Christmas at Bayern

A ceremonious lighting of the Christmas tree will occur every Saturday evening, until Christmas, at around 5:30 pm. A wooden barrel of Bayern's winter seasonal brew will be tapped, singing may occur and holiday cheer will be flowing (in more ways than one).

Jürgen started this tradition in 1998 when the new brewhouse was installed at the brewery location on West 3rd Street. His intention was to share with his customers some of the "old-world-charm" he created at his house during the holidays. Every year the Christmas tree is decorated just like the family Tannenbaum he grew up with in Germany (a modern addition is electric lights since we can't light it with candles ALL the time - just at these special ceremonies). The tradition continues with a wooden barrel tapping, accompaniment by either a recording of the Vienna Boys Choir performing German Christmas music or, occasionally, a live local choir. Holiday treats such as the delicious German stollen bread are shared with Bayern's friends/customers. It is a wonderful way to spend an

evening after, say, an afternoon of Christmas shopping for your loved ones. Another suggestion: if your company can't organize a Christmas party, perhaps you could meet down at the brewery for a couple beers and some holiday cheer. The folks at Bayern hope you will join them for at least one of these special events.

The upstairs events room (pictured at left) is open on Friday & Saturday evenings and available to rent for your holiday party.
Contact the Tasting Room for availability. 

~Prost!

Oktoberfest Party at Bayern

For some people, this is what heaven looks like...

This Friday evening, September 26, as well as Oct. 3rd, there will be two more Oktoberfest parties at Bayern Brewing! Our Beer Garden (and Tasting Room) will be packed with thirsty beer drinkers listening to live oompah music and eating authentic German cuisine prepared by the (almost) famous Chef Claus. Giant Bavarian-style pretzels from Black Cat Bakery will be available and a wooden barrel of our signature Oktoberfest beer will be tapped around 5:30 pm. If you dress for the occasion, (lederhosen, dirndl, or your best attempt at traditional Bavarian attire) your first pint is free! As always, you will have several authentic German beer styles to choose from. If you only go to one Oktoberfest party this season, you don't want to miss attending one of these.

Bayern's Tasting Room and Beer Garden are always family-friendly although the policy of "Children left unattended will be given a shot of espresso and a puppy" does apply (in jest, of course - just please keep some control of your kids).

On a side-note, fans of Groomer Wintermärzen will be thrilled to learn that Bayern packaged and shipped the first kegs and bottles of this dark and delicious brew this week! That means you will find it soon in most markets carrying Bayern products. More on that development in the next blog post.

Prost!

New Beer Style: Montana Helles Lager

While Montana Helles Lager is Bayern Brewing's latest addition to the great lineup of authentic German-style lagers, it is not exactly a new beer style. In Bavaria, you usually order a light beer (the word helles means "light" or "bright" in German) or Dunkel ("dark"); unless you want a wheat (weizen) beer, usually offered regular or dark. Montana Helles Lager is Bayern's version of a Bavarian staple lager beer. Light in color, this lager is decoction brewed, giving it a full-body and cold fermented for the ultimate in smoothness. Using Hallertauer Magnum as the primary hops and Tettnang for aroma (both imported from Germany), it is well-balanced with a total of 25 IBUs. With a 5.6% ABV, Montana Helles Lager lives up to the quality and deliciousness you expect from Bayern Brewing and will soon be available throughout Western Montana.

Give it a try - you might have just discovered your new favorite beer! Prost!

World Cup USA vs Germany Party & New Growlers

Tomorrow, June 26, the Tasting Room will open at 10 am to host a viewing party for the World Cup match between USA and Germany. There will be brats, potato salad and sauerkraut available. It is an important match for both teams so you should come down and join us regardless of who you are cheering for!

While you are at Bayern Brewing, you should check out the new growlers (pictured below). Compact and made of stainless steel, it is hard to believe they have the same capacity as a regular 64 oz growler. We tested it!

This blog post is short because I am actually typing it while brewing today. I don't want to get too distracted and screw up this batch of Dragon's Breath Dark Heff (don't worry - I wouldn't let that happen)!  Hope to see you here for the big match tomorrow.

Prost!

New Draft System Installed

Tasting Room Before

Visitors to the Bayern Brewing Tasting Room this weekend will be the first to experience tasty, authentic German-style beer poured from the new draft system that was installed this week. In the photo at right, you can see the old cooler cabinets below the tap handles. They were noisy and limited on space, so we couldn't always have all beers available on tap at once. It was kind of ceremonious to roll out another keg of beer once the last one was empty, but the Tasting Room employees probably didn't see it as a cool thing, especially when there were lots of thirsty customers to serve. 

Tasting Room After

The new system brings beer that is kept at an optimally chilled temperature stored in the walk-in cooler directly behind where the photo is taken. Two very elegant-looking stainless tubes contain all the beer lines (and glycol cooling) with tap handles located above a beautiful new drip-pan. The new drain pan even features rinse sprayers for the glasses before use. This isn't just a cosmetic or convenience upgrade; keeping with our commitment to sustainable business practices, it is believed that this will cool the beer more efficiently than the old system, using less energy.  

Please come down and check it out: the downstairs is now re-opened! Thanks to all our customers for your patience with the process this last week and thanks to our good friend Boomer for all his hard work. Prost!

