Real Good Beer, Made By Real Good People. That’s their slogan. It is a good slogan, though a more accurate one might be “Damn Good Beer, Made by Real Good People”. But I can see how the authorities might frown on a slogan like that. No matter how accurate. Blackfoot River Brewing is an unquestionable success story among the many positive things happening in the Montana beer scene.
I can’t say that I know these guys, but I first met them around 1997 when they started out as Howling Wolf Homebrew Supply on a side street off Last Chance Gulch in downtown Helena. I got my first homebrewing equipment from them along with plenty of tips and recipes, some of which I still keep in my files to use as a base for a new creation. I remember talking to Brian about their plans to start a brewery. At the time he said they intended only to serve the Helena market and weren’t interested in getting any bigger than that. Well, thank goodness that sentiment went by the wayside. It wasn’t long after I moved to Missoula in 1999 that I saw one of their taps pop up at a restaurant downtown and now they’re practically everywhere. Why? It’s Damn Good Beer, Made by Real Good People.
In mid-November I was in Helena and had a couple of hours to stop in at their newish tap room. I took the “growler fills here” picture I’ve used on the blog there. It was a Tuesday evening, but even at 4:30 p.m. there was a lively crowd and a steady stream of people coming in to fill up growlers. The crowd kept getting bigger, louder and livelier every minute of the two hours I was there. The tap room has a very attractive, easy going vibe with plenty of space to enjoy your limit while meeting with friends. And since this is Helena, you never know who might show up with the state capital only a couple miles away. On this evening it was the state’s attorney general who was glad-handing while taking in a pint, though I couldn’t tell which brew was his choice.
As for me, I checked out their Holy Hop Back Pale Ale, released that day, and followed it up with a Northfork Organic Porter, an outstanding robust porter that has been in my top ten beer favorites since my first taste of it. Same goes for the Double Black Diamond Extreme Stout, a full-bodied trip through great roasted malts. Though I am definitely a malt head, I’ve grown to really enjoy Blackfoot River’s Single Malt IPA as a fantastic showcase of hop flavor, aroma and bitterness without being so bitter that your taste buds fall off. The Organic Pale Ale is a great warm weather, crisp, session beer with just the right amount of hops to be easy drinking. Well worth a trip when you’re in Helena and well worth finding on tap when you’re not.
