USA, MT: Montana’s Meadowlark Brewing launches its second brick-and-mortar location

Montana’s Meadowlark Brewing will soon be slinging its own cocktails along with its brews at a new second location. The Sidney, Montana-based brewery opened Meadowlark Brewing and Spirits last month; a brewery, distillery and restaurant in Billings West End. The facility features 28 taps, and later this year will house the company’s first handcrafted spirits program, Brewbound reported on September 22.

The Billings location is Meadowlark’s second brick-and-mortar location, but its first committed to craft spirits, including vodkas, gins and whiskey.

“Spirits has been a field of interest to us for a few years now,” remarked Meadowlark founder Travis Peterson. “We have all the knowledge and equipment to brew wash for distillation. Spirits seemed like a natural evolution for the business.”

The expansion to Billings marks a turning point for Meadowlark Brewing. The 24,000 sq. ft building features a 30-barrel brewhouse and ample cellar space to streamline previously inefficient production goals. Packaging has been a focus with all beer offerings moving into a 16 oz. can, previously 12 oz and 22 oz.

“We have done as much as we can from our home location in Sidney,” Peterson said. “But at a certain point we had to decide to either grow the business dramatically or be satisfied with our limitations.”

Opened in 2014, Meadowlark Brewing has gained a reputation for producing consistently unique and high-quality beers. But being located in a remote area made for some challenges regarding growth.

“We had to be creative and we had to adhere to a strict quality regimen,” Peterson said. “Our Sidney location is in a very rural part of the state and we had to work hard to grow our presence a lot further from home base than most breweries. A brewery in a large population area can sell a lot of beer at its own location but we didn’t have that advantage and we didn’t know if a first impression was going to be our only chance.”

Meadowlark had considered a second tap room location for a number of years in several cities in Montana. Ultimately Billings, Montana’s most populous city, was selected because land was reasonably available and Billings is regarded as an economic hub for all of Eastern Montana and Wyoming. But instead of just a taproom, Meadowlark decided a larger production facility was warranted. The pandemic shed more of a light on the limitations of small format packaging the Sidney brewery was able to produce.

“If the pandemic taught us anything,” Peterson said. “it was that we had to be able to rely on small format packaging more efficiently and that distillation would a great second source of production.

Distilling operations will commence with vodka, gin with a focus on canned RTDs and will start laying down a Montana single malt straight whiskey. As the first Craft Malt Certified brewery in the Montana, Meadowlark’s commitment to local malt producers will extend into its spirits program.

“Agriculture is a cornerstone of our economy in Montana,” Peterson said. “Highlighting our relationship with local farmers and maltsters encourages customers to make informed decisions about how they buy beer and spirits. Montana is beer country just as much as Napa is wine country. We have our own terroir and we should be talking about it.”

Meadowlark currently distributes its offerings in Montana but has plans to grow its footprint to surrounding states; such as, Idaho, Washington, Wyoming and the Dakotas. The expansion to Billings included a brand refresh for packaging and an increase in offerings for retailers. Meadowlark Brewing is currently seeking additional distributing partners in other states

“We half-jokingly say we want to go wherever the Meadowlark flies,” Peterson said. “But really, we want our growth to be methodical and organic to maintain quality and supply.”

22 September, 2022