The last three operate taprooms open 4 p.m to 8 p.m. most days; only Yellowstone Valley bottles it wares. Regrettably, our short window in Billings closed without a stop at the taprooms. None of the Billings breweries had stations at the Oct. 6 Montana Brewers Association festival, so we would not get another shot.
Due to our own time constraints and a desire to watch sunset from the Billings Rimrocks, we went straight for the Montana Brewing Company. We needed food, but also needed a pint or two. Founded in 1994, the brewery thrived in a bustling but comfortable environment. The renovated first floor of the Electric Building, the modern brewpub
Nancy chose wisely. With almost every brewer diving headfirst into beers with rye as a primary grain, Stillwater Rye dazzles with its innovative flourishes. Spiced with coriander, lemon peel, bitter orange peel and ginger, the rye serves as an strong backdrop while the spices do their work. The ginger blossoms on the finish. Left to its own devices, rye can easily go off the rails. Stillwater Rye understands the importance of blending it with assertive spices. Stillwater Rye was among the best session ales we drank in Montana.
I opted for British Invasion IPA, a solid take on English-style IPA. Kent Golding hops bruised ahead in those ale Plenty of caramel malt and confectionery tones rise on the nose, along with trace amounts of hop resin. Malty with an assertive grapefruit citrus character, British Invasion was an everyday, balanced IPA. With those pints finished, we grabbed our takeout and headed up to the Rimrocks.
On the porch of the Josephine, we sat as a storm blew in and each drank a bottle of Yellowstone Valley Huckleweizen, which plumbs the fruitier end of the huckleberry spectrum.
Once sold as Hucklebeery Finn, our first six-pack bought in
Montana owed a debt to native ingredients.
Tinted pink, Huckleweizen proceeds without a hint of subtlety. Dubbed “bear food in a bottle, ht pushes forward with a lot of jammy fruit. Fruits such as strawberries and raspberries pop in, backing up the rich huckleberry currents. Huckleweizen finishes clean and malty, with only a few hints of bitter fruit.
This American fruit beer slams all its cards on the table. I’ve tasted superior huckleberry beers but respect Yellowstone Valley for blazing its own trail. What fails to push it over the top is a chalky flavor not unlike children’s vitamins that I could not overcome. I still lean more toward Bitterroot Huckleberry Honey, which produces more complex, tantalizing with the same local fruit.
The wind picked up too much for a second round and we retired, closing our short spin through the beers of Billings.
We didn't leave without one last six-pack for the road, a surprise refugee from Missoula's Bayern Brewing unavailable elsewhere in Montana. Bayern produces beers in strict observance of the Bavarian
Reinheitsgebot and bills itself as the only German brewer in the Rockies. With
its Bayern Bakken Bock, a dark doppelbock, Bayern can also claim to be the only brewer
in Missoula making a lager available exclusively in eastern Montana. The brewery wanted to salute the oil boom, and this bottle crude emerged.
A six-pack costs an affordable $8.49, a bargain for a beer that runs 8.4
percent ABV. As you might expect, a lager saluting the petroleum boom in
eastern Montana and North Dakota is viscous and oily, with notes of chocolate,
molasses and chicory throughout. There are hints of anise, clove, vanilla and
toffee.
Like most excellent doppelbocks, it expresses myriad flavors, with more
emerging in each pass. The alcohol content remains elusive, never expressing
anything near to its true strength. Bakken Bock is worth the journey to the
Badlands depicted on its label.
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