Brewers from across Montana will be returning to Helena’s Memorial Park on Saturday, August 3rd, for the second stop on the annual Rendezvous tour. The Summer Rendezvous brewfest is the perfect chance to beat the heat with cold beer and sample the best from Montana’s craft brewers. But the fun doesn’t end there!

Festivities begin at 3 pm with the VIP hour – a headstart to the fun with shorter lines. General admission kicks off at 4 pm, with plenty of time to enjoy the evening before the festival wraps up at 8 pm.

VIP passholders will enjoy an exclusive performance from LARK, a funk/blues/pop band from Western Montana that’s soulful, dance-worthy, funky, a little bit country, and a little bit rock and roll. For general admission, Cowboy Bob & Gypsy Dust will perform their original songs, mixed with Western Swing from the 50’s. Their toe-tapping, foot stomping sound will make you want to get up and dance!

With 25 Montana breweries and over 85 beverages to sample, craft beer lovers are in for something special. Find your favorites, or look for something new with the official beer list (not included in the beer list is Helena’s Speakeasy 41). Plus, there’s plenty to pair your potations, with local food from Cheddars Gourmet Grilled Cheese, Highlander Taste, Taste Food Truck and Catering, The Wild Weenie, and Whatcha Knead. 

Advance tickets are on sale, get your tickets NOW and save $5 off the day-of price. Find more information, and secure your tickets here. Or, get free VIP admission by signing up to volunteer at www.volunteersignup.org/8Y77M.

Can’t make it to the Summer Rendezvous? Don’t worry, we’re making our final stop of the Rendezvous tour at Caras Park in Missoula on Saturday, September 21st. Tickets go on sale August 12th, so stay tuned for a presale code to secure your spot early at a discounted price.

Thank you to our generous sponsors:

Tour Sponsor: Propagate Labs

Gold Sponsors: McDantim, Montana Radio Company, Northwest Drywall and Roofing Supply

Silver Sponsors: Hollingbery Hops, Summit Print Solutions

Bronze Sponsors: Helena Business Improvement District, Independent Draught Services, Visit Helena, Yellowstone Public Radio

Mexican lagers have quickly gone from non-existent to prolific in Montana breweries, and when the summer heat sets in, it’s an especially popular style for beer drinkers. This summer, beer lovers have a wide selection of Montana-brewed Mexican lagers from which to choose.

“Of all the lagers we produce, El Vaquero is easily our best-seller due to its bright, dry, crisp impression balanced with a delicate corn-derived sweetness and pleasant noble touch,” says Cranky Sam head brewer Timmy Evon. “It’s a perfect river beer and I imagine most breweries, like us, have a difficult time keeping these beers on tap during the hot summer months.”

Born from European colonialism in the Americas, the origins of Mexican lagers can be traced back to Austria and Germany. Following the Mexican War of Independence in 1821, Germans and Austrians came to Mexico (including modern-day Texas) in large numbers, drawn by promises of land, opportunity and open immigration policies. Those central European immigrants brought with them their taste for lagers and the recipes to brew them. The recipes evolved as brewers incorporated adjuncts, most notably corn, to become the beers that we’re familiar with today. Corn, more specifically flaked maize, is used to produce a clearer, smoother beer.

“This supremely drinkable, balanced lager has been a smash hit for our summer season, outpacing our other taproom offerings by huge margins and flying off the shelves of our retailers,” says Philipsburg Brewing Company Marketing Manager Emily Petrokski, speaking about their Howl Mexican lager.

It’s worth noting that the Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP) does not recognize Mexican lagers as a style unto itself. Rather, Mexican lagers are categorized as international lagers and further differentiated as international pale lagers, international amber lagers and international dark lagers. Mexican pale lagers’ roots go back to European pilsners and Helles lagers. Common examples are Corona Extra and Pacifico Clara, with local options including Harlo San Lucas from Gally’s Brewing or Jeremiah Johnson’s Cerveza. Negra Modelo is a great example of a Mexican amber lager, the origins of which can be traced back to the Vienna lager, while Mexican dark lagers come from dark Europeans lagers, such as the Munich Dunkel.

