Good Food Store beer section growing ‘slightly bigger’
If you’ve been in the Good Food Store lately, you may have noticed the beer section has been moved around a bit. The store is adding a new, larger cooler, which will increase its beer selection slightly. For any wine drinkers out there, GFS will also be adding a bigger selection of chilled wine.
Here’s what Greg Munger, beer and wine buyer at GFS, had to say about the changes via email:
“We’re swapping out our old 12-foot cooler (that has all the 6-packs) for a 20 footer. But we are also consolidating all the beer and cider into the one large cooler. Then, we are going to use one of the end coolers (where previously we shared space between single beers/cider and cold wine) for an expanded selection of chilled wine. So overall merchandisable space for beer is increasing some, and we likely will increase our selection, but we will go about adding SKUs (stock-keeping units) slowly as we figure out how to deal with it.
And we’re very excited about a full end cooler of cold wine.”
- Matt Pritchard
Like craft beer and baseball? Here’s a guide
If you’re like me, then you love baseball. And if you’re also like me, then you love drinking beer at baseball games. Problem is, usually what’s available is a Big Gulp-sized Bud Light for $14.
In Missoula, the Osprey have a pretty good selection of craft beer: Big Sky Brewing’s Summer Honey and IPA, Kettlehouse Brewing’s Cold Smoke, Eddy Out or Double Haul (it rotates) and Bayern Brewing’s Dump Truck and Dragon’s Breath. At least those were the beers available last week.
Unfortunately, while we do have the Osprey, there isn’t a major league team within about 500 miles. But if you find yourself catching a game at some point over the rest of the summer, check out CraftBeer.com’s Major League Baseball craft beer guide. It lists most of the craft beers available at major league parks. I say most because the comments seem to show the list isn’t complete. Plus, the Cubs and the Blue Jays are missing.
Judging by the list, it looks the the Pirates have about the best beer selection in majors. Surprising? Maybe. But not anymore than their season this year.
- Matt Pritchard
Vote for Missoula as best beer city
Voting is currently under way for the title of BeerCity USA 2012 and Missoula is again one of 31 cities in the running. Notorious beer city Asheville, N.C., has won three times and is probably the favorite again this time around, unless thirsty Missoulians see fit to do something about that.
The poll ends May 13 and you can only share your thoughts once.
Vote for Missoula here.
- Matt Pritchard
Beerjobber.com ships beer directly from breweries, just not to Montana
With so many breweries sprouting up all across America, it’d be nice to buy beer that you normally can’t find at your local market. That’s where a relatively new service hopes to fill a void.
Beerjobber.com works with breweries and connects them with beer lovers. Users of the service can place orders from specific breweries over the site and then Beerjobber picks up the beer and ships it to your doorstep.
When I first saw this, I didn’t think it was legal. And in some states, like Montana, it isn’t. (When I asked them over Twitter they said, “Unfortunately no. MT has some of the strangest laws in the country!”)
Nonetheless, they do ship to some 38 states and they’re adding breweries all the time. So if you live outside the Big Sky, it’s worth a shot to see if they deliver to you. Prices are around $50 per case and shipping ranges from $6 to $20.
- Matt Pritchard
Golden Grizzly Ale and Flathead Cherry Ale from Glacier Brewing Company now available in Missoula
This is a photograph of a truckload of Glacier Brewing Company’s popular Golden Grizzly Ale, a Kolsch-style beer, and the Flathead Cherry Ale, a fruity homage to the Flathead Valley’s prominent cherry harvest, before they head to Missoula. According to the GBC’s Facebook page, these two beers will be available in six packs shortly. As in as fast as that truck can get to Missoula. I haven’t heard of exactly which stores will carry the beer, but I would check the usual suspects, including Worden’s Market, Orange Street Food Farm, The Good Food Store and Liquid Planet.
Golden Grizzly Ale and Flathead Cherry Ale on the way to Missoula
Prost,
GG
Town Pump has all Bayern beers on sale for the month of May
Saw this on Bayern Brewing’s Facebook page:
Town Pump is cutting the prices statewide for all Bayern brands during the month of May. This includes the current seasonal Maibock and the new beer Dump Truck Summer Bock. Prost!
Go get yourself some. Here’s a way to find all the Town Pump stores near you.
Prost,
GG
Like a grocer store just for beer…wait, it is a grocery store just for beer
While on an epic Easter vacation trip this last week, I convinced my wife to let me stop by John’s Marketplace in Southwest Portland, Oregon. I probably shouldn’t have. John’s Market is the kind of place that someone like me turns into a quivering gelatinous substance completely incapable of rational thought or decision making. Luckily, I sent her in search of beers I needed, while I slithered from aisle to aisle drooling on the likes of Stone’s IPA/Belgique and Russian River Brewing Company’s Sanctification.
Here are a few pictures to give you just a little bit of an idea of the magnitude of visiting John’s Marketplace.
John's Marketplace or Beervana
My wife searches for my beer list
Yep, that's almost all the Mikkeler Single Hop varieties
Yep, those are Brewdog beers, and a lot of them
It’s 5 o’Clock somewhere – Your weekend craft beer guide
Red Chair NWPA
Worden’s Market has two new beers that’d be worth checking out. I haven’t tried either yet, but my buddy told me the Red Chair Northwest Pale Ale from Deschutes Brewing Company is a really drinkable pale with some good body and a decent hop note. Here’s the description from Worden’t website via Deschute Brewing Company.
It has a plush body with satiny caramel flavors derived from seven varieties of malt. Yet, despite it all, it remains a hop-forward ale with that distinctive citrusy punch. Just minus any mouth-puckering bitterness.
Noir De Dottignies from Brouwerij De Ranke
And the second looks like a contender for your Saturday Breakfast Beer. Here’s what Worden’s says about the Noir De Dottignies from Brouwerij De Ranke:
The heaviest ale on our menu with a very rich taste, coming from the six different kinds of malt we use. These malts also give it that rich, dark, nearly black colour. The royal doses of Challenger and Saaz hops bring the typical balance between sweet and bitter.
Pick up a few bottles of each and let me know what you think of them. I’ll be enjoying the Red Chair Northwest Pale Ale tonight.
Prost,
GG
Traveling and in need of a good craft beer resource?
Look no further? Well, don’t do that, but I do want to introduce you to a great new resource brought to my attention by the good folks at Bayern Brewing. World Class Beverages offers you information on where to find great beer in places like Washington, Oregon, California, Alaska and points east. The funny thing is that most of the hinterland is not colored in, which I assume to mean you can’t get good beer there, which is why I don’t really ever want to live any farther east.
Prost,
GG
Updated Montana Breweries Map – Find your favorites around the state
View Montana Breweries in a larger map