Last Saturday we had an opportunity to stop in at the newly reopened Flathead Lake Brewing Company in Woods Bay on the way back from a short trip to Flathead Lake and Kalispell. Things were a bit quiet during mid afternoon, but the wind was whipping up whitecaps on the Lake and the occasional rain and snow showers were keeping most people away. Inside we found everything to be nicely spruced up and the beer as good as ever. Head Brewer Tim Jacoby wasn’t around, so we’ll have to get back for some inside scoop on the facility.

On tap were several of the brewery’s original beers, an imperial IPA, porter, pale ale, amber and espresso porter. The porter is one of my favorites and I’d heard great things about the IPA.  I’d also long heard rumors about their espresso porter, but I’d never seen it on tap on my occasional stops. We sampled the imperial IPA  (9.0% abv) and found it to have a strong floral hop aroma, full hop flavor and sharp hop bitterness which followed an initial malt backbone.  After sampling the espresso porter, we quickly ordered a full pint.

Flathead Lake Brewing’s espresso porter takes their excellent robust porter and adds espresso beans from Colter Coffee Roasters in Kalispell for a wonderful coffee aroma and flavor. Colter Coffee on Main Street in Kalispell creates some of the best espresso drinks I’ve found anywhere, so pairing one of my favorite porters with their coffee was a nice surprise (Wild Joe’s Coffee in Bozeman is another excellent espresso stop, in case you were wondering). We didn’t have time to check out the food, but the menu had a nice selection of snacks, sandwiches and pizza. Next time you’re headed up the east side of Flathead Lake, stop in and find out for yourself.