Badlands and Beer Redux

The badlands of Makoshika State Park

I didn't get enough of southeastern Montana a couple weeks ago so I decided to take the long, Independence Day weekend and go back.  This time I got pals and excellent roadtrip buddies, Adrienne and Aurora, to go with me.  We had a general agenda, but very little written in stone.  All we knew for sure was that we were planning to spend the 4th in Miles City at Niedgefest, going to see Jesse Taylor and the Rainy Day Devils at Beaver Creek Brewing in Wibaux on the 5th, and visiting the Evelyn Cameron Gallery in Terry (my primary destination) somewhere along the way. 

We loaded up Adrienne's truck with our camping equipment, our bedding and duffels, my modified Radio Flyer wagon, camp chairs, a camp stove, and most importantly: a cooler filled with those growlers Aurora and I had gotten at Carter's on Sunday in Billings (as well as a few random bottles of other craft brew).  Then, about an hour and a half after our planned departure time (my fault), we were on our way.

First we stopped in Ingomar, once the "Sheep Shearing Capital of North America" and now mostly a ghost town.  Now it's claim to fame is the historic and world famous Jersey Lilly bar, known for its steaks and beans.  I'd had the pleasure of stopping there on my way home from a trip to the Black Hills last summer and was eager to share another visit with my friends.  Unfortunately, in my excitement, I forgot that it might be closed for the holiday, and dang it!  It was.  As long as we were there, though, we gladly made use of the Heifer Pen (Bull Pen for the men), also known as the outhouse, out back.

The Jersey Lilly in Ingomar, MT

Me at the Heifer Pen behind the Jersey Lilly

Thwarted, we continued on to Miles City where, after setting up camp at the local KOA, we instead found a meal of sorts at the Golden Spur Sports Bar.  We were hoping for burgers and sandwiches, but weren't too terribly disappointed to settle for hot wings, chicken strips and steak bites.  And some good beer.  Part of the draw to the Spur was their big sign that said "MICROBREWS".  I wasn't hoping for anything wonderful, but we lucked out with a few selections from Red Lodge.  I was very happy with a Red Lodge Ales Bent Nail IPA; it's a one of my Montana favorites.  Aurora went with the Resurrection Doppelbock, also from Red Lodge.  I've tried that recently and really liked it.  It's a strong one at 8% ABV but Aurora handled it well.  Actually, it was just what the doctor ordered as she'd knocked something heavy on her foot that morning and it was causing her all sorts of pain and trouble.  Adrienne tried the Shock Top Honeycrisp Apple Wheat and let me have a go.  Shock Top describes it as "a unique, refreshing, hand crafted brewed hybrid of Belgian wheat beer and sweet cider," which pretty much sums it up.  Not too sweet; just sweet enough.  I prefer something a bit more dry when it comes to ciders, but I wouldn't have any trouble putting a few of these away if I had it around.

After a quick trip to Wal-Mart for a few supplies, like waterproofing for the tent, and another stop at Dairy Queen for desert, we went back to our campsite to get ready for the holiday festivities at Riverside Park.  We got ice for the cooler which was loaded with our beer growlers and snacks, loaded up the wagon with camp chairs and blankets, and walked over to the park to settle in at Niedgefest.  From the Niedgefest facebook page:  Niedgefest is an annual classic rock concert in Miles City, Montana. Celebrating the talents of local musicians, Niedgefest showcases Montana-made musical acts, including its house band Supersonic, Dirty Harry- a Miles City legend, and other bands, big and small, from around Montana. Band after band, most pretty darned good offerings for a town the size of Miles City, kept us entertained until it was time for the fireworks display.  My early favorite was a band with a female lead who did great on a couple Guns & Roses covers.  Sorry, I didn't catch the names of most of the bands.  Bad me!

One of the first bands to play at Niedgefest

By this time I was 3/4 of the way through my growler of Derailed IPA from Carter's and I was hyper as all get out.  Aurora and Adrienne were about that far along with their two growlers of Saison de Carter and were feeling pretty good themselves.  Also, about this time, my friend Rex arrived with his nephews.  He's the gent I met back in February in Boise at the Kilted Dragon.  It turns out he is originally from the area and was visiting his family.  Over the music and bombs bursting in air, we talked a bunch, mostly about - what else? - beer.  Perhaps I should find some new topics for conversation?  They left after the fireworks were done, but he and I made plans to try to meet up for beers again sometime when I'm back in Boise.

After the fireworks, the best band of the night made their appearance, the Moustache Bandits from Bozeman.  We polished off our growlers and headed for the stage where a great deal of crazy dancing commenced.  Here's their rendition of Charlie Daniels' Devil Went Down To Georgia from that night: YouTube Video of the Moustache Bandits.

