The Beer Traveller

After driving hung-over, the last thing I wanted was to start beer sampling.  Sometimes you just have to take one for the team!  I pulled in to Rapid City to find Firehouse Brewing Co.  I actually passed another Sanford’s Pub & Grub; part of me really wanted to stop & try their other 2 beers, but between being hung-over & my last expereince I made the executive decision to skip that stop.

Firehouse appears to be exactly that, an old brick firehouse.  It’s a large 2 floor establishment w/ an outside patio.  The boys @ Crow Peak warned me not to expect much in reference to the house beers, but I always try to keep an open mind when drinking…sometimes the drinking opens it further.

Michelle (bartender) gratiously greeted me w/ a sampler of all their beers.  The boys @ Crow Peak were right.  The Firestorm Ale was the only Likable of the bunch.  Brown Cow Ale, Eagle Pale Ale, Prodigy, Smoke Jumper Stout, & Wilderness Wheat were all given a Drinkable.  The food & the service, on the other hand, were great!

Don’t know if it’s a good or bad thing that I didn’t bring my camera, but it would have helped to remember the night.  I had planned on crashing @ a campsite & therefore already had my buzz on from Crow Peak.  Went back to Andrews & got more of a buzz going; he than asked if I was interested in going out.  Well it was Friday night & I figured why not.

Upon entry into the 1st bar, a beautiful young lady handed me an extremely stiff drink (hence the hand-off).  In addition to barley & hops beverages, I’ve been know to hit the hard stuff once in a while, but this seemed a glass of liquor no mixer.  Things get a little fuzzy at this point.  I remember downing beers with a couple of guys, chatting with a few girls, but no names whatsoever.  The place started clearing out & everybody was heading to another bar or was it bars.

Next thing I remember we were at somebody’s house.  Apparently it was time to go skateboarding.  It was a mad dash to the longboards & than a rush to the top of a hill.  I could barely stand up at this point & these guys were longboarding down a steep local street.

The night ended @ another house (this is the 3rd) w/ my host getting his jiggy on in an open door bedroom; apparently we would not be heading back to his house to crash.  I crashed on the couch only to be awaken by someone saying “that’s fucked-up”…that’s fucked-up, that’s fucked-up.  Apparently this was a long term house guest & that was his couch.  Whatever dude, have your frickin couch.  I moved over to the chair where my 5′6″ limp frame was perfectly content.

Next morning I had to get going, which meant waking the nasty doer for a ride home.  He was totally cool about considering it was only about 6AM.  He borrowed some truck in the driveway & dropped me off.  It was now time to spent an entire day driving hung-over.

First stop in the great state of South Dakota was Crow Peak Brewing Company, just over the border in Spearfish, SD.  Like most of these small towns, I was getting the stares.  Probably doesn’t help the cause when I start snapping pics, asking questions, & taking notes.  Crow Peak is a quaint little place w/ a flatbead truck out front; I’m told this is the stage for the bands.

The locals dropped their guard & I actually had a good time talking with Aaron (bartender), Cory, & Doug.  Ended up getting a few beers after my sampling.  Crow Peak, like a lot of the places, is fairly new; opening 3/9/07.  I’m told that brewer/owner Jeff Drum is originally from San Diego…& he moved here why???  Not that it’s a bad lil’ town, but I’m guessing both the women & the weather is nicer in Sunny San Diego.

They only had 4 beers on tap & Aaron said Jeff is still tweaking the receipes.  Told me the 11th hr IPA is pretty much finalized & the Pile O’Dirt Porter is pretty close to finalized.  It’s good to hear this is an establisment of continous improvement.  The Bridalveil Brown was more of a one night stand & the Pile O’ Dirt should be Pile of Shit; it tasted burnt, not roasted. Neither one was undrinkable, but they could both use some improvement.

Regulars have their own hand made ceramic mugs (reminded me of the glass blown ones @ Madison River).  I got a full education, from Doug, on both why the price of hops is high & the history of alcohol, starting w/ mead.  I had never heard of mead, but it’s roots date back to 1700-1100 BC.  Later in the night I was hooked up (not hooked up with) w/ Andrew, aka .  I was asking about local campsites & Andrew offered to put me up for the night.  Sweet!

