Go Find Beer

Every year, at least two million people visit Yellowstone National Park. Many of them approach from the west, driving from Bozeman, Montana into the mountains along Highway 191 up the Gallatin River to the park entrance at West Yellowstone. But before you head upstream to Yellowstone, why not spend some time exploring Bozeman’s robust beer scene.

Like Montana itself, this loveable little city (pop. 40k) enjoys a high number of breweries per capita. In all, there are three breweries in Bozeman and two more in nearby Belgrade. What’s more, there’s an upscale pub offering a vast selection of beers from breweries across the state, which enables you to get a real taste of Montana without driving hundreds of miles from one brewery to the next.

Here are our recommendations for finding beer in Bozeman, Montana.

Perhaps the best known and best loved of Bozeman’s breweries is the one bearing the city’s name: Bozeman Brewing Company. At the brewery, you’ll find a taproom that is always busy during happy hour, chockfull of locals quaffing pints of Hopzone IPA, Bozone Amber, or one of the many seasonal offerings.

Todd Scott, the owner and Brewmaster, started his professional brewing career at Spanish Peaks Brewing back in the early 1990s. When that company decided to leave Bozeman and move to California, Scott decided to stay. He purchased the brewing equipment, rented a warehouse, and Bozeman Brewing was born. That was in 2001. If there is such a thing as the Godfather of the Bozeman beer scene, Todd Scott is it.

Not far away, 406 Brewing opened in 2011. This taproom is spacious and even has room for a shuffleboard table. There’s a distillery right next door, Wildrye Distilling, if you’re interested in such things.

On occasion, 406 brewing hosts lives music. Like every other brewery tasting room in Montana, you are limited to just three pints of beer per visit, and they do keep track. The Runoff Brown Ale and the Hop Punch IPA are popular choices.

The brewery takes its name from the area code for the entire state of Montana (406). It’s hard for us city folks to imagine a state having just one area code. I must point out something that I find rather ironic about 406 brewing. Although it is named after the area code, the brewery does not publish a phone number. Not on the website, the Facebook page, or anywhere else I can find.

Madison River Brewing is conveniently located very near the Bozeman Yellowstone Airport, and the parking lot is shared by dirty gun-racked pickup trucks and shiny-clean rental cars. Also, it’s very close to, and easily accessible from, Interstate 90. The address is actually in Belgrade and not Bozeman – it’s about 10 minutes west of Bozeman.

The theme here is fly-fishing, something for which the Madison River is quite famous. Be sure to look at the wall of mugs. Members of the mug club have very colorful, hand-blown glass mugs. If you’re able to get a tour of the brewery, you’ll be surprised by its size. This is a pretty big operation that bottles and distributes more beer than you might imagine if you judge it by the modestly sized taproom.

Located on Main Street in Bozeman, Montana Ale Works presents a vast assortment of Montana-brewed beers in one location. Montana is a vast state, so it’s great to have a place like this to offer one-stop shopping.

As its name suggests, this upscale pub focusses almost exclusively on beers brewed beneath the Big Sky. There are 40 taps from which to choose and they typically offer a wide variety of styles to entertain many different palates.

Make reservations at Montana Ale Works if you can and especially if you have a group. Although it is a large pub, this place gets busy and is very popular with the locals because the food and the beer are excellent. The menu offers a number of salads and some entrées, but we recommend getting a burger. The half-pound burgers are made with Montana-raised, all natural, house-ground beef.

Here’s the complete wrap-up of beer spots around Bozeman:

Bozeman Brewing
504 N Broadway Ave
Bozeman, MT 59715
(406) 585-9142
map
http://bozemanbrewing.com/

406 Brewing Company
101 East Oak, Suite D
Bozeman, MT 59715
map
http://www.406brewingcompany.com/

Madison River Brewing
Building B, 20900 Interstate 90 Frontage Rd
Belgrade, Mt 59714
(406) 388-0322
map
http://www.madisonriverbrewing.com/

Montana Ale Works
611 E Main St
Bozeman, Mt 59715
(406) 587-7700
map
http://www.montanaaleworks.com/

Bridger Brewing Company
1609 S 11th Ave
Bozeman, MT 59715
(406) 587-2124
map
http://www.bridgerbrewing.com/

Outlaw Brewing
100 S Broadway
Belgrade, Mt 59714
map
http://outlaw-brewing.com/