Driving through MT and ID during this pandemic

I can help you out with a few things in regards to MT.

Billings:

Two great sister breweries there, Uberbrew and By All Means. Uberbrew has been around for a bit and has won quite a few gold medals at GABF, including 2016 Small Brewery of the Year when they won more medals than any other brewery including Double IPA gold. Plenty of medals since and Alpha King I believe. The head brewer there opened a new spot this past fall/winter called By All Means that’s state of the art. It’s a bit more modern and “progressive” with a really cool taproom and outside seating. Can’t recommend both places enough. Mark Hastings the head brewer at both is incredibly talented and been at it for a long time. He’s got a really talented staff and is one of the nicest people you’ll ever meet on the industry. Haven’t had the food at By All Means but Uberbrew food is solid upscale pub food. BAM is probably a bit more “modern”. Killer hoppy beers but honestly everything is very well executed.

Bozeman:

The three breweries worth visiting are MAP, Mountains Walking, and Nordic Brew Works. MAP and Mountains Walking package beer, Nordic maybe does growlers to go. Mountains Walking is the more “modern” of the three. MAP Packaged product is maybe better. Nordic space is super cool and has the best (also most expensive food).

Missoula:

I’m not quite as well versed with the beers there. I always go to Imagine Nation for more “progressive” hoppy beer and have been for the most part pleased. Small spot, prolly do crowlers. Missoula has a bunch of the more old school/original breweries in Montana. Cold Smoke or Moose Drool might be the closest thing you get to a beer that represents the state. I haven’t had either in forever personally. I think there’s some new mixed ferment focused spot there but not sure. Tons of other breweries and most are decent, just a bit dated.

Missoula has a few “grocery” stores that have probably the biggest selection of beer in the state.

Cant really help you with whiskey unfortunately.

Don’t think there’s really a “state dish” for Mt other than beef. Some great old school steak houses that would be worth visiting during different times.

In my mind Melvin makes probably the best packaged beer from the general area. They distribute all over the states and have a bit of a checkered past but their core hoppy beers are always a default cause most often they’re great and have shockingly great shelf life honestly. Hubert is as close a default beer as I probably get.

Hope that helps. Feel free to PM me with any other questions.

 

If you're on I90 through SD. Firehouse Brewery in Rapid City has good food and pretty good beer. There's others that have opened in the area since I was last there. Not exactly a plethora of beer but no longer a beer desert, either.

 

Just stay off the thermals. And don’t get killed by a buffalo or elk.

 

How is Zymurcracy?

 

Haven't been there; haven't been up to the Black Hills in a few years. Last "new" brewery I hit was Miner Brewing Company in Hill City.

 

I'm thinking of flying to Kalispell and renting a car for a 4 day road trip in Montana. Our main goal is to visit Glacier National Park. Our only visit to Montana was 12 years ago as we went to Chico Hot Springs Resort from Yellowstone National Park. We will have 4 full days to see and drive Montana. So looking for any brewery's in Kalispell after a day of checking out Glacier National Park. Not sure what the plans are for Day 2-4 yet. But would like to check out the vast land of the Big Sky country.

 

Driving to Kalispell tomorrow. been there multiple times over the years and i usually bring beers with me from Portland.

this time around i want to buy beer once i get there. Anything from MT or surrounding areas i should look to pickup? im pretty much good with any and every style of beer

 

The best beer brewed in that Kalispell is generally at the Lakeside location of Tamarack Brewing, at least that I’ve found. They won Alpha King maybe 4 years ago? They have the ability to brew wonderful beer. There’s usually some really good one-off stuff on tap and most of their core beers are solid. Kalispell brewing company is decent. Everything I had there was clean and well made just kinda boring.

For those traveling form out of state keep in mind the Montana beer scene is sort of like going back in time. Which can be and can be bad, depends on your point of view. If you’re looking for “modern” craft beer you’re not really gonna find it. Closest thing might be Imagine Nation in Missoula. However there’s plenty of well brewed beer, just a bit dated in its flavor profile and branding/presentation.

Mountains Walking is distributing now. They’re maybe the most “modern” in MT although that’s not saying much. MAP has some good beers that should be available in the Kalispell/Whitefish area.

If you’re hoping to be blown away by something new and different you might not find it but like I said there’s plenty of quality beer to be found.

 

Being in Southern California I have pretty much unlimited supply of hazies and clear/west coast ipa’s. So I’m not expecting out of this world in MT. When we vacation in Hawaii I like to bring my own supply of cans and mix some of the local stuff with it. But we will be on the move in MT so I will just stick to the local beers. I like to bring back cans from my trips too. So if I find something worthwhile I will bring back with me. So my other question would be any local beer/liquor stores worth checking out? How’s the MT distribution throughout the state? I probably won’t have enough time to get to Bozeman area. Is there anything worth checking out from Bozeman. I’m hoping to make it down to Missoula at least.

 

I don’t know the beer store situation in Kalispell. In Whitefish I’ve found the best selection to be at Markus Foods.

Missoula has a couple of spots with a good selection of beers. Orange Street Food Farm is an interesting spot with beer in literally every corner of the store. Worden’s market and Deli is decent too. I tend to enjoy Imagine Nation and Guild as far as breweries go in Missoula. There’s some other good ones as well.

I would say Bozeman is out of the question if you only have 4 days and are flying into Kalispell. It would be easy to spend those 4 days in the Kalispell, Whitefish, Glacier area.
It’s my favorite part of the state. Love Whitefish. If you need any other recommendations on stuff to do or whatever feel free to reach out.

 

It sounds like the breweries/taprooms, brewpubs and restaurants are open for dine in in MT? Or for outdoor seating only?
I was hoping to go the end of August but one of my tenants just gave us a 30 day notice that they will be moving. So I’m now looking at mid September for my visit. That will give me a little more time to plan my road trip. I’m sure there are some good to great beers to be had in MT. Hanging out in the tasting rooms is half the fun. Thanks to all for the info.

 

This is a perfect summary of Montana. Every brewery has a brown, standard Scottish ale and an American wheat.

Imagine Nation, Mountains Walking and MAP are the best as far as modern brewery takes.