When you think of a Mexican lager you probably picture a pale lager with a lime wedge, likely with sandy beaches and palm trees in the background. Consumer preferences and marketing campaigns have solidified that association. While the pale variety has taken hold in the popular conception of Mexican beer, the first Mexican lagers were actually amber lagers, brewed in the tradition of the Vienna lager. Archduke Maximilian I, a member of the Austrian House of Habsburg-Lorraine, was named emperor of Mexico by Napoleon III in 1864. He brought with him his own brewer who produced Vienna lagers. Maximilian is credited with popularizing the Vienna lager in Mexico. But his reign was brief, ending when the French were driven from Mexico and Maximilian was captured, court-martialed and executed. Vienna lagers are not easy to find these days, even in Vienna, but the tradition lives on in Mexico. You can even find this style in Montana, with Livingston’s Katabatic Brewing making their Devil’s Slide amber Mexican lager. Philipsburg also brews Vorfreude, a traditional Vienna lager.

While summertime is a great time to enjoy a clean, refreshing Mexican lager, these beers have become popular year-round. Easily approachable, imminently drinkable and familiar to all beer drinkers, we see a bright future for the Mexican lager. Here are some great examples you can find at Montana breweries and on store shelves.

Cerveza, Jeremiah Johnson Brewing Co., Great Falls

ABV: 5.2, IBU: 15

Notes: Light & crisp with a slightly creamy texture and aroma from the flaked corn. Noble hop aroma (floral, pine, citrus). Brewed with Saaz hops grown outside of Bigfork, MT

Cerveza Del Rio Mexican Style Lager, Blackfoot River Brewing Company, Helena

ABV: 5.0, IBU: 16

Notes: Blackfoot River Brewing Company’s Head Brewer and Co-Managing Partner, Tim Chisman, first brewed this beer for his wedding in 2016. “We’ve been brewing more and more of it every year since! Blackfoot’s Cerveza Del Rio is brewed with Motueka, Mandarina Bavaria, and Lemon Drop hops to create a hint of citrus-lime character in this light lager,” says Chisman.

Damn You Jack, 2 Basset Brewery, White Sulphur Springs

ABV: 5.2, IBU: 18 

Notes: This beer is named after Jack the Cat who became a part of the 2 Basset crew in 2017. He’s a quirky little character, who often lives up to the beer name, most recently when he befriended a skunk…. He and Lance the Basset are buddies. Most of the time. 

 

El Guapo, Missouri River Brewing Company, East Helena

ABV: 4.2, IBU: 10

Notes: It’s infamous, more than famous. “We recently switched to Gallatin Valley’s whole corn and it added a whole new dimension of flavor to the beer,” explains Owner Scott Hansing. 

El Toro, Old Bull Brewing, Frenchtown

ABV: 5.5

Notes: Brewed with 30% flaked corn.

El Vaquero, Cranky Sam Brewing, Missoula

ABV: 5.0, IBU: 24

Notes: In an effort to use as much locally sourced ingredients as possible, El Vaquero is brewed with Montana Craft Malt Bavarian-Francin Pils and we are experimenting with malted corn from the Gallatin Valley to use in lieu of flaked corn.

Fiesta Select, Bozeman Brewing Company, Bozeman

ABV: 4.9, IBU: 20

Notes: Grab a crushable Fiesta Select Mexican style lager for your next celebration! Experience a taste of maize with a crisp, clean finish. Brewed in the style of Modelo so a little more malty than some. “We brewed a Mexican Lager once for fun and we haven’t stopped brewing it since!” says Head Brewer Bill Hyland. “Fiesta is a perfect beer for every season but especially the summer. It hits the spot when you need a cold, easy drinking, refreshing beer,” adds Sales Manager Mark Bergstrom.

