Brew Tour - Big Sky Brewing

S.U.D.S.Y. is currently in the middle of a Montana Breweries Tour. We hope to visit every brewery in the state. Over Labor Day weekend, we completed another leg of the tour. The plan was to visit Big Sky, Bayern, Kettlehouse, Blacksmith, Bitter Root, and Quarry breweries. So, Friday morning, we packed up and headed for Missoula.

First stop was Big Sky Brewing Company. Big Sky is the largest brewery in the state. Production for 2010 is expected to reach 38,000 barrels, and they continue to grow.

We arrived at Big Sky's tasting room early to give us plenty of time to sample their beers before our tour. Because Big Sky is not a microbrewery, they offer four eight ounce tasters instead of the standard three pint glasses. The benefit is that the tasters are free. On tap, Big Sky had all of their flagship beers, Moose Drool Brown Ale, Scape Goat Pale Ale, Trout Slayer Ale, and Big Sky IPA. In addition, they offered Summer Honey Ale, Pilsener, Saison, and Scottish Ale. Although all of the beers were excellent, the Saison seemed to be a group favorite, with a very typical saison look and strong banana notes. After having a chance to taste most the of the beers, we were greated by our tour guide, Matt Long, Head Brewer at Big Sky. Matt was an excellent host, showing us all the steps that Big Sky goes through in the production of their beers.
We were especially captivated by the canning line. Matt explained the whole process, and we even performed a little quality control. We also had a lengthy conversation about brewing, homebrewing, and barrel aging. He even gave us a bottle of their tripel to compare to our own version currently barrel aging.
Thanks to Matt for a great time. A trip to Big Sky is recommended.