very own beer legend.
Add the Young Dubliners, a fantastic Celtic-style band, to the mix, and you’ve got yourself a full-blown Irish celebration.
Here’s the pertinent info:
Join us on the Clark Fork River in downtown Missoula, in Caras Park, July 31, 2010
10:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m. Irish Road Bowling (Stimpson Lumber site, Bonner) Register for your hour at the Missoula AOH website
3:00-5:00 p.m. Kids events (facepainting, art table, caber toss) guest appearence by Monte in a Kilt!!
3:00-4:00 p.m. Dillion Junior Fiddlers
4:00-4:15 p.m. Missoula Irish Dancers
4:15-5:00 p.m. The Celtic Dragon Pipe Band and The Missoula Highland Dancers
5:00-7:00 p.m. Malarkey
7:00-9:00 p.m. The Young Dubliners
Have questions? Want to volunteer? Contact us Shannon Lukes at 406-239-0105Proceeds to benefit Watson’s Children Shelter and the Friends of Irish Studies.
Prost,
GG
The changing craft beer industry and you
The craft beer industry in Montana has changed immensely in the three years that I have been living here and covering it in the pages of this blog. Breweries have come and gone, remodeled, rebuilt, moved and otherwise been agents of great change.
To you, the beer consumer who buys beer at the store, you might have noticed a lot of your favorite beers showing up in cans for the first time. You probably noticed new beers from your favorite breweries.
If you’re a taproom customer, you probably noticed the fact that some of the beers you can buy are now much higher in alcohol percentage than they used to be.
Many of the faces in the taprooms are different now. Some of my favorites have gone on to other towns or in search of adventure.
Change, for better or worse, is part of everything, including the craft beer industry. For Montana craft brewers, the political fight has been a long one. Every year they scratch and claw for changes that will hopefully make running a brewery in this state an easier proposition. We’ve lost a few breweries in the last few years, and we’ve gained a few more. Hopefully the balance will maintain, but lawmakers need to dismantle the antiquated laws that impact this industry so much.
As much as change can impact you and I, the common citizen minding our own business in a busy life, perspective is a powerful thing to have. So here’s a tiny dose of it.
When you’re in the supermarket and looking for a six-pack of beer for your refrigerator, think about the economic impact your simple decision has. Do you buy glass bottles in a town with no glass recycling? Do you buy canned beers from out of state, because you know you can recycle cans? Do you care?
You might enjoy craft brew once in a while or you might not like it at all. Either way, the local breweries are part of an industry with a lot of potential and one that already gives back to the community. It’s sort of like the folks who don’t vote for school levies once their kids are grown up. Those of us whose kids still are in school need your vote.
Buy local, support breweries that are canning or otherwise making recycling easier, get involved by writing to your congressman and senators about the impact the craft beer industry has on you and your community. Become their fans on Facebook and keep up with the unique events and activities they provide. Otherwise they will not survive.
Prost,
GG
Looking for schwag? Check out the Great Northern Brewing Co.’s new eStore
I think Great Northern Brewing Co. has some of the coolest beer T-shirt designs around. Visit their new eStore for a great way to purchase your favorites online.
Prost,
GG
Photo tour of the Billings craft beer scene
Unfortunately, I was only able to get away from my conference briefly, and only Montana Brewing Co. was open at that time, but I had a great conversation with head brewer Travis Zielstra and tasted a few of his new offerings.
Here’s a photo roundup to prove I’ve finally visited the Billings breweries.
Angry Hanks Brewing Co.
Angry Hanks
Carter's Brewing Co.
Carter's Brewing Co.
Montana Brewing Co.
Bourbon stout at Montana Brewing Co.
So close to good beer and yet so far
I’m in Billings, Montana, literally a few blocks from Montana Brewing .Co.,but I’m in a meeting. I am going to try and get over there after lunch. It is my policy that a town is vastly improved by the quality of its breweries. Would you agree?