Fuego Grande Mexican Lager, Great Burn Brewing, Missoula

ABV: 5.3, IBU: 10

Notes: Fuego Grande Mexican Lager was originally brewed as a summer beer, Great Burn now brews this lager almost  year round.  “Fuego Grande means Great Fire in Spanish. How suiting is this name as we head into another extreme fire season here in Western Montana.  Our Fuego Grande has a zesty twist to the traditional Mexican lagers with addition of fresh lime juice and pink Himalayan salt.  Grande in flavor with a light body and mild hops aroma,” says Greg Howard, owner.

Harlo San Lucas, Gally’s Brewing Company, Harlowton

ABV: 5.5, IBU: 18

Notes: Gally’s hired an artist from Mexico to create the label for their Mexican style lager. “Throughout the summer we make popular fruited versions of this lager as well. The most popular have been Mango San Lucas and another version with Habenero peppers,” adds Matt Speed, owner.

 

Howl, Philipsburg Brewing Company, Philipsburg

ABV: 4.6, IBU: 26

Notes: First brewed on Philipsburg’s baby batch system, it was such a hit it’s their latest seasonal canned release. It’s been our top taproom seller, doubling the sales of the 2nd most popular beer consistently since it was re-released a few months ago.

¡Low Coyote!, Smelter City Brewing, Anaconda.

ABV: 4.3, IBU: 29

Notes: This happy little cerveza is brewed with yeast from South America and Motueka hops from New Zealand for an all around vacation vibe! Clean & Crisp. Find your vacation right here in a glass!

Mexi, Copper Furrow Brewing, Helena

ABV: 4.9, IBU: 20

Notes: “We released our Mexi a week after we opened in the spring of 2018. As far as I know it was the first ‘craft’ Mexican Lager brewed in Montana. It didn’t last long though because a few weeks later a few others started brewing the style. No, it’s not the lime that makes it Mexican, we use the yeast from Modelo to brew it and that makes it Mexican. It is our number #1 seller and it isn’t close,” says Owner and Head Brewer Nick Diehl.

Mexican Lager, Lewis and Clark Brewing, Helena

ABV: 4.9, IBU, 20

Notes: “This is the first beer ever made by L&C to outsell Miner’s Gold in the taproom for two consecutive months. There seems to be a lot of excitement surrounding the style,” says Mike Scott, operations manager.

Party!, MAP Brewing Company, Bozeman

ABV: 5.3, IBU: 11

Survey Says, Gild Brewing, Missoula

ABV: 5.1, IBU: 21

Notes: Infused with fresh lime zest.

The Camino, Draught Works Brewery, Missoula

ABV: 4.7, IBU: 15

Notes: Here she comes, blazin’ down the road… The Camino, Mexican-style Lager, will swiftly lead you along the path of lager enlightenment with it’s pale straw color, crisp inviting aroma, and clean, refreshing, effervescence.

Malt Profile: Pilsner, Corn, Vienna, Masa Flour

Hop Profile: Saaz

Special: Lager Yeast

“The Camino’ Mexican-Style Lager was born back in 2019, after teaming up with our friends Phil and Tad from The Camino restaurant to create a unique Mexican-style Lager to serve as their house beer. Since its release, it has quickly become a celebrated favorite in our taproom and in a handful of restaurants across Central and Western Montana. We’re incredibly proud of this collaboration and it’s reception from our community and beyond,” says Co-Owner Paul Marshall.

Wildlands Mexican Lager, Bridger Brewing, Bozeman

ABV: 4.8, IBU: 19

Notes: “Brewed in Collaboration with Outlaw Partners and supporting Wild Montana, GVLT and the Greater Yellowstone Coalition, we are very excited to have this beer on tap and in cans to enjoy over the summer while also being able to support some great foundations,” says Head Brewer Jason Brenden.

Brewers and industry partners will once again gather in Missoula for the annual Montana Brewers Conference Thursday, September 19, and Friday, September 20. The event will be followed by the final stop of the 2024 Rendezvous tour, the Fall Rendezvous Brewfest in Missoula’s Caras Park on Saturday, September 21.