The Moustache Bandits

Adrienne, Aurora and me.  It was a fun, fun 4th!

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Me and Aurora about to die at the Glendive Dinosaur and Fossil Museum

Day two of this crazy adventure, we packed up our campsite, found some breakfast at the 600 Cafe on Main Street, made a couple other stops, then headed for Glendive. We stopped first at the Green Valley RV Park to set up camp (decent place, with showers!), made a quick stop at the K-Mart, then headed to the Glendive Dinosaur and Fossil Museum.  There are a number of dinosaur museums in Glendive as the badlands in the area are full of dinosaur finds, but we were interested in this one because, according to the VisitMT.com website, "it the largest dinosaur and fossil museum in the United States to present its fossils in the context of biblical creation".  We were curious to see what it was all about.  Regardless of your viewpoint on the subject, the displays were impressive.  I particularly enjoyed the skeletons of the giant turtle, the T-Rex and the stegasaurus.  I also found out, 19 years behind the time, that the brontosaurus is no longer the brontosaurus; it is now the apatosaurus.  What's up with that?  It'll always be a brontosaurus in my book.

Onto the beer!

Since we were going to be more or less in the area, I decided to check and see if there would be any live music happening at the Beaver Creek Brewery in Wibaux while we were around.  Woo hoo!  Yes, there was.  Jesse Taylor and the Rainy Day Devils were playing a Friday night show.  Of course we had to go, especially since Adrienne and Aurora had never been there.  We had plenty of time to enjoy some brews and eat before the show.  The brewery, as I mentioned before, is attached to the Gem Theater which is where the shows are actually held.  The Gem is also the source for all the eats.  Their special that night sounded excellent: ribs, spuds and more for the low, low price of $7.00, but we were geared up for their fancy pizzas.  While waiting for those, I thoroughly enjoyed a Beaver Creek Pale.  Did I miss this the last time around?  I certainly must have.  It was delish!  So, of course I had to have a several more.  Both Aurora and Adrienne ended up settling on the Paddlefish Stout.  Lucky ladies, they got a fresh made chocolate chip cookie with every pint.

Beaver Creek's brew selection

Beaver Creek Brewing, Wibaux, MT

The show was worth the trip.  Jesse Taylor has a nice, easy going, cowboy song singing voice, and his originals were good.  His Rainy Day Devils made the music that much better.  Their lead guitarist was particularly great, not only for his musicianship but for his comedy.  My only disappointment in that part of the evening was that I had to switch from the Pale to the IPA since they could no longer serve from the brewery after 8:00pm and they had no Pale on tap in the Gem.  The IPA was good enough.  I survived.  But that Pale was excellent.

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On day three, Saturday, I contacted my friend, Charlie, a former resident of Glendive to get a recommendation on a breakfast spot.  He did not steer us wrong sending us to the Yellowstone River Inn.  After fortifying ourselves, we took a quick drive through Makoshika State Park.  I got to see a bit more this time around since the roads were dry and we didn't have to worry about getting stuck in the gumbo.  Beautiful!  I love the badlands.  As both of my friends are into range management, they know a lot about the flora, so we had a lot of discussion of the various grasses, flowers and shrubs in the area.  I learned the names a few more native plants - yay!
 

Crazy women at Makoshika State Park:  Me, Aurora and Adrienne

 
Then on to Terry - hip hip hooray!

A trip to Terry to visit the Evelyn Cameron Gallery was my main reason for wanting to take this trip as I'd missed the last trip through.  I became interested in Evelyn Cameron after watching the PBS documentary, Evelyn Cameron: Pictures of a Worthy Life.  She was a fascinating character.  She came from British aristocracy and ended up making a tough life of it in the Montana badlands.  She supported herself, and her ornithologist husband, through her photography of local people and places.  Her photos aren't dramatic works of art, but depict life as it was.  I enjoy her photography all the more for that.  She had a unique eye and I truly enjoy her viewpoint.  The Gallery isn't fancy, but they did a nice job with it all the same.  I only wish they'd had a camera on display like the one she used.  I would have been very interested to see one.

A photo of Evelyn Cameron

I enjoyed a delicious caramel malt.  Mmm...

I'd also wanted to visit the Calypso Trail, on old bootlegging trail through the Terry Badlands that is supposed to have some of the most spectacular sites of all the Montana badlands.  Unfortunately, with Aurora's gimpy foot, the possibility of gumbo roads (rain had passed through the area), as well as the heat and humidity, we opted to save it for another time.  Instead, we visited a couple more Terry hot spots:  the Historic Kempton Hotel and the Dizzy Diner.  The Kempton Hotel is the oldest continuously operating hotel in Montana and is supposedly haunted.  Their slogan: "Where all the ghosts are friendly."  It can also boast to hosting such guests as Teddy Roosevelt and Calamity Jane.  The Dizzy Diner was a nifty little place that makes yummy, yummy shakes and malts.  Ice cream for lunch - I love being a grown up!

