As you might imagine, I’m always on the lookout for new beers to try and keep a close eye on the beer aisles in Missoula and beyond.  When a new line of beers shows up I’m often curious to learn the story behind the brewery’s decision to make in-roads in Montana. Yeah, I’m beer-geeky that way.

One of the latest arrivals is Dick’s Brewing Co. in Centralia, WA, where their slogan is “We drink what we can and sell the rest.”  Sixers of Dick’s Danger Ale, Dick’s IPA, Dick’s Mountain Amber, and Dick’s Hefeweizen began showing up in Missoula and Bozeman in the past couple of weeks.  The question I posed to Dick’s was . . . well . . . . why?

Sure, it wasn’t a surprise to see Ninkasi Brewing Co. make a big splash across Montana back in March, given their rapid, exponential expansion process toward Total Domination.  But Dick’s is a much smaller endeavor, carefully expanding from 200 barrels in 1995 to around 3,500 barrels in 2010. 

It turns out head brewer Dave Pendleton is a native Montanan who grew up in Bozeman.  Thanks to his ties to the state, he pushed hard for distribution.  After much cold calling and establishing some good relationships with Missoula’s Summit Beverage and Bozeman’s Bronkin’s Dstributing, Dick’s beer started hitting the shelves.

Dave tells us they plan to add seasonals and variety packs to the distribution in the near future and eventually send over some draft products as well. They brew 20 different varieties and I’m putting in a vote for Dick’s Imperial Stout and Dick’s Double Danger. 
 
Have you had a chance to try some of Dick’s beer?  What do you think?