A special water quality lab session on the campus of the University of Montana kicks off the event on Wednesday, September 18. Professor Chris Palmer will be hosting a limited-space lab class the day before the conference gets into gear

Two keynote speakers headline this year’s event. Chris Russell from Monster Brewing Company will kick off the conference with an address on brand portfolio evolution, sharing his experiences at CANarchy. Friday’s keynote speaker, Kate Bernot, is a freelance journalist whose writing has been featured in The New York Times, Washington Post, and serves as director of the North American Guild of Beer Writers. She will address how breweries can win in an era of endless choice and increased competition from non-beer products. 

Montana State University’s Barley, Malt, and Brewing Quality Lab will be hosting a series of sessions to develop brewers’ knowledge and skills with grain. These include a lecture on  gluten testing beers and a panel discussion with local maltsters, including Gallatin Valley Malt, Malteurop and Montana Craft Malt. Other sessions that will educate brewers about beer ingredients include a presentation from Omega Yeast that shares the scoop on how thiolized yeast unlocks the best aromas for beer. Rounding out this group of sessions is a sensory panel discussion from Flathead Valley Hops that will help brewers to understand the difference between European and Montana-Grown Hops.

There’s more to brewing than ingredients, and several conference sessions are designed to develop business knowledge and skills. Pints, LLC will provide insights into business growth, management, and partnerships with distributors. SG Long’s Kelly Brunger is all set to talk about planning for employee retirement, while the Montana Department of Revenue, attorneys, and brewery owners will share information about the stacking license change that affects Montana breweries.

The lineup of speakers doesn’t end there, though. Abundant Montana will share why local products are your marketing secret, while Montana Beer Awards organizer Loy Maierhauser will share the dos, don’ts, and tips for participating in beer competitions. Blind Tiger Design is ready to take on the taproom, as their session is all about marketing practices and how brewers can reinforce their brand.

Beyond the various speakers, panels and workshops we have planned for plenary and breakout sessions, we’ll have dedicated trade show sessions each day for attendees to visit with trade show vendors as well as networking opportunities are evening socials.

Thank you to our generous sponsors:

Tour Sponsor: Propagate Labs

Platinum Sponsor: Montana Wheat and Barley Committee

Gold Sponsors: Gallatin Valley Malt, McDantim, Montana Craft Beer Connection

Silver Sponsors: 5280PKG, Bargreen Ellingson, Big Sky Hops, Stockman Insurance

Bronze Sponsors: Amoretti, Country Malt Group, First West Insurance, Independent Draught Services, Northwest Extract, Ripley Stainless, SG Long Financial, White Labs, Vessel Packaging

Sponsorship opportunities are still available. If you’re interested in sponsoring or hosting a social event during the conference, please check out our fall event rate card here and contact Cam at [email protected].

More information and registration for the conference is available at montanabrewersconference.com.

The more things change in the Montana brewing landscape, the more they stay the same. While our state’s original brewers may not have been brewing New England IPAs or Belgian Saisons, pride in local ingredients and remaining a cut above the rest has been a through line for Montana breweries since their origins in the 1860s. In 1901, for example, the Billings Brewing Co. trumpeted its use of “pure water fresh from the mountains, and filtered, before using,” making their product superior to those of out-of-state breweries. An 1896 article in the Helena Independent Record argued that Kessler Brewing’s use of barley grown in Montana “is enough to make it a favorite.” What’s new?

With a rich history of brewing in our state, modern brewers are looking backward to create beers inspired by the past. Pre-Prohibition lagers, inspired by the beers brought to the United States by German immigrants in the 1840s and brewed until the nationwide ban on alcohol in 1920, are historic beers on tap across the state. These brews differ from the standard modern American lager because they utilize the varieties of barley and hops available to brewers at the time, such as six-row barley, traditional hops, and greater use of corn adjuncts.

