7th Annual Montana Brewers Fall Festival – Preview of Festival Beers

I had the grueling task of sampling some of the beers that will be featured in the upcoming Montana Brewers Fall Festival at Caras Park tonight from 5p-9p. It was cool to sit down with the representatives of the different breweries from around the Big Sky. You can clearly see why Montana dominates the micro brewing awards year after year. All the different breweries in the state have their own way of brewing beer, but they also shared one trait that I appreciate. Being LOCAL. In the short time I spent discussing beer with 5 of the breweries attending the event, they all expressed how important it is to them to be local. They even shared how they reach out to their local communities to help gather the supplies needed to go into a good batch of brew.

The following is a sneak peak of what you can find at the 7th annual Montana Brewers Fall Festival.

Mighty Mo Brewing in Great Falls

V.I.P. (Vanilla Imperial Porter)

This was one of the first I sampled and remains my favorite. It is handmade festival beer out of Great Falls. Made with real vanilla beans, it has a slight coffee taste with a vanilla finish. Weighing it at a whopping 8.2% al/vol, this is one you will have to try. Also, keep an eye out for Mighty Mo's Coconut Brown festival beer, as the brewers are certain that it will be one of he first kegs to empty.

Meadowlark Brewing in Sidney

Squashtoberfest

These guys where all around cool dudes. As self proclaimed "beer geeks," the owner and his partner teamed up to start a small town brewery using only local ingredients. Their goal is to put their own personal spin on beers they have enjoyed all over the world. With the Squashtoberfest, they wanted to make a fall seasonal that didn't include the spices and additives you would find in a pumpkin beer. The decide to use squash grown on their family farm and make their own style of "gourd" beer. The Squashtoberfest is made with roasted butternut squash and has a light, but flavorful taste. With 6.6% al/vol, it is totally worth a taste at the fall event.

Kalispell Brewing

Fresh Hop by Pop

The owner of the Kalispell brewing company recently welcomed a new addition to their family, and decided to make a fall beer to commemorate the birth. Called Fresh Hop by Pop, the beer features only hops grown in the Kalispell area and each batch uses over 150 lbs of fresh hops. Being that they are fresh hops, it isn't like your typical I.P.A, the taste of hops sticks with you. TO the point where it feel like the beer almost coats your tongue with hoppy goodness. With a 5.8% al/vol, if you are a fan of hops. You MUST try it.

Bozone in Bozeman

"Terroir"

This beer is what the brewers like to call "Montana in a glass." The term Terroir is defined as "the characteristic taste and flavor imparted to a wine by the environment in which it is produced." There goal was to try and harness the flavor of each Montana made ingredient into this beer. They truly want you to taste every ingredient involved in this beer. A lot of love and community went into the creation of this beer, and you can tell. Hand picked hops by volunteers ranging from doctors to ski bums. With a 7.2%, you must sample "Montana in a glass."

Red Lodge Ales

Harvest Ale

This is another one of those stories of people all over the community coming together to make an amazing beer. In Red Lodge, they give out hop seeds every spring, in hopes that people will return with a harvest in the fall. They say that you can take a drive down the back roads of Red Lodge and see hops growing on every fence and clothesline in every yard. Pretty cool to think about how many people are involved in the creation of beer. This beer has a mild hop taste, but is extremely smooth. With a 5.5% al/vol, you must taste the love tat went into every glass.

That is only 5 of the 39 breweries that will be attending the festival in Caras Park. Who knows what delicious beer you may discover, with unlimited samples. Admission is $30, but that includes your glass and as many trips back to the taps as you need to find your favorite.