I pulled into Sheridan just in time for the WYO Rodeo.  Even though I didn’t go, the sights in the street were enough for me to realize I may be recognized as an out-of-towner. Besides my truck having out-of-state license plates, it’s also not big enough to run over a steer & it doesn’t say Chevy or Ford.  Once I got out, I realized I had Birks instead of ropers; shorts instead of jeans; & was missing a shield size belt buckle.

Sanford’s does not have a website so I knew very little about them; they did however get some very poor reviews (soon to add this one to the list).  There’e plenty to look at on the walls, w/ lots of wall flair.  The fries were excellent & the reuben ok.  Regarding beer…well they have a lot on tap although about a 1/3 is American crap (i.e. bud, miller, etc.)

The only reason I stopped was b/c they brew their own; well they were out of 2 of the 4 beers they carry.  I get stuck w/ a damn Raspberry & Amber; probably 2 of my least favorites.  Cloud Peak Raspberry has a terrible 1st taste, but quickly mellows out.  It’s a lot like drinking watered down Emergen-C.  Couldn’t find any evidence that this was actually a beer. The Amber wasn’t too far from unflavored tea.

It’s obvious that this place has no idea what’s going on.  The beer taps are 7 ft off the floor, the beer kettle looks like a 6th grade science project, & the service was completely lacking.  My bartender disappeared 1/2 way through.  A waitress started showing up, but she must have had her station on the other end of the block.  I finally got a bill, but no one to collect (after 10 mins).  Should have dined & dashed as the experience wasn’t worth a dime.

Other than Craig the Asshole, who was more of a thorn, the real buzz kill of Thursday night was Marly disappearing.  Michael & me had left him in the truck while we went to MT Brewing Co.  My back window was slightly open & he had managed to open it the rest of the way.

When we had returned, the truck was empty.  It was parked outside of Angry Hank’s & several patrons had mentioned they had seen him standing on the back of my tonneau cover.  I drove Mike around for about 45 minutes as we looked for Marly.  Unfortunatly he was nowhere to be found & the pound was already closed for the night.

If anyone in Billings, MT finds him, please get a hold of me ASAP.  Mike & I parted ways in Billings as he wanted some time to look for Marly.  I wanted to help more, but had to get going.  Best of luck Mike!

As I stated in my last post, we ran into a jerk @ Montana Brewing Company.  I found my 1st Asshole of the trip.  I’m about as laid back & non confrontational as they come, but that doesn’t change the fact that there’s always people that want to fight you for no reason.

Mike & myself were chit chatting w/ Scotland Steve when CTA (Craig the Asshole) came in & got himself a budweiser.  He sat down next to Steve & proceeded to strike up conversation with him.  Mike & myself were sitting at a 90 a little ways down looking in the direction of Steve & CTA.  CTA made it quite clear that he was a roughneck & he was still tough @ ~50 yrs old.  I have no problems w/ roughnecks, as long as this one doesn’t represent the lot.

CTA kept drilling Steve as to whether Mike & I were talking shit b/c we were looking in their general direction (we weren’t).  Steve got up to hit the head & I took the opportunity to go down & introduce myself.  CTA’s response “Us roughnecks have a saying…we would rather fight you than look at you”.  It was clear that we were not going to be BFFE so I went back to my seat.  Not sure if maybe it was my Birkenstocks, Mike’s hippy-like appearence, or my taste for Good Beer that tweaked this guy.

CTA continued to think we were talking about him & I could sense his inner violence growing to a boil.  At one point he screamed down to me (we weren’t even talking to him) & yelled “Your life sucks!  You have a shitty life!  I would hate to be you!”.  Needless to say he was shortly cut-off by Cory & Crew.  A few minutes later he left.  I went down to debrief w/ Steve; he informed me that CTA had been preaching religion to him the whole time.  I find it interesting that the drunkess, most beligriant, & most violent individual was preaching the gospel.

I can only find slight comfort in knowing I gave CTA my website & hope he can pull his head out of his ass long enough to have someone show him how to work a PC.  Hey Craig…this Bud’s for you!  You don’t deserve a real beer.

Both Bill from Bozeman Brewing & Tim from Angry Hank’s recommended Montana Brewing Company as one of the best breweries around.  They too had an outside patio, but the interior was that of an upscale chain (minus the flair).  Their beer was anything but chainy.

