A chilly start to the morning yesterday gave way to the kind of crisp, sunny, blue sky day that reminds those of us living in Montana why we choose to do so. There was another pretty big reminder, too, as the Montana Brewers Festival filled Missoula’s Caras Park with 75 Montana brewed beers in a…
On a recent frigid, blustery day in Missoula, I felt the need to seek out a little variety in the beer world and stopped in at my favorite set of taps also known as The Rhino. What did I find? One excellent example of the fresh hop world along with a classic German doppelbock. As…
We stopped in at Kettlehouse Brewing Co.’s old school Myrtle Street location this Saturday to try their new pumpkin ale. The brew is good. Quite good, with flavors of pumpkin, nutmeg and ginger. But we also spotted a new pale ale on tap and decided to grab a sample before heading out the door to…
Continuing our discussion of fresh hop ales, I popped open a bottle of Great Northern Brewing Co.’s 2010 Frog Hop Fresh Hopped Pale Ale, one of Western Montana’s versions of these brews featuring freshly picked – and not dried – hops. The hops for this brew come from the Purple Frog Gardens outside Whitefish, MT…
Fall in Montana has rewarded us with a week of beautiful blue skies, very warm temperatures and those cool, crisp mornings that jump start your day. It is my favorite time of year. College football is back. The weather is grand. Nature’s colors dazzle. And . . . . the fall seasonals hit the stores…
I’m a big fan of the trend popping up at a variety of breweries for using locally grown, fresh hops to make a seasonal brew – which means September here in the Northwestern U.S. Frog Hop Fresh Hopped Pale Ale is Great Northern Brewing Company’s version. This one is the 2009 brew. Great Northern’s website…
Found this one on draft downtown while searching for something new to try. Despite the name and the incredible amount of hops used to make it, the bitterness is not overpowering and overall nicely balanced. Great hop aroma and flavor. Very drinkable. Available only on draft from September through November, though I doubt this one…
As a general fan of most things made by Sierra Nevada I noticed the new Sierra Nevada Estate Ale on tap locally this weekend and then in bottles in a local store. I only remembered to take a picture once half of it was gone. It has quite a bit of hop bitterness – a…