Thousands of beer fans braved the crisp wind on a chilly afternoon Saturday to enjoy the Montana Brewers Association’s annual Fall Rendezvous in Missoula. The largest festival of its kind featuring only made-in-Montana beers, the warmly-wrapped patrons were treated to 118 beers in a wide-variety of styles from breweries stretching from Hamilton to Sidney. (That’s…
For its largest, and final, festival of the year, the Montana Brewers Association’s Fall Rendezvous takes place Saturday, Sept. 29, 2018, at Missoula’s Caras Park from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. The Rendezvous features only Montana-made beers from MBA member breweries throughout Montana. The MBA expects 34 Montana breweries to pour 118 beers, many of…
The Montana Brewers Conference takes place in Missoula this week, Sept. 28-29, with two days of conference content in advance of the annual Fall Rendezvous brewfest on Saturday, Sept. 30. Conference content includes a presentation on the Brewers Association Beer Servers Training Manual by Tim Brady of Whetstone Brewing from Battleboro, Vermont, a panel on…
Governor Steve Bullock paid a visit to Missoula’s Bayern Brewing Co. Monday afternoon for a ceremonial signing of House Bill 541. Approved by the 2017 Montana Legislature, the bill raises the production cap on Montana breweries who wish to sell beer for on-premise consumption from 10,000 bbls to 60,000 bbls of annual production. Governor Bullock…
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…
When it finally came to a vote Tuesday morning, the Senate Business, Labor, and Economic Affairs Committee wasted no time gutting the purpose of HB 541 with three amendments. Those amendments could have a disastrous effect on Missoula’s Kettlehouse Brewing Co. With HB 541, Montana’s brewers sought to raise production limits from 10,000 bbl to…
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…
If you missed the big news yesterday, the House Business and Labor Committee approved HB 541 on a 15-4 vote. The bill would increase the beer production limits on taprooms from 10,000 bbl to 60,000 bbl, an important change for the Montana brewing industry. The bill is scheduled for its first vote before the full…
Presenting a united front that was missing in 2015, brewers from across Montana poured into the House Business and Labor Committee Thursday morning to support HB 541, a bill to raise production caps on Montana breweries. Those efforts were rewarded Friday when the Committee passed the bill on a 15-4 vote with no discussion. The…
There is a big hearing tomorrow at 8:00 a.m. in the House Business and Labor Committee at the State Capitol building in Helena. Big for beer, anyway. HB 541 would raise the 10k bbl production limit for taprooms to 60k bbl. Presently, Montana breweries can only sell beer for on-premise consumption if their annual production…