Bitterroot Beer transitions into spring

By TIMOTHY ALEX AKIMOFF

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Spring usually means longer days, greener valleys, big rivers and an end to those huge, earthy winter beers.

But in western Montana, you can extend the strong-beer season for as long as there is still a chance of snow, which I’m told can extend into June.

Fortunately, thanks to those gentlemen brewers down in Hamilton, Paul Thomas and Jake Talbot of Bitterroot Brewing Co., the transition from winter to summer that we call spring is a little bit easier – and a little Irish to boot.

The thaw starts in February with the release of a single hop ale, which is somewhat similar to a single-vineyard wine.

Using only Ahtanum hops, head brewer Thomas focuses on the unique flavors of that particular variety, which are a lot like Cascade hops but with more forward grapefruit flavors, some piney resin and some earthy, herbal qualities.

“We like to use something we don’t use in our normal production beers,” Thomas said. “We bring in something we’ve never used before.”

Just about the time the ice melts away from the banks of the Bitterroot River, Thomas and Talbot will release their Irish red ale, a classic pale ale that incorporates caramel and pale malts to produce a reddish hue and a smidgen more flavor to get you through those last cold weeks of winter.

“We like to use an Irish ale yeast for this one,” Thomas said of the specialty regional yeasts he uses throughout the year.

If red isn’t your color, just wait through those February doldrums for Bitterroot’s American-style stout, which is hoppier than the Irish and bourbon stouts of last year.
Bitterroot Brewing Co. founder and owner Tim Bozik said the Bitterroot Valley is ideal for beer production because a good life deserves a good beer.

“It’s really nice in the winter with the bluebird sky and snow on the mountains,” Bozik said. “But it’s just a gorgeous place in spring. ... Things start turning green, tulips start to pop and the river comes up.”

Bitterroot Brewing Co. has eight production beers: Sawtooth Ale, Amber Ale, Pale Ale, Nut Brown Ale, Porter, IPA, Winter Ale and Brewer’s Whim, a rotating brew based on whatever Thomas feels like creating.

There are four seasonal ambers: Irish in spring, American in summer, Scottish in fall and Belgian in winter.
Bozik estimates the brewery produced 20 different craft beers last year for tasting in the tap room, which features food and live music.

Don’t go straight from those heavy winter beers into the light blond beers of summer; instead, take a detour through the Bitterroot Valley and ease yourself into summer. Isn’t that what spring is all about?

Tim Akimoff is an online reporter for the Missoulian newspaper and its Web sites, Missoulian.com and Missoula.com. He can be reached at (406) 523-5246 or by e-mail at tim.akimoff@lee.net.