The Historic Kempton Hotel: "Where all the ghosts are friendly."

From Terry, we headed to Billings for the night.  After setting up camp at the original KOA campground - quite a nice one - we headed downtown for the Thai dinner at Cham Thai Cuisine Adrienne had been craving ever since we'd decided on Billings for our final night.   Aurora and Adrienne split their dinners of yellow curry and pad thai.  I grossed them out by eating California House, a combination of shrimp, mussels, squid, fish, krab, mushrooms and onions - very tasty.

A half block down the street is the new Angry Hanks location and Himmelberger Brewing next door.  I opted for Himmelberger since I'd only been able to make it there once before.  It ended up being a very quick stop since we had decided to go see the Lone Ranger at the theater and discovered that the movie start time was only 15 minutes away after ordering our beers.  Knowing there would be at least 15 minutes or more of previews, though, we were at least able to enjoy our beer before scooting out of there.  I tried the IPA, and while it wasn't indicative of a good IPA in my book, it was still a good beer.  I liked the flavor.  Since we were in such a rush, though, I didn't really take the time to properly size it up, nor do I have any idea what the gals had to drink.

The Lone Ranger was very entertaining.  Not perfect - silly at times, overly violent at others - but definitely entertaining.  We exited the theater into a torrential downpour complete with wild lightning and thunder.  That made me quite glad that I'd done a double dose of waterproofing to the tent our first day.  All the same, not wanting to get soaked before going to bed, we ended up sitting in the truck for quite a while waiting for the rain to abate.  Eventually we made it into the tent and to bed where, despite the weather, I slept like the dead after three full days of fun.

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What a weekend!  I'm glad to be home, but I can't wait for the next adventure!  It won't be long...

Save Me From Cheap Beer!

Oh, my goodness.  I think I've had more Busch Light, aka water beer, in the last couple weeks than I've had in my entire life.  First a weekend full of small town fun where other beer options were nearly non-existent, followed by two weekends of weddings where that was the primary option.  And to be honest, I didn't really mind all that much.  Busch Light is about as inoffensive as fizzy (barely) yellow beer gets; one of the few that doesn't cause me to have horrific headaches or internal distress.  My biggest problem with it - it goes right on through nearly as quickly as I can take it in.

This is what happens when your only option is fizzy yellow beer: Annie Oakley shows up on a donkey wearing her Electric Horseman hat.  Actually, this is a friend of mine getting crazy in a very small town bar at her bachelorette party.

It wasn't all Busch Light, though.  I've also been trying to work through the excessively large IPA selection in my fridge.  Normally this wouldn't be a problem, but most of what can be found in there are the remaining five bottles left over from each of the multitude six packs purchased in the course of my travels, tried and found wanting.  Generally I've found with IPAs that if I try one and don't really like it, by the second it will start to grow on me.  Most of these, however, only seem to get worse. 

Ninkasi IPA (Ninkasi Brewing, Eugene, OR) - When I first tried it, I thought it was horrible.  Over time, though, I've learned to appreciate it more.  One of our local dives carried it on draught for a while.  As I'd only had it in bottles previously, trying it on draught made all the difference.  Bottled, it's a bit more rough around the edges.  While it's still far from my favorite, at least I had no problem finishing off what was left in my fridge.

Lucky Bucket IPA (Lucky Bucket Brewing, La Vista, NE) - This one was recommended to me by a few different folks, and it being a Nebraska brew (Go Big Red!), I was eager to try it.  Nope, nope, nope!  I can drink it, but only just barely.  Lucky Bucket says it's "big, bold and shall we say, in your face... as it should be."  They've got the "in your face" part right.  It's not that it's aggressively hoppy; it's just harsh.

Hop Wrangler 3 IPA (Peace Tree Brewing, Knoxville, IA) - It came in the cutest little stubby bottle, and it had a great label.  I had to try it.  Eh.  It's got a bit more balance to it than the Lucky Bucket, but it's still rough.  It starts off a bit sweet, but it finishes mean.  The do have a nice description on their bottle, however:  "Hop Wrangler 3 is a multi-national take on the classic India Pale Ale, which is known for its intense hop bitterness, flavor and aroma.  We use American, English and Belgian malts for flavor, body and color.  This brew includes six hop additions of American and English hops, one each in the mash and first wort, three in the boil and finally a dry hop addition in the fermenter.  It is finished with Belgian yeast which develops esters that complement the bouquet of hop aromas."  Yes, I'm confused, too, and so is the flavor, in my opinion.  Does the fact that it just took me nearly two hours to finish one tell you anything?

