Montana Information

I see there are 6 breweries in Billings so that's a good thing and that's what beertown was referring to. Craft beer distribution is a different beast, something I have no knowledge of for Billings or any town in MT, and that's what seekabrew was referring to. I reckon the 2 don't go hand in hand, if that makes any sense.

 

If any of those breweries are as good as Big Sky, then I'd consider yourself lucky.

 

This one sounds very promising:

http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/16325

 

There is a 3 pint limit at all breweries in Montana. There really aren't many brewpubs in Montana unless a brewery owner also owns a restaurant with a liquor license or beer and wine license. All of this is perpetuated by the fact that liquor licenses are limited and transferable.

There isn't a lot of out-of-state distribution to Montana, but it does have a growing craft beer scene. I've enjoyed a lot of the beer I've had from Montana breweries. If you want to live in a place that gets the rarities that a lot of people chase, Montana may not be the place for you.

 

Probably better than Bakersfield, (on so many levels too!)

 

I was in Montana for a few weeks this past summer and I found the beer scene to be lacking. Montana indeed has a lot of breweries, but not very many that are great. Big Sky is really good, and there are some others that are good (Bozeman, Kettlehouse), but it's not an elite beer state. Distribution is also going to be lacking compared to anywhere in California, but it's not that bad.

That said, the other benefits of living in that fantastic state FAR outweigh the lack of beer.

 

"Distribution is also going to be lacking compared to anywhere in California, but it's not that bad."
You have clearly never been to Bakersfield, Fresno, Stocton, Calif. (Most people out of California forget just how big that state is and that 75% of the population live within 50 miles of the coast

 

We get some good stuff in the state: http://www.montanabeerfinder.com/p/by-region.html (notables are Deschutes, Alaskan, along with our own Big Sky), and the best thing is that we don't face competition issues for finding things on the shelf! ;-)

 

Montana has just under 1m residents, California has 37m......doesn't take a Sherlock Holmes to say that distribution would be different.

Been down to Montana many times in the past 2 years, and the beer distribution I've seen in stores (Whitefish, Kalispell & Missoula) is darn good. Regularly leave the state with a minimum of 70 bottles of stuff from the local breweries, Stone, Sierra Nevada, New Belgium, Deschutes, Bear Republic, Alaskan, Full Sail, Lagunitas, Widmer, etc etc. Yeah, they may not get the uber-rare beers, but how many places do?

If you want a state that has some pretty decent beer bars, good beer, great prices and wonderful people, then Montana is your destination.

 

Nope.

 

Thanks for the geography and math lesson bud. I didn't realize California was so big! Crazy.

But anyways, yeah, it wasn't terrible, but I ran out of new things to try in the five weeks I was there, and that never happens here.

 

It appears you did, otherwise you wouldn't have so readily compared distribution between 2 greatly contrasting States, and then get all upset because they don't compare.

 

I got "all upset"? I didn't even realize. I must have been completely blinded by my rage as to not even notice it.

Besides, you can absolutely COMPARE two very different states, even though they are nowhere near equal. Montana has LESS of a selection than California, due to (obviously) a fraction of the population and fewer overall breweries. BUT, Montana does not have a TERRIBLE selection, which is what I was saying in response to the OP statement that Montana was a "beer wasteland". Is that clear, or do you want it explained further?