Beer Bloggers/Writers to Explore Milwaukee at Annual Conference

Beer blogger and writers from around the country will gather in Milwaukee August 4-6 to explore the city’s beer scene and hone their skills at the 2017 Beer Bloggers and Writers Conference. Perhaps best known for its lengthy history with some of the most recognizable names in beer (Miller, Pabst), Milwaukee’s local craft brewing scene…

Montana Breweries Compete Well at 2017 North American Beer Awards

Montana breweries again did well at the North American Beer Awards. 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 single blind sampling followed by rank ordering of the…

10 Years On, A Community Runs 3.2

We were supposed to form an arch. Just prior to the start of the 3.2 Run In Remembrance, one of the many events Virginia Tech conducts each year to commemorate the tragic shootings of April 16, 2007, participants line up on the massive green space known as the Drillfied to form a symbol photographed from…

Compromise in Hand, Senate Approves HB 541

HB 541 may soon be headed for the Governor’s signature after the Montana Brewers Association, Montana Tavern Association, and Montana Beer and Wine Distributors Association agreed to a compromise Thursday morning. As proposed, HB 541 was intended to raise beer production limits from 10,000 bbl to 60,000 bbl to allow for on-premise sales of beer…

Senate Committee Approves HB 541; Guts it With Amendments

The Senate Business, Labor and Economic Affairs Committee finally took action on HB541 Tuesday morning. The proposal to raise beer production limits on Montana brewers has been one of the more politically charged bills in recent weeks. Approved overwhelmingly by the House of Representatives, HB 541 would raise the current 10,000 bbl production limit to…

Creep, and the Montana Legislature’s Approach to Beer

HB 541 is a simple bill. It would raise the production limits to allow Montana’s breweries that produce up to 60,000 bbl/year to sell beer in an on-premise taproom. The cutoff is currently 10,000 bbl. The net effect? Big Sky Brewing Co., Montana’s largest and most recognized, could finally sell beer for consumption in its…

Missoula’s Dram Shop Named 2017 Great American Beer Bar

For the second year in a row, Missoula’s The Dram Shop, has been named Montana’s best beer bar in voting conducted by readers of the Brewers Association’s website, CraftBeer.com. It is an impressive feat for an establishment that hasn’t been open a full two years. But step inside the warm, friendly, popular haven of frequently…