Hoppy Travels & Cider Sightings

Big Sky Brewing was started by three guys who had a passion for beer. Those three guys are Neal Leathers, Bjorn Nabozney, and Brad Robinson. Brad and Neal were homebrewers in the Mitten state in the ’80s and moved to Missoula in 1990. Through most of the early ’90s they worked at sporting good store where they met Bjorn. One of Brad’s favorite spots was Iron Horse which was attached to Bayern Brewing.

He was impressed with their lagers but felt like Missoula could fit another brewery but specializing in English style ales. Neal was all for it and so they got to work on the brewery.

To start was to produce a “star” for in a local TV show called Beer Talk. The show started with Neal and Brad tasting microbrews and commenting on them. It was the most successful program in Missoula Local Cable Access History. Beer Talk definitely showed their passion for craft beer however they didn’t have much business experience. Remember Bjorn? This is where he comes in.

Bjorn was finishing up his bachelor’s in Finance at the University of Montana and for his final project he had to make a business plan and so he wrote the business plan for what is now Big Sky Brewing. All three of them took the plan local accountants and attorneys and everyone else necessary. Bjorn and Brad were great salesman and Neal was great at making beer so Neal brewed while Bjorn and Brad went out and made money for Big Sky. After a year and a half Big Sky had enough money and a loan to begin purchasing equipment and for the renovation of their location. They brewed their first beer in June 1995 which no was not Moose Drool but, Whistle Pig Red Ale and it started selling just in time for 4th of July that year.

Now Moose Drool and Scape Goat came a couple months after. Of course like most breweries Big Sky started off only doing drafts and they did that for five and a half years. Soon they realized that they had to figure out how to get their beer into bottles to just be a regional player. The original brewery wasn’t big enough so they worked towards building the new brewery. Luckily they had some friends at Portland Brewing so they were able to brew their a few days a month and then Portland Brewing bottled their beers and shipped them to their distributors. In 2002, they broke ground on the new brewery just north of Missoula’s airport. They began brewing in September of that year and started bottling in January 2003.

As a result, Big Sky has been selling between 40,000 and 47,000 barrels each year which is 2.5 million six packs of beer. They sell beer in 24 states almost everywhere west of the Mississippi along with Michigan, Wisconsin, and Illinois.

Now that you know the history lets talk about the beer.

Huck It Huckleberry Blonde Ale

Huck It has a good combination of slightly sweet and tart huckleberry flavors. This beer is perfect for the summer whether you’re in the mountains of Montana and Wyoming or the deserts of Southern Arizona.

Summer Honey

As the name suggests, this is a seasonal beer (guess which season). This beer has a lot of different spices which mix well with the European hops. The honey makes it light and helps blend the aroma and taste.

Trout Slayer Wheat Ale

This wheat pale ale is dry-hopped with galaxy hops which gives it a tropical aroma and crisp finish. Trout Slayer is a very easy drinking beer perfect for fishing.

Big Sky IPA

“Hold my beer and watch this (Big Sky Brewing Company).”  Many great moments happen after this phrase is said or maybe some really stupid things but anyways these moments deserve a bold beer. The Big Sky IPA is just that it has a distinct presence of hops but with a malty backbone. It will leave you refreshed for your bold move your about to make next.

Moose Drool

Last but not least, Moose Drool Brown Ale is brewed with four different malts and hop additions including, Willamette, Liberty, and East Kent Goldings. Very light beer with a slight hint of coffee and cocoa.

 

Be sure to check out their tap takeover at Janey’s Cave Creek tomorrow! Until next time Hoppy Travels![tp_in_our_city_fly_shortcodes destination=MSO title=”” limit=100 paginate=true stops=0 one_way=false off_title=true subid=”” currency=”USD”][tp_hotels_selections_discount_shortcodes city=”19959″ title=”Hotels in the Area” paginate=true off_title=false type_selections=”popularity” number_results=”20″ subid=”” city_label=”Missoula” type_selections_label=”Popularity” link_without_dates=false]