Ale Works announces first signature beer, collaboration with Bozeman Brewing
Montana Ale Works is excited to announce the launch of its first-ever signature beer – the Mainline IPA – a collaboration with Bozeman Brewing Company.
After proudly pouring up to 150,000 pints of local and regional craft brews annually, Ale Works is adding its own entry to the lineup this summer – a collaboration with Bozeman Brewing Company crafted to be the most refreshing, unique and approachable locally brewed IPA in the valley.
Since 2000, Ale Works has featured a 40-tap selection of craft brews from around the state, showcasing the skill, local sourcing and artisan stewardship that helps ensure the survival of Montana’s craft-made heritage, rural landscapes and way of life. Ten of those taps are dedicated to a rotating selection of small batch offerings not easily found elsewhere.
But summer 2019 was “a target date for Ale Works to join the brew party,” says Operating Partner and General Manager Sean Faris, “and Bozeman Brewing Co. was our only choice for a collaboration. We are friends and our business cultures align, and it was an honor to have made an amazing beer together. The Mainline is super-approachable. Crisp, clean, and dry with a great floral nose. And the response has been off the charts. It was our #1 selling beer the day we unveiled it, and it has been every day since!”
The brew story involves mad scientist beer geekery at its best: Bozeman Brewing Co. owner/founder Todd Scott, general manager Tucker Kalberg, and head brewer Bill Hyland spent last winter with Faris and Ale Works Bar Manager Brad Harris debating the profile of the Mainline – hop choices, malts, and brewing processes – until a consensus was reached.
In late May, brewmaster Hyland took over, running around the brewery for 12 hours nonstop, mixing the specially chosen malts in clear Montana water, filtering and transferring the mash from tank to tank, adding bittering hops and yeast, and closely monitoring PH, temperatures, and platos, before leaving the Mainline to develop. The team reconvened weeks later for the dry hop before leaving the brew to mature into the IPA now being poured at Ale Works.
“It was a no-brainer,” says Kalberg of the decision to partner with Ale Works. “We couldn’t be happier to find a way to further foster our long-standing relationship, and the creative process on the Mainline was great. We consciously sourced different malts and unique hop varietals to set it apart, but also give it our mark, and broad IPA appeal.”
“A huge shout-out to our friends at Bozeman Brewing who went out of their way to make time and space for this project,” says Harris, “and we’re hoping it is just the start of more collaboration brews pouring from Ale Works taps in the future.” Of the Mainline he adds, “only 35 kegs were made. When it’s gone, it’s gone!”
And it is going fast, with all indications that the Mainline won’t last through summer. “We couldn’t be more pleased to have brought forth something really unique the first time around,” says Kalberg, “and we’re already talking about brewing a second batch to meet demand.”
For all you non-IPA fans – are there any out there? – the summer Ale Works’ lineup remains strong: farmhouse saisons, IPAs, XPAs, nut browns, Scottish, stouts, porters, lagers, wheats, goses, light ambers, complex pales, and sours, plus high-quality gluten-free, gluten-removed, and NA brews, hard ciders, kombuchas, as well as a craft-brewed root beer on tap. Creative cocktail offerings featuring locally craft-distilled spirits are on offer too… and rumors abound of an award-winning, locally-sourced food menu to complement any libation.
(See ‘Best of Bozeman’ awards for 2019: Ale Works captured best restaurant, best casual dining, best restaurant service, best appetizer, best bar food, best bar, best happy hour…)
For detailed menus, private party booking, and more information about Ale Works happenings, please visit www.montanaaleworks.com. Check them out on Facebook and Instagram for the most up to date features and event announcements. •