E-Malt.com News article: USA, MT: Beaverhead Brewing Co. opens its doors in Dillon

Beaverhead Brewing Co. has tapped the kegs and opened its doors, marking the first time since Prohibition Dillon, MT has a legal brewery, The Montana Standard reported on June 22.

Owned by Dillon native Brett Maki, it has an initial offering of seven beers.

Beaverhead Brewing couples big city brewing smarts and a deep commitment to the town of Dillon, Maki says. He’s been searching for a way to get back to Dillon ever since he left his hometown, and his company is just the latest helping fuel resurgence in the small ranching community.

“I’m trying to brew beers that relate to the people of Beaverhead County,” Maki said. “They’re on the lighter side. They’re good, drinkable beers. That’s what I’m trying to do: just good beer.”

But brewing wasn’t even on Maki’s radar in college, where he studied history and political science. He’d planned to be a teacher and a coach.

Maki’s wife, Anna Loge, studied medicine at the University of Washington, which took the couple from Montana to Seattle. A birthday gift of a homebrew kit changed the trajectory of Maki’s life.

Three months after that first homebrew batch, Maki found himself working as the soda brewer at Pyramid Brewing.

“It just happened to be something I was good at,” he said. “I like to cook. It’s being able to taste, learning how to mix flavors.”

Maki honed his brewing skills at Pyramid by “following the head brewer around and asking silly questions.” Later, he worked for Georgetown Brewing as its head brewer, where he designed the brewery’s signature porter.

Parleying that knowledge for his own use, Maki developed Pioneer Porter for his brewery, which promises a rich, malty taste without the cotton-ball-mouth feeling many porters leave on the tongue. The Beaverslide IPA is bitter enough for hop heads, but smooth enough for palates new to the bold India Pale Ale style. And the Whitetail Whit, brewed in the same style as Blue Moon, is definitely something to write home about.

Maki left Georgetown for a year when he and his wife moved to Australia for Loge’s job. There they discovered Little Creatures Bright Ale, which is the inspiration for Beaverhead Brewing’s Yellow Sally Bright Ale.

After another stint at Georgetown when Maki and Loge returned to the States, the couple decided they wanted to raise their two children, Zach and Amelia, in Dillon close to their grandparents.

It took Maki several years to find the perfect space for Beaverhead Brewing, and months of renovation to turn the nearly 100-year-old building into a brewery, but the pay-off has been worth it. Formerly home to a car dealership, a glass shop and a dance studio, the building now boasts restored tin ceilings, recovered brick accents and a century-old bar top. Behind a glass partition sits the workhorse of the brewery, the oversized 7-barrel Worldwide brewing system.

For its grand opening Saturday, Maki could only hope 100 kegs of beer would be enough.

“We’ve had really good response from people on the beer,” he said. “It’s fun to sit back and talk to old friends. I’m seeing people I hadn’t seen in 15 to 20 years.”


25 June, 2014