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.

#93 - The Kilted Dragon in Boise, ID

 

#93

Hoorah!  Boise!  Hoorah! 

I was last in Boise for Thanksgiving and found out about and visited a fairly new brewery, Crooked Fence, while I was there.  Like all the Boise breweries, it was wonderful.  I very highly recommend their Three Picket Porter.  Anyway, while visiting Crooked Fence, I found out that another brewery was about to open later that week just down the street on Chinden Boulevard, Kilted Dragon Brewing.  Naturally, right after I was due to head back to Montana.  When I found I was being sent to Boise for a training class, I let Mom know that going to the Kilted Dragon was a must at some point during my visit.  And what a visit we had!

The owners and brewers had headed to Jackpot, NV, for a poker weekend leaving their wives in charge of the shop.  While not the beer drinkers and aficionados their husbands are, I'm sure,  they were still very knowledgeable, and better still, fun.  And, it turns out, one of the gals is originally from Lewistown (on left); she was the Fergus High eagle back in her high school days.  Small world!

 Mom had one of their signature beers, the Knuckle Dragger Porter and was very happy with it, then went for the Blonde.  I opted for the IPA, and then had another and another.  It was so darned good I just didn't want to try anything else.  It's a nicely balanced, tasty brew.

The highlight of the visit, aside from that IPA... about halfway into our first beer, a great big bunch of people dressed in running attire invaded.  My first thought was that they must be Hashers, but as it turned out, they were just a bunch of pals who decided to spend the day running from brewery to brewery, enjoying a pint at each.  Kilted Dragon was brewery two of their awesome adventure.  I need to get back into running shape.  Seriously.  Actually, there were two other gents in the brewery similarly minded, though they were opting to walk between breweries instead. 

 

Dear man in the Sockeye stocking cap and part of the running bunch, I really enjoyed chatting with you.  I hope I run into you again someday.  Oh, how I miss Boise!