There are a couple others in my fridge as well, but they're ones I do like (Hazed and Infused, Boulder Brewing, Boulder, CO) or ones I have yet to try - mostly big bottles from obscure places.

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Happily, I went to Billings yesterday and really got my beer on.

My friend Aurora and I had a little shopping to do (mainly I really needed some paint so I can finally finish painting my front porch a bright, obnoxious lime green), and we wanted pedicures (something difficult to come by in Lewistown, MT), and WE WANTED BEER!  We barely made it through my shopping list, and even skipped one stop entirely, to get our main stop, Carter's Brewing.  Overall, Carter's is my favorite brewery in Billings.  They have a lot of really good standard options, and they usually have a big selection of seasonals and specials as well.  Big bonus: they're open on Sundays.

Aurora

Carter's is one of the only breweries I've visited in the western states, outside of Colorado where they're everywhere, that makes saison.  This is one style of Belgian ale I really enjoy.  They tend to be fruity, spicy and very refreshing.  Most folks know I'm not generally a fan of fruity beers, but saisons have an overall fruitiness rather than a specific fruit flavor.  Yummy.

This time, Carter's also had a Green Tea Saison as well.  I opted to try that one, while Aurora, who had never had a saison, went with the Saison de Carter.  I loved the look on her face when she took her first sip.  Her eyes lit up and a smile spread wide.  It's so much fun to share the beer love with others, especially eager novices.  I'd brought in four growlers to fill for an upcoming camping and road trip Aurora, my friend Adrienne and I are doing over the long July 4th weekend.  I was planning to fill one with the saison, one with their Derailed IPA (love it), one with Black Magic Porter and the last one with the Boxcar Brown, but after taking that first sip, Aurora declared that we would most definitely be filling two growlers with the saison.  No problem!  We left out the porter and went with the saison.  I would have done a growler of each saison, the de Carter and the Green Tea, but the Green Tea really didn't have the zing of the de Carter.  It was actually quite boring - kind of like green tea.

After their magnificent lady barkeep got us all filled up and we'd finished our pints, we were really jonesing for a burger at Überbrew down the street.  I know I've mentioned them before, but they truly are one of the most wonderful things ever.  As is their beer cheese soup.  I've mentioned that before, too, haven't I?  I'm drooling just thinking about it.  Please, give me a moment...

Okay.  Even though I haven't liked their beer in the past, aside from their porter, I decided to try another flight.  I selected the Diesel Punk Porter (to be sure I'd have something to wash down the rest with),the Humulus Ridiculous Double IPA, the Conehead IPA and their Diesel Punk Stout.  Aurora also chose the stout, as well as their regular kölsch (I've had it before and it's decent), their raspberry kölsch and the Calibrated Imperial Hefeweizen. 

The best word I have to describe the Conehead is dank.  As hops and marijuana are in the same family, dank is an appropriate adjective.  But instead of the definition commonly used for marijuana meaning good, potent stuff, I refer to the common definition of the word: disagreeably damp and musty.  I did not like it, Sam I Am.

I am quite pleased to say, however, that I did enjoy my other three choices.  The stout was as smooth as they come.  It had a light, simple flavor.  Nothing fancy, but nice and solid.  Aurora agreed and was planning to order a pint of it until I had her try the porter.  "Oh, that's gooood."  Yes, it is.  And while I did not love the double IPA, I did like it.  Our bartender also helps with the brewing so I was really glad I was able to give him a positive report.  I've also mentioned how great the Überbrew staff is, haven't I?  Yes, they are.

Shana & Toby

I'd also like to mention another Überbrew patron we had the pleasure to meet.  Shana was sitting a couple stools down from us and somewhere along the way we discovered that she recently left her job and life in central Pennsylvania and is bound for Portland to start things fresh.  She's taking her time along the way, though, visiting all the states she's never been to, hitting all the good coffee shops and breweries she can find.  She's camping in her car with her long-haired Chihuahua, Toby, with no definite plans, just ideas.  My hero!  She's also relatively new to the craft beer world, but she's already more than caught up with my brewery visits, and she's quickly come to realize, you meet the best people wherever you find good beer. 

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Back to that cheap beer issue...  I believe that I have been given the cure.  My friends, Jordan (pictured below) and Linda, were lucky enough to attend the Epic Beer Festival in Denver this past weekend.  As I was unable to go, I asked her if they would bring me back some Colorado brews.  Happy, happy me, my wish was granted!

Avery Maharaja, Avery IPA, New Belgium La Folie, Left Hand Milk Stout Nitro and a Funkwerks Saison

Thanks, Jordan!  Looks like I need to share & save you from the cheap stuff, too.