Carnivores Classic and New Draft System

Bayern Brewing is one of the sponsors of the Corridor Carnivores Classic, a benefit for the Missoula College Culinary Arts Program, which will occur May 30 and 31 at Caras Park. Tonight, Friday May 30, is the VIP dinner, which requires that you purchase a ticket to attend. This event features a six-course dinner, pairing food with drinks from Missoula breweries and distilleries, while being entertained by music from Eden Atwood and the UM Jazz Band. Tomorrow, Saturday May 31, the event is open to the public all afternoon with food vendors, and BBQ competition and more live music by Idle Ranch Hands, Three-Eared Dog and High Voltage. There is much more to this event and if you would like more information, please visit http://umt.edu/carnivoresclassic/

If you plan to visit Bayern Brewing on Monday, June 2 or Tuesday, June 3, you should be aware that the downstairs Tasting Room will be closed while the new draft system is being installed. The beer garden and Upstairs Event Room will be open so you can still get a pint or a growler filled, but Bayern will be temporarily operating at a smaller capacity. The new draft system is going to be very exciting. I will write more about that and post a couple before and after pics next week.

Have a great weekend! Prost!

New Trout & New Hats

Dancing Trout has a new look and is now hopped using Cascade hops from the Northwest. The artwork used for our new packaging design is another Monte Dolack original and still portrays the philosophy of trout habitat preservation in Montana.

Many of you probably remember the big name change for this beer several years ago. If you are wondering why that happened, you can read about it on our website: www.bayernbrewery.com
That change had some pros and cons as far as the overall brand goes. Bayern recently made Dancing Trout a sort of seasonal, its counterpart being Groomer Dark Märzen, which returned after its first run to help Snowbowl celebrate a historic anniversary. Since the availability of Dancing Trout changed, the folks at Bayern thought it might be a good time to try a couple other changes as well. We hope you like the new design, will enjoy the new recipe and drink a few to help Bayern Brewing and Montana Trout Unlimited preserve Montana's blue-ribbon trout streams.

I also wanted to let you know we just got a whole bunch of new hats in the Tasting Room. If you can, you should stop in and check them out because they tend to go quickly. Some styles are more popular than others, of course, so if you don't get one of the more popular styles while they are available, it might be autumn before you get another crack at the new styles. The photo at right exhibits just a few of the new hats available. You can also call the Tasting Room (406) 721-1482 to inquire about new styles and have one shipped to you.

Hope everyone has a fun and safe Memorial Day weekend. The Tasting Room is open so come on down and fill your growler, grab a case or just enjoy a couple pints and a brat. Prost!  

Secret Powers to Perform at Fürkin Fest Party

Brewmaster Thorsten Geuer taps a firkin during Fürkin Fest

Big party at Bayern Brewing tonight! Burgers and brats will be provided. Guests are asked (but not required) to bring a potluck side or dessert to share. A wooden barrel of Maibock will be tapped and a live performance from rock band Secret Powers will top off what will promise to be a really fun event. This will come to be known as "Fürkin Friday", part of Bayern Brewing's Fürkin Fest that has been going on all this week to celebrate American Craft Beer Week. A different firkin has been tapped each day. Each one has contained one of our regular or seasonal beer styles dry-hopped (or infused) with special hops or fruit. They were all interesting and some were very popular. The warehouse will be open today so you can see the bottle washer and bottle-filling line. We will probably walk a tour or two through the brewery as well so if that is something you are interested in, you should come on down, arrive early before things start really rockin' and let someone know that you would like to be part of a tour. The Tasting Room is open all afternoon, as usual, so the exact start time is undetermined, but the band will probably start around 5 or 6pm and food will start around dinner time. We hope you will join us and thanks to all of you who came down during the week!

Oh! One more thing: Fürkin Fest isn't over! Tomorrow (Saturday), there will be a Radler Fürkin. A radler is a light beer (Bayern Helles Lager in this particular case) that is mixed with lemon-lime soda. The legend goes like this: a group of bicyclists in Germany were out for a long tour and stopped in a brewery at the end of the day to have some cold beer at the end of their ride. The brewery had not anticipated this large group of thirsty cyclists and so, apologetically, mixed the beer available with lemon soda (to make it go further for the group). They loved it - so much they told other people about it and eventually it became popular all through Germany (especially among cyclists and outdoor enthusiasts). Ride on down and try one! We are just off the Milwaukee Trail making Bayern Brewing's Tasting Room easily (and safely) accessible from anywhere in mid-Missoula.

Prost!

Fürkin Fest

A different fürkin will be tapped and offered to those who visit the Bayern Brewing Tasting Room each day to celebrate American Craft Beer Week next week! At the end of the week, Friday, May 16, there will be a BBQ in the parking lot (or in the warehouse should weather make that necessary) and a wooden barrel of Maibock, Bayern's traditional German beer, will be tapped. Also, the band "Secret Powers" will perform on Friday. Attendees are asked (but not required) to bring a potluck side-dish or dessert to compliment the burgers and brats that will be provided. The image included in this post includes descriptions of each of the fürkins that will be offered, including several of Bayern's year-round and seasonal beer styles infused (or dry-hopped) in the fürkin with special hops or berries. You should know that a fürkin isn't that big (about 30 liters) so don't be late: they will be tapped at around 5pm each day and other celebratory events will start around that time as well. We hope you will join us.

By the way, you should check the Bayern Brewing Blog the next couple of weeks. We have lots of news to share such as the two great awards we recently earned and the return of Dancing Trout, with some changes! There will probably also be a few photos posted from fürkin fest! 

Prost!