Hops and History (continued)
Early Brewing in Montana
The link between Montana agriculture and beer production is strong. Think of all the wheat and barley production that happens in the state.
“In the early 1890’s, a couple of Germans were looking for a consistent supply of malt for their brewery in New York City,” Fox says. “Jacob Ruppert and William Ashbaum weren’t having much luck,” so they decided to go into the malting business themselves.
“They bought 10,000 acres in Gallatin County, one of the richest sources of barley in the country, near Moreland, MT.” Never heard of it? That’s because the pair decided to rename Moreland Manhattan in honor of their home.
By 1890, The Manhattan Malting Company was producing a majority of the malt used in Ruppert and Ashbaum’s beer. According to the town of Manhattan's website, at that time it was the largest malting facility from Seattle to St. Paul.
In 1895 the Bozeman Brewery was built in the northeast part of town by the Lehrkind brothers. German immigrants, Julius and Fred Lehrkind, decided to set up shop because of Bozeman’s proximity to quality water and malt sources. They later opened breweries in Silesia and Red Lodge, but by 1916 prohibition had all but destroyed the beer industry.
Today, only one malting business remains in Montana, which is second only to Idaho for barley production. Malteurop in Great Falls produces about 200,000 tons of Pilsen malt each year, supplying the malt that makes up many of the well-known domestic beers we’d rather not mention here.
Brewing Today
After Fox’s informative talk, Howard McMurry, owner and brewmaster at Madison River shares a bit of his own history, but what he really wants to talk about is beer and the brewing business.
“We are a craft brewery,” McMurry says “so we only brew about 8,000 barrels a year. We sell about 600 barrels through the taproom in Belgrade, but what we like to focus on is bottling and distribution.”
Taproom sales provide significant margins, which McMurry says allows him to provide insurance to his dozen or so employees, a line that received a round of applause from the audience.
As for the beer, “our Salmon Fly [Honey Rye] uses a rye malt and 60 pounds of local, Montana honey to make a batch,” says McMurry. A batch will yield about 763 gallons, or about 50 kegs of Salmon Fly Honey Rye. So there’s over a pound of honey in every barrel.
“The Hopper Pale Ale uses four different pale malts,” says McMurry. “These were our first beers. We added the Amber and Copper John Scotch Ale later and now those are the beers we bottle consistently. We plan on adding [The Juice] IPA and [Black Ghost] Oatmeal Stout six-packs this year.” Madison River also makes rotating seasonal beers for their taproom and bars around Montana.
“This is something that sets craft breweries apart,” their willingness to experiment. McMurry uses the taproom to try out different varieties.
But “the Salmon Fly is our marquis brew, especially in the summer” says McMurry. And sitting in the shade, waiting for the band to retake the stage, I can tell why. Holding my pint glass up to the light, it’s the color of the wheat waving in the field to the west – a golden, effervescent pint of pure summer, with a touch of local honey. It’s Montana in a glass – a nod to our agricultural roots, and a bit of a glimpse into the past and the future of brewing in the state.
Even the bright sun can't penetrate this glass of Copper John Scotch Ale by Madison River Brewing. Photo: Matt Parsons