Badlands & Beer

I'm a bit of a gypsy by nature and that really kicked in my most recent beer adventure.  That no one was able to join me did not stop me.  I packed up the Huckleberry with all my camping gear and hit the road bound for Makoshika State Park near Glendive, MT.  I’d found out the Montana Wilderness Association was hosting a group hike through the park on Saturday morning.  Makoshika is in a badlands area and I’ve been wanting to visit for some time so this sounded perfect.  Even more incentive, only a half hour down the road was an elusive brewery I’ve had on my To Visit for as long as I’ve been in Montana.  I set my tent up at dusk in the middle of Makoshika and went to sleep to a cacophony of frog song from the nearby creek.  I woke to one heck of a thunderstorm in the middle of the night.  Unhappily, I discovered my tent is in dire need of another dose of waterproofing spray.  I managed to get in a bit more sleep during the rest of the night, but it wasn’t exactly restful.  

The badlands of Makoshika State Park

  

The hike was great, though we had to stick to the main road for the most part as the trails had turned to what we call gumbo.  There’s a lot of clay in the soils and when dirt roads (and trails) in these parts get wet, they become a big gooey mess that is best avoided at all cost.  Aside from beautiful vistas, the highlight was discovering that two of my fellow hikers were also big beer fans who also had plans to go to that same brewery, Beaver Creek Brewing in Wibaux.  

It was also Buzzard Day in Makoshika, and after partaking in some good grub, I drove to the tiny little town of Wibaux (population 589) thirty miles away, east on I-94.  I first stopped at their tiny little hardware store to get some supplies to make some repairs on my tent.  One of the fiberglass poles was cracking so I purchased some tiny little pipe clamps and some electrical tape and after a bit of MacGyvering, got things back together.  Then I headed to the only campground around – a run down RV park with no real facilities for tent campers.  I ended up paying way too much for the spot I was shown to, but I was given access to one of their “cabins” that had a sink and working toilet.  If the lady running the place hadn’t been so darned nice, I would have been sufficiently creeped out enough to splurge on the local motel.  As it was, all went very well and I slept like the dead, especially after all those brews at the brewery!

Beaver Creek Brewery in Wibaux, MT

As soon as I walked into the brewery I found my hiking pals, Theresa and Gary.  Gary had brought along 14 growlers to be filled!  And I thought I was the big beer fan!  We had a wonderful time chatting and the time flew by.  I didn't find any beer to be particularly noteworthy, but they were all solid.  The Paddlefish Stout and the Redheaded IPA were the most to my liking, and I also enjoyed their Rough Rider Wheat brewed with lemongrass.  The brewery itself, though, is well worth the trip.  It's got atmosphere out the wazoo.  They have a big stuffed beaver over the bar with a note underneath proudly declaring: "Our beaver tastes better!"  And one of the brew tanks is named the Chubby Beaver Ferminator.

Theresa & Gary

Gary decorates his growler carriers himself.

    

There is also a pub attached to the brewery called the Gem (actually, the Historic Gem Theater and Pub) that serves tasty pizzas and "unique entrees".  You can order food from the pub and eat it in the brewery, or you can eat in the pub and drink beers from the brewery.  The pub serves wine as well.  The Gem also offers live music several times a month.  I have to say, I was so entertained in the brewery, that I failed to wander over to the pub and check things out.  I'm planning another trip in that direction, though, so hopefully I can make the stop.  It would be great to take in a show, too.  A friend of mine from Lewistown, Charlie Denison, used to live out that way, and he and one of the owners, Jim, have collaborated on some tunes together.  I always hoped to take in a Charlie show there, but that just hasn't managed to work out.

After a full afternoon of beer talk, the next thing we knew, it was closing time.  I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned it, but Montana’s brewery laws mandate that beers cannot be served past 8:00pm, and each customer can only have 48oz per day.  So, it wasn’t really that late, and I really hadn’t had all that much to drink.  But we crammed in some good times while they were available, then I headed back to the old tent to make an early night of it.

Sunday morning I continued heading east to Medora, North Dakota, and the Theodore Roosevelt National Park, yet another destination I’ve wanted to get to for some time.  Teddy R is another gorgeous badlands area surrounded by prairie with the Little Missouri River running through the center.  Teddy Roosevelt, the wonderful president who gave us our treasured National Park system, bought a ranch that is now part of the park.  This rather desolate area was one of the places that made Roosevelt see the importance of conservation.  Hooray Teddy! 

Bison

Wild horse baby

I spent the morning exploring the southern unit of the park.  It is filled with strange land formations, prairie dog towns, bison and wild horses.  As it is that time of year, there were babies galore.  I also took a short hike to an old coal vein that somehow caught fire and burned from 1951 to 1977.  I read about that in a book once so it was neat to visit a place where that once occurred.  Along the trail I also came across a little green racer snake and a dung beetle pushing a round piece of poo along the trail while another one was trying to steal it.  Now that’s entertainment!

