Montana

Fishing trip? Lewis and Clark in Helena has some great beers and the tap room is outstanding. Blackfoot River is also worth a stop while in Helena. Map brewing in Bozeman is fantastic and might even be canning by the time you arrive. Midas Crush is an outstanding IPA that gives Melvin's IPA (Jackson Hole) a run for the money. Be sure to stop in at Bridger Brewing while in Bozeman. If you make it to Livingston, Katabatic is a great little brewery. Tap rooms at breweries in Montana close at 8pm with a 3 drink limit so plan accordingly. You can buy beer in grocery stores in Montana and there's most often a good selection of Montana beers available.

 

I grew up in the Bozeman/Belgrade area, tharreld is spot on about Bridget Brewing, they have a good beer and great pizza by the slice. You might want to check out Montana Ale Works for good and local beer options as well. Ale Works has some of the best food in the valley, and they serve 90% Montana craft beer, definitely a great spot to check out.

Lewis & Clark in Helena also has great beers, and the taproom has a great environment and cool setting.

If you want the best steak of your life, go to Sir Scotts Oasis in Manhattan, about 20 minutes west of Bozeman.

Cheers!

 

If your in Helena I would say make Blackfoot your priority. Missoula hit Draught Works, Imagine nation first if times not an issue in Missoula also hit Great Burn and Big Sky or Bayern or Tamarack or Flathead Lake, for breweries and Dram Shop for taphouse. You could hit a lot in Missoula they have it good. Bozeman I agree with Map(sick building and great beers) Bridger brewing and would ad Bozeman brewing. I think the best beers in MT are normally found on tap and not canned or bottled so tap rooms like Draught Works and Blackfoot I believe are making the most solid and best beers in the state. Other breweries that are solid you could find on tap would be Cabinet Mountain, Meadowlark, Carters.

 

When you're in Helena you might as well check out the third, newer brewery in town, Ten Mile Creek Brewing. They have only been around for about a year and a half but they are showing promise. I would also recommend going to some Missoula staples, Kettlehouse, Bayern Brewing, and Big Sky brewing. Don't get me wrong Drinkin-Beers' list is solid for Missoula. You could also head south on I-90 and check out Lolo Peak Brewing in Lolo, Black Smith Brewing and Higherground Brewing in Stevensville, and Bitterroot Brewing in Hamilton.

I almost forgot to mention, check out Worden's, Summer Sun, and The Good Food Store in Missoula. All three have excellent beer selections. When you're in Helena Topper's Cellar and Island Liquor are the best for beer selection.

Really you can't go wrong with the cities you are planning to visit. Enjoy your trip to Big Sky country this summer!

 

Went to the MT brewers association beer fest in Helena last night. There are some great beers being produced here. My highlights were

Blackfoot River brewing- Oud Bruin
Bozeman brewing- Berliner Weiss
Überbrew- Über slayer Japanese saison
Flathead Lake brewing- Mintaka Sour
Map brewing- east coast IPA
Katabatic brewing- mosaic pale
Bridger Brewing- Berliner Weiss
Tamarack- the Regulator dipa

 

What style are you into?

In Helena I liked Blackfoot the best personally. Tap room is cool, people are really friendly and it's some of the better beer. I can't stand Lewis and Clark taproom, place is dark and straight outta 1987. Never been that stoked on their beers. The best hoppy (and honestly the cleanest profiles) are brewed by Uberbrew in Billings. You'll have to find it on tap somewhere which can be difficult but it is usually phenomenal. They have won tons of awards recently for their beers. Big awards! Their hoppy beers rival Melvin for the best in the Rockies I think. Missoula beers are what they are, personally don't think there is anything that really stands out but a lot of decent. I usually skip the tap rooms in Missoula and hit Dram Shop as they usually have a decent tap list or maybe hit Tamarack. Is it me or does the lakeside location seem to have better beers? Are they all brewed there and sent to Missoula or two separate breweries.

MAP location in Bozeman is cool. First and only time I was there was a year ago maybe and the beers weren't anything special, but I've heard they're better now??? I've had a few great beers at Bridger Brewing. They had a black IPA on last fall hopped just with Eureka I believe. Wow was it awesome! The other beers I tried weren't quite of the same level. Pizza was decent.

There's a place that I think is called Red Chair in Bozeman that has had a few Uber beers on tap when I've been there.

 

I'm heading to Montana for Pearl Jam's show in Missoula next Monday. Anyone else going to the show? Just wondering if there is anywhere relatively close to venue for some pre-show beers.

 

Good to see this thread. I’ve made numerous trips to Montana and struggled to find good beer

I guess I didnt look hard enough.

 

If I ever travel back to Montana, Uberbrew's hoppy offerings.

 

Montana is slept on because the good beer isn’t widely distributed (or distributed at all), and the breweries are scattered all over.

 

I'd recommend Higherground in Hamilton. I was there last fall and had some really delicious IPAs. Food was very tasty as well.

 

Just a heads up. Kettlehouse brewing cold smoke variety packs dropped today. Coffee cold smoke, cherry cold smoke, coconut cold smoke, and regular in 8 packs.

 

ISO if somebody wants to do an easy breezy trade.

 

ISO as well, I miss Cold Smoke, grew up drinking that beer when I lived there! Would love to get my hands on some variants.

 

The coffee was decent. The cherry tasted like Dr. Pepper mixed with cough syrup. The coconut was straight cough syrup.

 

Jumping on this thread...

Hello Beeradvocates of Montana (and surrounds). We are going to be road tripping through your massive state in three weeks time. Staying in Missoula (arriving from Seattle) - (1 night ), Livingston (3 nights), Great Falls (1 night), East Glacier (1 night), Columbia Falls (1 night) and heading to Spokane for one night.

So far I'm aiming to make stops at Imagine Nation Brewing, looks like just crowlers to go though right? Potentially also at The Dram Shop for a beer. We'll be stopping on Bozeman and Butte, but not staying anywhere so any stops at Map Brewing or Montana Ale Works I'll be looking for beers to go.

Is there anywhere to grab beers in Livingston and/ or Great Falls? I've had a look through a few old posts but haven't seen many mentions. I'm up for trying some of the breweries mentioned in this post from the east of the state that I won't get to visit.

I'm generally into IPAs/ pales, sours and keen to try any locally unique beers (I've noted Cold Smoke and my wife is keen on the idea of anything Huckleberry...)

Thanks in advance for any tips!

 

Bozeman you gotta go to Mountains Walking for sure. Good ipas and really good sours. Map is good also.

LIvingston has 2 breweries, I’m not a fan of Neptune’s but Katabatic is pretty good. Not sure about bars or anything.

Missoula has tons of good places. Imagine Nation is best known for NE ipas. I think Draught Works is a must hit. The Dram usually has a solid tap list.

Stay in Helena and skip Great Falls.