Cory was our bartender & even though he was on the younger side he had the skills of someone had had been doing this for years.  He went out of his way to run next door & grab a sample of one of their beers that they had run out of.  With the possibility of never again coming back to these places, it’s good to find someone that appreciates how important it is to try all of the beer possible.

Boy can these guys crank them out.  I rated 3 out of their 8 beers as exceptional.  My ratings didn’t quit match up with the beers that had won the awards, but they never do.  The Abby Ale, Malley’s Dry Irish Stout, & Two Moon saison were all amazing.  The Abby was extremely complex, w/o any conflicting flavors. Malley’s could easily compete w/ Guinness.  Two Moon wanted me to have two more; like a dark wit, strong & sweet.  I believe the brewer called in sick on the day the Fat Belly Amber was brewed; it was undrinkable.

Had the honor of meeting Steve from Scotland; he had just finished some business & was taking the next 2 wks off to travel around the US.  Appeared he was copying me in regards to drinking along the way.  He preferred the Saison while my favorite was the Abby.  It was great to hear a Scot call US Scottish Ale crap; how can you argue?  It’s like saying we also make good scotch.

Unfortunately like a bad beer, you also get a bad patron once in a while.  Craig “the asshole” will be getting his very own blog entry…

If you’re looking for the best brew in town, this is the place!

What an amazing place…where do I begin.  Angry Hanks is an old mechanic’s garage that has been converted to one of the coolest establishments ever.  Tim (owner/brewer) did an amazing job of turning an old piece of real estate into a prime microbrewery & it was obvious that he has a loyal following.

This was Mike & me’s 1st stop in Billings & we would have been happy if it was our only stop.  Three large bay doors open to the elements, an outside patio, & plenty of ventalatin was perfect for the hot day.  Angry Hank’s defines customer service.  From Trisha (bartender) setting me up at my own counter & labelling my glasses to Craig (regular) getting Marly dog biscuits & water to Tim ensureing we didn’t need anything else.   It was the hospitality that is lacking in most modern establishments.

I admit I was ignorant in assuming that MT was a lot like the south in regards to their beer tastes.  Craig, a regular since AH’s opened, soon proved me wrong.  He was extremely knowledable in AH’s beers as well as all the local breweries.

Not only has Tim set up a great atmosphere, but he can also turn out a good beer.  His Anger Mngt Belgian Wheat is sex in a glass.  The Smoked Porter will be smoking once the smoke is turned up & his Head Trauma IPA had the perfect amount of hoppiness.

I think I’ve done enough ass kissing.  When in Billings…or anywhere within 100 miles, stop @ Angry Hanks.

Lone Peak Brewery was a goal of mine back when I was here over Memorial Day.  Unfortuntately  I didn’t hit it than, nor did I hit it Wednesday as planned; we were too busy w/ Bozeman & Madison River Brewing.  It was now our (Michael & me) last stop before leaving town to start heading East again. 

Lone Peak is pretty new (opened in 10/07), but owner/brewer Steve has been around.  He was originally brewing for Frederick Brewing of Maryland, although both himself & wife are from my neck of the woods (Western WA).  Lone Peak is a clean & airy establishment that also throws out some decent food. Although we didn’t come here for food.

Steve’s brews reminded me a little of Big Sky’s; they were consistant & safe.  There were a few curve balls thrown in there that helped differentiate himself.  Buck Snort Porter was smooth & savory & scored an exceptional in my book.  He had brewed another 1/2 batch of his winter seasonal, Steep ‘N Deep.  This can be described as winter heartiness w/o the winter foilage of other winter seasonals.  None of the holly, spruce, or spice.

Steve’s favorite was another seasonal called Offseason.  This was launched 4/14 to celebrate yep…the Offseason.  It’s main market is obviously the locals & this is further supported by the fact that it’s only served there @ the brewery.  The Offseason is a product of several hop samples that Steve had that wouldn’t fit into any of his other brews.  A total of nine different varies are used.  Personally it was too strong for my liking; tasted like a bad barley wine.

Steve appears to have the perfect life.  A microbrewery in Big Sky MT w/ a cool wife, & a couple of beautiful children.  He also makes a good beer!  Perfect 19th hole or after a long day on the slopes.