Stout Themed Holiday

We were visiting with family in Montana for a few days last week, but like any good Irish family, we didn't let St. Patrick's Day go without celebration. For lunch on Saturday, we stopped into Flathead Lake Brewing in Bigfork, MT for a quick lunch. Colleen and I both opted for their 369’ Stout. The mildly bitter American Stout, with caramel and roasted notes, was made even smoother by the nitro serving. I did go a little "off reservation" and enjoyed the stout with a Greek-themed gyro filled with tasty lamb, feta and tsatziki.

Finishing lunch, we enjoyed a relaxing afternoon (meaning I fell asleep on the couch) before heading out for the Vigil Mass that evening. Afterwards, my father in-law asked, "Who's up for a wee dram of Jameson?" I certainly wouldn't pass by a chance to raise a glass with the 90 year old Irishman. He produced a bottle of Jameson Caskmates Stout Edition. This whiskey is aged in beer barrels that previously a aged stout brewed by the Franciscan Well Brewery in Cork, Ireland. The whiskey had a smooth finish with butterscotch and milk chocolate notes. It was a mild but quite enjoyable libation.

After our drinks, we enjoyed a delicious Irish-American meal of corned beef, mashed potatoes, and cabbage that had been prepared by Colleen. That was a fitting end to a day honoring Ireland's favorite Saint.

Vacation Beer Tally

The opportunities to try out new craft beers have been few of late, other activities taking priority. However, as hinted at in previous posts, during our travels to Montana last week I had the chance to try out a decent selection of craft beers.

The "vacation beer" list kicked of with a Virginia beer, Satan's Pony from South Street Brewery in Charlottesville, while eating lunch at the Dulles Airport. The easy-drinking Red Ale was a good way to prep for the rigors of air travel.

Arriving in Montana, I was soon relaxing with a St. Pauli Girl Lager. Not overly exciting, but it was in the fridge at my in-laws. Maybe it was the location, or the company, but it wasn’t horrible.

Soon the exploration of Montana-brewed beers was in full swing, kicking off with Irresistible Amber Ale by Madison River Brewing Company with lunch during a visit to Great Falls. On the return trip back to the Flathead Lake area, we stopped at the local grocery store to add a six pack of Highlander Devils Hump Red Ale from Missoula Brewing Company to the home base fridge options.

Another day found us eating lunch at Tamarack Brewing Company. With that feast I enjoyed pints of Lakeside Pale Ale and Rye Sally Rye PA.

We also paid a visit to Flathead Lake Brewing Company, where we started out with a flight of five beers; Bufflehead Brown Ale, Rising Sun Espresso Porter, Two Rivers Pale Ale, Centennial IPA, and Swimmer's Itch Saison.

The final Montana beer of the trip was Copper John Scotch Ale, another one from Madison River Brewing, enjoyed during another lunch outing. (It seems we ate often too.)

What turned out to be the final beer of the trip was had at a Mexican restaurant. I opted to enjoy a couple pints of Dos Equis Special Lager — when in Rome, and all that.

We had a couple hour layover scheduled around dinner time in Minneapolis during the trip home. I was looking forward to relaxing with a some local beers at the airport. Alas, our Delta flight was delayed, meaning a quick run between gates to catch our connecting flight. As an aside, despite their claim of the best on time record for domestic airlines, three of our four Delta flight legs ran late. And two of those flights were further delayed at the gate for mechanical issues.

It certainly wasn’t the most prolific trip in regard to new beers, but the ones we tried were all quite good. I enjoyed ten different beers from Montana breweries, plus a few sips stolen from the beers Colleen enjoyed. That's not disappointing given the limited time, and it's big state with lots to see. We drove over 1,000 miles during our visit. "Big Sky Country" offered amazing scenery, good food, and it's not lacking in craft beer either.

Montana: Flathead Lake Brewing

Another local brewery we visited while in Montana was the Flathead Lake Brewing in Bigfork. We had driven by several times during our visit and had noticed the brewpub parking lot was always very full around dinner time. This was obviously a popular stop.

Colleen and I started out by sharing a five beer flight. The beers in the flight, moving clockwise from the top in the picture below, are; Bufflehead Brown Ale, Rising Sun Espresso Porter, Two Rivers Pale Ale, Centennial IPA, and Swimmer's Itch Saison.

Tasting all of these beers didn't the ease our choice for a beer to have with our dinner. We found them all to be very well done and quite tasty. Colleen particularly enjoyed the Saison and the Espresso Porter. My favorites were the Pale Ale and IPA (no surprise there.)

The food options at Flathead Brewing were diverse and the decisions there were equally challenging. Colleen eventually selected the Clam Chowder served in a bread bowl, accompanied by a pint of the Espresso Porter. My dinner consisted of the Centennial IPA and Alehouse Tacos with blackened shrimp. The large soft flour tacos were overstuffed with apple slaw, grilled pineapple pico, and cajun aioli. Large servings is a theme we saw repeated at most of our meals in Montana. My only dissapointement was that the copious shrimp in the tacos did not seem "blackened", but were somewhat plain. Despite lacking the expected and desired spiciness, the tacos were still enjoyable. We topped off our dinner with some light, and delicious, Montana "Moose."

We opted to take advantage of the outdoor seating at the brewing. The deck was in the trees and overlooked the picturesque Flathead Lake. While the temperature was a little cool, it was quite a pleasant setting.

Good beers, good food, attentive service, and a great view. It's not hard to see why Flathead Lake Brewing is such a popular stop in Bigfork. We only got to try a portion of the fifteen or so beers on tap. If time had allowed, a return visit would have been in order to enjoy a few more of the offerings. 

Montana: Tamarack Brewing

During our recent trip to visit family in the Flathead Valley of Montana, I made a point to drink regional brews whenever possible. We also squeezed in visit to a couple of local brew pubs. One of the places we visited was Tamarack Brewing Company in Lakeside, MT.

We started our visit with a couple of beers and an appetizer while we perused the rest of the menu. Colleen enjoyed a refreshing, and mildly tart Wind Knot Raspberry Wheat. I started with the Lakeside Pale Ale. The Pale Ale had "juicy" citrus flavor with a hint of pine resin. The finish was slightly bitter. 

As an appetizer we selected the "Railroad Ties." These are fried eggrolls filled with grilled chicken, green chilies, cream cheese, and mozzarella and served with a jalapeño honey sauce. Our assumption would be we'd get just a small something to hold us while we waited for lunch. What appeared at the table was three large, fully stuffed egg rolls. They were delicious but the portion size should have been a hint of things to come.

For my main course, I ordered "Verde Pork Burrito." The menu description read, "A huge flour tortilla filled with barbacoa pork, green chili sauce, melted cheddar and mozzarella cheese. Served with Baja black beans, tortilla chips, salsa, and sour cream." Huge was the operative word here. The entrees that Colleen and our son ordered were equally generous in size. 

My burrito was quite tasty, and pint of Rye Sally Rye Pale Ale was my selection to accompany it. The Rye Pale Ale had a soft citrus and grassy flavor, with lightly sweet caramel malt in the background. 

We enjoyed the beers and open air seating at Tamarack. The food was delicious and the serving sizes were exceptionally large. Even our waitress commented that the servings are big for a lunch as she handed us a "to go" box for leftovers. I think a good plan at Tamarack would be to share "appetizers" and order more beer.