Montana Winners of North American Brewers Association Awards

The North American Brewers Association International Beer Awards may be an awkwardly long mouthful to say, and be lesser known than the competition at the Great American Beer Festival, but it’s a big dang deal. Formerly known with the more friendly name North American Beer Awards, the competition is now in its 23rd year and…

Beer Now Conference Shines Spotlight on Great Falls

Great Falls, Montana is getting ready to welcome 100+ beer writers, social media influencers, and other beer industry personnel from across the country for the 2019 Beer Now Conference on June 6-8. Now it its 10th year, the conference has previously taken place in well-known beer destinations like San Diego, CA, Portland, OR, Boulder, CO,…

Bill Introduced to Extend Brewery Taproom Hours

Montanans love their brewery taprooms and with 85 of them now dotting the state, they’ve become ubiquitous, unpretentious community centers where all walks of life gather to unwind in a celebration of small business, daily life, and tasty beverages. One thing Montanans have not loved about their brewery taprooms is the limitations imposed by the…

Winning Beers at the 2018 Montana Brewers Association’s Fall Rendezvous

Thousands of beer fans braved the crisp wind on a chilly afternoon Saturday to enjoy the Montana Brewers Association’s annual Fall Rendezvous in Missoula. The largest festival of its kind featuring only made-in-Montana beers,  the warmly-wrapped patrons were treated to 118 beers in a wide-variety of styles from breweries stretching from Hamilton to Sidney.  (That’s…

Montana Winners at the North American Beer Awards

Fifteen Montana breweries were awarded a combined twenty six medals at the North American Beer Awards on June 2, 2018. The competition is held in Idaho Falls each year in early June in conjunction with the Mountain Brewers Beer Fest.  Organized by the North American Brewers Association, this well regarded competition is conducted as a…

Missoula Marathon Beer Run and Missoula Area Beer Guide

Missoula Marathon Beer Run and Missoula Area Beer Guide (Updated for 2019) Missoula Marathon Beer Run:  6:00 p.m., Friday, June 28, 2019 Race Expo / Missoula 5K:  8:00 a.m. Saturday, June 29, 2019 Missoula Marathon / Half-Marathon: 6:00 a.m. Sunday, June 30, 2019 Missoula is a city that makes you want to run.  Or walk,…

Montana Breweries Win Big at 2018 World Beer Cup

The Brewers Association announced the winners of the 2018 World Beer Cup Thursday at the conclusion of the Association’s annual Craft Brewers Conference, held this year in Nashville, TN.  It was the largest competition to date for the biennial event, with 8,234 beers entered in 101 beer style categories, a 25% increase over the 2016…

Billings, Montana: Montana’s Natural Beer Destination

[Note:  A version of this article first appeared in the 2017 August/September edition of the Rocky Mountain Brewing News.] Billings, Montana, bills itself as Montana’s Trailhead and standing on the edge of the City’s famed rimrocks give a perfect indication why. Seven mountain ranges dot the view, Pryor, Big Horn, Bull, Snowy, Crazy, Absaroka, and…