Dung beetles

After finishing the loop through the south unit of the park, I went back into Medora to find some food and snoop around.  I found a pizza place that happened to have Red Lodge Ales' Bent Nail IPA on draught (delish), then following the sound of banjo and mandolin, wandered across the street to find a couple guys jamming together at an open air seating area.  Oh, happy BOING!  I love when music breaks out for no good reason other than two guys happen to feel like playing.  I ended up hanging out with them for over an hour – I even played bongo drums for a bit (quite terribly) – before saying goodbye to head up to the north unit of the park about 70 miles away.

I spent a gorgeous night at my tent site right alongside the Little Missouri River, indulging in a fantastically smooth Left Hand Nitro Stout and an extremely aggressive Yeti from Great Divide before hitting the hay, and woke to an utterly perfect day.  I found the north unit of the park to be the prettier of the two and was glad I’d chosen to take a longer hike, 4.5 hard miles, through that section of the park.  I was disappointed that aside from two bison and lots of birds (and plenty of ticks), there were no other critters along the path, though I found the tracks of many, including a bobcat.  I only passed one other hiker, but I was glad for that.  That part of the park is pretty remote so foot and vehicle traffic is rather scarce.  True wilderness!   

Then it was finally time for the five hour drive home.  I hadn’t showered in days so I was happy to be headed back.  

Me at the Teddy Roosevelt National Park - North Unit

Montana Spring Brew Fest

Friday nights are pretty awesome, but when it includes the first beer fest of the year, well... does it get any better?  Not for this girl.


The Montana Brewers Association put this great festival together at the Billings Depot - a very unique venue - and it featured only Montana brewers.  Tickets were $20 in advance, $25 at the door for 5 beer-filled hours.  For $10 more you could make yourself a VIP and get in an hour early.  Or, if you're smart (like me), you become a card carrying member of the MBA and raise yourself to automatic VIP status (and get a free pint at every participating member listed on the card).

Where to start?  The first beer I saw had what was, for me, a magical label: Going to the Sun IPA from Great Northern.  Delish.  And that quickly led me to the decision to do an IPA tour of the festival.  Honestly, after all that, I really don't feel qualified to make comments on most of what I tasted, especially considering that, by the end, I couldn't even remember which beer went with which brewery.  I do apologize, but I'm sure you understand.  What I can say is that the Going to the Sun was still a stand-out, as was Blackfoot River's Citra IPA.

I can also say that some breweries did a better job of representing themselves than others.  While Great Northern may have had an excellent IPA, if it hadn't been for the recognizable tap handle, I would have had no idea who they even were.  The were right next to Flathead Lake Brewing and I thought the Great Northern beers were part of their selection since Flathead had a nice sign and Great Northern had nothing.  As well, the people pouring at each weren't wearing any identifying clothing.  I walked right up to the Flathead Lake gent and asked for a Going to the Sun.  To give him credit, he poured me one.  Most breweries had decent signage, however, but those that truly stood out were those with servers all decked out in brewery swag.

But all that decor meant nothing if those serving couldn't answer my questions.  C'mon folks!  I know we all have busy lives, but a brew fest is a chance to share what you have to offer with people who may rarely, if ever, get the chance to visit your brewery.  Give us some incentive to make the trip!  Sure, you can let the beer do the talking, but that's not really enough if you ask me (you did, right?).  If the brewer/owner can't make the trip, there should at least be someone behind the taps who knows beer.  And more importantly, someone who knows YOUR beer.

But enough of the griping because, really, overall this was a great event.  Okay, one more gripe, but this one is teeny.  There should have been beer dumping and rinse stations for those beers you just didn't want to finish, especially when there were better ones to be found.  Oh well, I did my best.  But aside from that, the venue was excellent, there were enough bathrooms/porta-potties, the food was good (I had a Staggering Ox sandwich during the event and a gyro at the gyro truck outside after the event), the musical entertainment was good and plenty of breweries were represented.  As this was the inaugural Spring Fest, I'd say they did an excellent job.  Way to go, MBA!

When's the next fest?!?!

Oh, wait, there was one the following day in Bozeman.  Who plans these things?  Back to back beer fests?  I could have, should have, gone to both, but it just wasn't in the card.

Colorado, #100 and Then Some

Last month I made a trip to Denver to see The Alternate Routes and Stephen Kellogg, two of my musical favorites, play at the Soiled Dove.  My friend, Adrienne, went along for the ride and Uncle Ron in Fort Collins was kind enough to put us up for the weekend.  I'd mentioned to Ron that I was coming up on my 100th brewery, and while that was not necessarily my goal for the weekend, he made sure it happened.

