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As we wrap up 2019, we’re grateful for all the wonderful times we had throughout the year. We had a lot of great experiences on our Montana trip, but our last stop in Montana was special, Kalispell, MT, the site of the Beer Now post-conference. To get there from Great Falls, MT, we drove through Glacier National Park. Glacier is stunning! We took a pit stop at the Apgar Village and had time to do a bicycle tour of the area, around Lake McDonald, a picture-perfect mountain lake. We wanted to stay longer, and we’ll definitely go back, but it was time to get to Kalispell!
Discover Kalispell, the local Convention & Visitors Bureau, arranged a fun evening for us with a “scavenger” hunt where we got our beer card punched at three local breweries. There are several breweries in the area, and three are easily walkable within a few blocks of each other in the downtown area. We started next door to our hotel (The Red Lion, we recommend it!) at SunRift Beer Company and tried the IPA, with classic NW bitterness, and the easy-drinking Workingman’s Wheat. Next up was Kalispell Brewing, with a mix of German and Ameican styles. The Pilsner and Hefeweizen were on target, and we also tried their tasty Cream Ale, a common style in the Northwest. Our last brewery before the evening social was Bias Brewing. Bias had several creative beers on tap, including a great White IPA, a style you don’t see often.
After the brewery tour, we headed to the NW Montana History Museum for our final event, the Beer Now Social. The museum is the former Central School, an adorable old school building built in 1894. We were treated to dinner from local food trucks, beers from seven nearby breweries, and a presentation from area beer insiders, including Steve Lozar, a local beer historian. Steve is a walking encyclopedia of Montana brewing history. It was lovely to meet him.
We ended the night at the Moose’s Saloon, which locals said was a can’t miss stop. It was the best kind of dive bar with sawdust on the floor, a moose head on the wall, and countless initials carved in the fixtures. It was awesome! Moose’s pours a large selection of Montana craft beer and bakes delicious pizza. We had an early drive back to Spokane to catch a flight to Nashville, so we called it a night. But the crazy thing was, it wasn’t fully dark at 10 pm. With the long Summer days and our far north location, we could still see light in the sky!
If you’re thinking about travel plans for 2020, we recommend Northwest Montana. Kalispell is a cute little town with access to Flathead Lake and Glacier National Park. Downtown Kalispell offers shopping and dining, and of course, locally crafted beer. It’s a gorgeous part of the country and very different from back East. The Smokies here in TN are special, but the mountains in the Western US are so very different. Rocky, snow-capped peaks don’t exist in the Appalachians (well, maybe, Mt Washington in NH).
*Disclaimer: The great folks at Discover Kalispell arranged the trip, showed us a great time, and provided free beer and a meal at the evening social. However, we paid for our transportation to and lodging in Kalispell. It was worth it, and we plan to head back someday.