AJ Smith pours a Rose Trois American Sour at Draught Works Brewery. Breweries often create beers to match lifestyles, and summer presents opportunities to create beers with flavors or lower alcohol contents. Photo by Tom Bauer, MISSOULIAN
Missoula’s brewing industry strong, more expected to open soon DAVID ERICKSON david.erickson@missoulian.com Missoula’s craft beer industry is one of the most diverse and flourishing of any city in the state. With more than a dozen breweries in the county, the range of ales and lagers, porters and stouts can require expert assistance in selection. Bayern Brewing is the oldest continuously operating brewery in the state, founded in 1987 by Jurgen Knoller. It’s located at 1507 Montana Street. Big Sky Brewing is the largest brewery in the state, pumping out well over
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40,000 barrels of beer a year. That brewery is located at 5417 Trumpeter Way, near the Missoula International Airport. Between them, a plethora of taprooms featuring live local music, community gathering spaces, food truck attractions and other specialties cater to individual tastes. All the breweries in Missoula have tasting rooms, where customers can sample the different styles and flavors of beer. Draught Works Brewery, located at 915 Toole Avenue, specializes in putting interesting flavors into their beers, like their Blood Orange Gose and their Last Rites Mexican Chocolate Porter.
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“The craft brewing industry is vitally important to the local economy in Missoula and other Montana communities, creating an economic impact of around a half billion dollars annually in Montana,” Montana Brewers Association executive director Matt Leow said. “Breweries create economic activity that benefits other businesses providing good and services for brewers. Additionally, Montana breweries create a value-added product from Montana agricultural products.” In 2019, Nic and Theresa Pestel started Old Bull Brewing, the first and only brewery in Frenchtown. They had a goal of creating