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Luck was against us our first day out.  We'd made a big list of possible stops, and armed with the list, Adrienne's iPhone and Daphne, my Garmin, we set off for our first stop, Caution Brewing in Aurora.  It is located in an industrial park, and after much hunting about, we finally found it.  Closed.  Not scheduled to open until 2:00.  It was noon.

Me and the crew in the Huckleberry outside Caution.

Next on the list was Black Shirt Brewing.  Closed until 2:00.  Then Our Mutual Friend.  Closed until 2:00.

Adrienne called the next stop, River North, to save us a trip.  OPEN!  This place has a cool feel to it.  Tiny, but with garage-style doors open to the beautiful day and a small patio area.  As the driver, I couldn't indulge as I truly wanted to, but I did try the Hello Darkness Black IPA.  It was good for the style, but I'm starting to think that black IPAs aren't really my thing.  Wish I'd gone with the saison.  (#96)

Adrienne and Uncle Ron at River North Brewery

From River North, it was a short three blocks to The Sandlot at Coors Field, a.k.a. Blue Moon Brewing.  The brewers have a lot of fun with their brews, lots of strange, exotic ingredients.  I tried the Agave Nectar Ale, the Pine in the Neck and Tongue Thai-ed.  The first two weren't bad, but I really liked the Tongue Thai-ed.  Packed with the light, refreshing flavors of lemongrass and basil.  Really different.  Pretty darned good.  (#97)

Adrienne and I were hungry and across the street from The Sandlot is Breckenridge Brewing.  I'd been to the brewery on a past trip, and we could get their beers in Pittsburgh so I was no stranger.  They have good food and nice beer.  It was also Derby Day - the Kentucky Derby, that is - and we ended up at Breckenridge for quite a while to catch the race.  I had some excellent fried calamari with a vanilla porter; I don't recommend the two together, but I was happy all the same.  Adrienne went with a gigantic shrimp po' boy.  Uncle Ron, having been to brewery before as well, had one beer and decided to head back to River North to try some more of their offerings.

After watching Orb win that very muddy race, we went to collect Ron and the Huckleberry and decided to try Our Mutual Friend once again.  This time with more success.  It's a nice place, full of hipsters, with more of a coffee shop atmosphere.  I think I tried the saison, and I think it was alright.  I do remember that Adrienne had the coffee stout.  She loved it.  I didn't.  But I don't like coffee (I know, I'm weird) and this coffee stout really tasted more like coffee than beer.  I wouldn't mind having the chance to spend some time at this place and really give the beers a try sometime.  I really just liked the place. (#98)

 

Our Mutual Friend Malt & Brew

Uncle Ron and me at Black Shirt Brewing Co.

We still had a little time to kill before heading to the concert so we decided to try Black Shirt Brewing again.  Open!  We'd looked the place up online the night before and realized all of their beers have a red theme:  Red Rye, Red Saison, Red IPA.  Uncle Ron and I being from the Husker state and putting the red theme together with blackshirts, we both thought the place must be a secret Husker hideout in the heart of a bad neighborhood in Buffalo country.  Unfortunately we were wrong.  It's just a couple brothers who call themselves the Black Shirt Gang (or something like that) who like the idea of all those red brews.


While the Husker theme didn't pan out, the beers sure did.  I tried the Red Saison and Ron tried the Sour Mash Red Saison.  Both were really, really good.  I liked mine just a teensy bit more than Ron's but only just.  Beautiful beers, served in unusual glasses.  The place has a darker feel to it, the customers and employees adorned in a lot of black, but the vibe in the place is far from dark.  We had a fun chat with the owner after he helped Uncle Ron figure out who sang Right Here, Right Now (Jesus Jones), and another entertaining conversation one regarding how bra sizes work.  And then it was time to go to the show.  (#99)

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The next day we headed for the "hills" at Estes Park.  We were going to go into Rocky Mountain National Park, but most of the roads were still closed by snow so we just opted for visiting the visitor center.  Then we had some lunch at Smokin' Dave's BBQ.  Oh, my heaven, that's some good stuff!  They also happen to carry a beautiful selection of micros.  I went with Avery's IPA; I absolutely had to. 

Smokin' Dave's BBQ

Filled up on good food and beer it was time for the big moment:  brewery #100!!!  Estes Park Brewing ended up being the big one.  It was a bit of a disappointment as far as the overall beer experience went, but it was still punctuated with little things that made it all good, a big one being the Redrum Ale.  For those of you who didn't know, the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park was the inspiration for Stephen King's The Shining, hence the Redrum.  If you still don't know what I'm talking about, I'm very sorry.  Read the book, or better still, watch the movie - the Jack Nicholson version.  Anyway, tastings were free but they were small and they were out of several options.  Just as well since I had more driving to do.

