The Front has a yummy-sounding selection of sweet and savory crepes. I chose a turkey bacon and avocado crepe and it was delish. The bacon was plentiful and thick. The turkey was smoked and shredded. It was loaded with spinach, and the crepe was perfect.
But you wanted to know about the beer, didn't you? Well, I'd had their Mountain Man Strong Ale previously since it can be found all over town locally. I really didn't like it. And I'd had their IPA at a beer fest or two and I don't recall liking it much, either. Consequently, I was bracing myself for disappointment.
JT and I ordered a taster board that included their session ale, a pale, a blonde, the porter, the stout and what they called and XSB - extra special brown. I liked them all! The stout and the porter the least, but they were certainly drinkable. The XSB was wonderful. Very earthy. JT gave two thumbs up to the session, and she like the blonde as well.
Some Great Falls friends happened to show up while we were there and we had a lively discussion about beer and music, my two favorite topics. Grins!!!
We made few more shopping stops before heading back to town, and somewhere along the way we decided to stop by Harvest Moon in Belt to see if they might be open. They have never been in the past, and this was no exception. But we had a back up plan: the Belt Brewpub. It's one of those cool places with the original brick walls, wooden posts and high ceilings all covered in old junk, signs and license plates. It also has a nice little selection of micros on tap, including Harvest Moon's.
We didn't even have a chance to make our selection when this cute old man told the bartender that our drinks were on him. His name was Tom; at least we think his name was Tom. We do know that he lives across the street from the Brewpub (he mentioned that repetitively) and that he's 74, or 73, or maybe 72, possibly 71 - he got younger with each story he told us. Adorable old fart. Incidentally, JT and I chose a Beltian White and a Pigs Ass Porter, respectively.
Thanks for the beers, Tom!
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Last weekend was the Montana Winter Fair, and I was roped into being one of the assistants for the Chili and Cinnamon Roll Competition. My friend, DR, is the organizer. She does a wonderful job. Except for the old wiring in the hall where we held the competition, it went off without a hitch. We had so many chili entries, we kept popping the circuit breaker with all the crock pots we had plugged in.
DR wanted to make sure we had enough entries this year, so I promised I'd have an entry. There were two categories: traditional and other. Knowing that most entries would fall in the traditional category, I opted for other. I made my usual recipe, but added zucchini in lieu of hamburger. Woo hoo! I took second! Unfortunately, though, most of the folks who came in for the tasting that followed the judging, were turned off by the "vegetarian" label. This is cattle country, after all. "I don't go for that vegetarian crap." The servers got smart, though, and started calling it "no meat" chili. After that, there were a lot more takers. Gotta love it.
That was fun, but the highlight of the Fair for me, is the Homebrew Competition. No, I don't brew, but like the chili competition, after the judging was over, the brews were available for public tasting. How could I pass that up???
There were quite a number of entries this year. They split them between two tables. Every sample at the first table was very commendable, particularly one of the porters which I chose as my People's Choice. The second table, though, was not my thing at all. Fruity beers (very fruity), mead, and a couple ciders. I do like ciders, but not these. One wasn't bad, but too much like apple juice. It was redeemed a bit by having caramel tones as well. The other tasted just like exceptionally strong applesauce - blech!
To make the whole occasion that much better, my friend snagged a spot at a table that happened to also hold the grand prize beer winner, Matt, and his friend. He'd had a number of entries, and took the win with his Irish Red. Of his entries, though, I liked his Scottish Ale the best. Strong stuff, though. 10.9%! I'm always in my happy place when I get to talk beer, breweries and anything else related to them. My friend is a non-drinker and she said she was totally entertained hearing our talk and not understanding any of it. She said it was like hearing another language where you only understand every fourth or fifth word.
Even better still, Stan and Steve (and Neil and Charlie) did their picking thing on the mandolin and guitar. Good, old time country. Beer and music. Happy sigh.
Stan, Neil and Steve
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