Local availability

That sounds pretty terrible man I'm sorry! I don't think md has the best distro. But i just checked out seekabrew.com and Montana is pretty bad! Still not as bad as West Virginia though! Check theirs out, maybe it'll make you feel better... Atleast you get stone, north coast, and lagunitas!

 

That's rough.... well, in all places, there are trade-offs.
You have big vistas, clean air, and lots of almost beer-less nature, while I'm trapped in hours of traffic each day but come home to a well-stocked beer fridge because I'm in the NYC metro area.
Montana is still very beautiful.... so it's hard to get some brews... could definitely be living in worse places...

 

Move to the western side of state.

 

Billings is the eastern side of state. im in helena

 

I....I am so, so sorry. I feel very fortunate now.

 

Send me a beer mail with your name and address
I feel like hooking someone up

 

I have to periodically remind myself why I put up with my BS commute (90 min each way).
Oh yeah, that's right, because I live 40 min from midtown manhattan, 15 min to the atlantic ocean, and 10 min to the LI sound... and a little over an hour to the hamptons. gotcha. OK. Not too bad. AND I can go to torst for the latest evil twin limited releases.
Now back in the car!

 

Nothing dumb about starting threads...
I can't say what you do and don't have availablilty wise, but another option may be to homebrew - make whatever styles you want... (it does take time, investment and practice though...)

 

lol - yeah, this site can be the worst I never knew how much was out there until I started seeing all the top beer lists and posts with pictures - and I live in a good distribution area without any weird restrictive laws regarding beer - so I can imagine your pain. Looking at SeekABrew, I see you get Deschutes and New Belgium products - well, at least somewhere in your state - if you could find 'em and stock up, they might be enough to break you into the trading game with folks in the NE (they get great distro, but not over here).

 

No need to feel dumb. It can be a real problem. In SE PA we have lots of stuff available but large amounts need to be purchased in bulk because we also have a case law in place (recently modified to allow beer stores to sell 12 packs if they come packaged that way from the brewery). But that doesn't solve your basic variety shortage.

That said, I'd suggest you concentrate some of your time and effort and thinking into exploring the beers that can be purchased and the stored for long periods. Most beer should be consumed fresh, but there are some that folks feel are improved with age.

So next time you make a beer run, take along the idea that you may have to spend a lot to start a cellar. For example if you buy a case of Orval (assuming you enjoy it) you can spread those 24 bottles out over a couple of years and have something ready to hand and something which changes enough over time that every time you drink it, its like a different beer. Similarly, most of the Trappist ales age well. So then on a beer run you buy a batch of stuff to drink fresh over the next few weeks, but also get something to cellar so when the fresh is gone you can rely on your cellar, etc.

Hanging out in the cellaring forum will provide lots of insights as to which beers might be worth keeping around for a while.

Edit: I've also found that some of the beer stores where I shop are quite willing to order something for me, so that if it comes into PA in bottles they will get it for me. So look for your state's list of beers registered to be sold in WY and have a nice long chat with a beer store owner on your next beer run.

 

Montana produces some fine beer and in Bozeman at least there seemed to be a fair variety available. This site encourages hamsters on the wheel of desire. Suggest you don't worry about it too much and enjoy what you can get. Drtth's suggestions ^^^^ are good, too.

 

One advantage of living on a small island is that everything is within reasonably easy reach.I can get beer from practically any of 1400 UK breweries and of course Belgium and Germany aren't that far off by conrinental standards.There are no movement restrictions anywhere in the European Community.

 

I would travel a lot and stock up when ever I do.

 

OP, you've just defined what we all call a 'beer wasteland' or at least close to it.

Consider getting into homebrewing, or see if there are other beer lovers who live close by, and create a beer-run travel club to take turns making a run for the border of whatever is the closest adjacent state with a good selection. Just don't publicize your attempt to do it for legality purposes.