For Copper Furrow Brewing, six-row barley “is the key” to make their Bannack Special Pre-Prohibition Lager, re-released for the first time since 2022. “Six-row is used because, while it has higher protein levels… it also has higher enzymatic levels,” explains Copper Furrow head brewer Nick Diehl. The enzymes in this type of barley, as opposed to the two-row barley preferred by brewers today, “helps to convert the starches in the adjunct (usually) corn along with the poorer quality malt that was used to brew the style,” Diehl continues. This, along with Cluster hops which are “thought to be the oldest hop variety in North America” create a beer that is “a bit more bitter [and] a bit more golden than the typical American Lager.”

The inspiration to brew a pre-Prohibition lager was close to home for Sawdust and Steel. The Three Forks brewery decided to make this type of beer after Gallatin Valley Malt, located down the road in Manhattan, released their Heritage Malt. The malt comes from Saale barley, the same variety grown in the Gallatin valley in the late 19th century.

When Nich Guthmiller, head brewer at Sawdust and Steel, first heard of Heritage Malt, “a pre-Prohibition lager came to mind without hesitation.” “I just enjoy creating brews and using techniques from the past,” he continues, and the recipe for their Frontier Bier came soon after. With a name paying homage to Three Forks’ Frontier Club, this beer is “very light, crisp, and refreshing,” balancing a fruitier malt with woody Noble hops.

Another beer using Gallatin Valley Malt’s Heritage variety is the Lozenbrau collaboration between Conflux Brewing and Ronan Cooperative Brewery. Released in April, this brew utilizes a 19th century lager recipe from the Helena-based Kessler Brewing Company, founded in 1865. The goal of this project was “just that we would make as close of a beer to what was being made 100 or more years ago as we could,” explains Ronan head brewer Jim Myers. 

To achieve this, Montana Brewery Museum founder Steve Lozar uncovered approximately one hundred pages of notes from Kessler Brewing, showing what their brewer was “doing to study brewing and to make the best, most consistent product he could,” says Myers. From there, the two breweries looked to use locally sourced ingredients. These included hops from Flathead Valley Hops and Big Sky Hops Farms as well as malt from Gallatin Valley Malt, which was “as close to the original style as possible,” explains Myers.

Evergreen’s Patriotic American Brewery is looking even farther back to the past with their Tradition Pre-Prohibition Porter. This is a London porter, which was the most popular beer in the Revolutionary War era. Explaining the history behind this beer, Patriotic American brewer Matt Hegstad says that “when the shipments stopped from England due to the war, American breweries needed to backfill the needs of the Continental Army.” With each soldier rationed a quart of beer a day, this was a vital task.

To make this beer, Hegstad tries to recreate historic brewing practices from the period. A beer recipe from George Washington, “calls for pitching the yeast when the wort is about blood warm,” around 96 degrees. “This led me to wonder if he was using a Farmhouse yeast like Kveik,” Hegstad explains. This is because Kveik was likely derived from baker’s yeast, and would replicate the yeast used at the time. This creates a porter with subtler, more approachable flavors of chocolate, coffee, and licorice.

With Montana craft brewers continuing to innovate and create some of the best beers around, pre-Prohibition beers are a refreshing honor to the rich brewing history of our state. The next time you’re visiting your local brewer, be on the lookout for the chance to take a sip back in time to the brews of a century ago.

Whether you’re already an athlete or a beginner runner, a brew run is the perfect incentive to exercise. Run for your beer all the way through December. Sweat to get brewery swag, enjoy live music, and support good causes and great breweries!

Read below to see if there’s a run in your town:

August 3: Imagine Nation Brewing (Missoula)

August 10: Glacier Brewing Co. (Polson)

August 24: Blackstar Brewpub (Whitefish)

September 14: Great Burn Brewing (Missoula)

September 15: Mighty Mo Brewing Co. (Great Falls)

September 21: Tamarack Brewing (Lakeside)

October 5: Bitter Root Brewing (Hamilton)

October 12: Western Cider (Missoula)

October 26: Lolo Peak Brewery (Lolo)

November 2: Backslope Brewing (Columbia Falls)

November 9: Draught Works Brewery (Missoula)

December 7: Tamarack Brewing (Missoula)

You can sign up for runs around the state at breweryrunningseries.com. Breweries that want to get in on the fun can contact Run for Beer to sign up.