Brewery #100 - Estes Park Brewery

The Stanley Hotel - Estes Park, CO

Me at Oskar Blues in Lyons, CO

We did a bit of shopping in Estes - sidewalk sales galore - and then it was on to Lyons, CO, home of the original Oskar Blues.  For a brewery with such far-reaching distribution, I expected a bigger show, but this location is just barely a step above a biker bar.  I've only driven past their newest location in Longmont which looks pretty darned tricked out.  This location... not so much.  But it had its own special ambiance and I did enjoy it. (#101)

Next was City Star Brewing in Berthoud, CO.  This was a really neat little place with interesting beers and crazy, fun barkeep.  I'm not generally a fan of chili beers, but theirs had a wonderful, smoky taste to it because of the type of chilis they used.  I also tried their IPA (that's what I do), but it wasn't anything special.  I wish I could have tried a few more, but my companions were ready to move on.  Another brewery I'd like to spend a bit more time enjoying someday.  (#102)

City Star Brewing - Berthoud, CO

 

Our final stop on this wondrous brewery tour was the home of my friends, Cori and Jeff.  Jeff is an amazing home brewer.  One sample after another, each one better than anything we'd had the rest of the weekend.  He had a wheat and something on the hoppier side, but his specialty are sours.  Oh, my!!!!  So, so good.  As was his hummus, I must say.  We missed dinner and were grateful of the offering of hummus and chips.  A perfect pairing for all the liquid treats he presented us with.  While not an official brewery I choose to count this as one considering its utter awesomeness.  I asked Jeff what he would call his brewery if he had one, and with no hesitation:  Grand Illusions.  So there you go.  Grand Illusions Brewing by Jeff.  YES!  (#103)

Cheers!  Cori & Jeff and their Grand Illusions

Big Sky Controversy

 

I'm terribly behind on keeping you current with all my beer exploits.  I do apologize.  No excuses except to say, I've just been so busy!  I promise I shall do better.

Earlier this spring Montana went through a bit of brewery turmoil.  If you're interested in what that was all about, please check out the news archives at the Montana Brewers Association website.  Suffice it to say that small craft breweries in Montana were in a bit of danger.  The resulting hoopla in the state legislature brought about the most activism for any one bill in Montana's history.  Save the beer!

As it happened though, on the day the bill went to vote in the legislature, I happened to be visiting one of the few breweries in the state siding in favor of the "anti-brewery bill" HB-616, Big Sky Brewing in Missoula (#95, see below for info on #94).  Big Sky, though, is not a small craft brewery.  It is among the Top 50 craft breweries in the country.  Considering how many craft breweries are currently operating in the U.S., that's saying something!

While upset that Big Sky chose not to stand on the side of the little guys (to oversimplify a bit), I'm pragmatic enough to make the most of my visit.  

Because Big Sky brews over 10,000 barrels per year, they aren't allowed to charge customers for their tasters; instead, you get four smaller ones free.   As a result, they don't have a big sit down area for you to enjoy your brews.  You just belly up to the bar.  They do, however, have more swag than I've ever seen in a brewery.  Nice stuff, too.  I did well, though, I purchased only a Nalgene-style growler (I'd been wanting one for camping) and my usual pint glass.  Oh, and a Big Sky metal walls sign.  C'mon, I had to!

Back in the day when craft beers were more difficult to come by, I could usually find Moose Drool, Big Sky's signature beer, and I thought it was the cat's meow.  Now, though, after trying hundreds of other beers and having more options available to me, you will very rarely find me with a Moose Drool in hand.  I feel the same about most of their other beers that are easy to come by in Montana.  But the night before visit, I met a guy in a Missoula bar who couldn't say enough about the Cowboy Coffee Porter.  I gave it a whirl.  Yes, please!  Damn, that's some good stuff.  So good that I filled that growler full.  If I find it in the local stores, it's pretty likely I'll have to buy some more.

Big Sky, you're still Montana's namesake beer.  I forgive you your transgression.

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#94 - Bridger Brewing in Bozeman

The day before my Big Sky Brewery visit, I made a stop and just-opened Bridger Brewing in Bozeman.  The beers were alright, but it's a really strange day when my favorite brew is the Blonde.  To give credit, that Blonde was exceptional, one of the best I've ever had.  They're not the most complex of beers and I can't really say what it was about it that made it so tasty; it just was. 

What truly makes Bridger Brewing well worth the trip, the pizza.  Brick oven style with all sorts of unusual toppings.  I selected the buffalo pepperoni with shitake mushrooms.  Very, very nice.

Hopefully I'll get back there again after they've had more time to settle in and have a few more beers to try.