Thursday, Jul. 16, 2009
trip west offers sampling opportunities
It seemed like a good idea at the time.
While three friends from my graduate school were flying out to Bozeman, Mont., to visit a fourth friend from the same program, I thought I would drive it.
I've flown over the Atlantic three times, but I never realized how vast the earth is until I drove across South Dakota and back across Nebraska.
Wow. Miles. Of. Nothing.
I'm getting ahead of myself. In late June, I borrowed a small recreational vehicle, about 20 feet in length with a toilet and enough fold-down bed capacity for four adults in two very cozy pairs.
Into this RV, my wife and I loaded three children, clothes, and some food. We borrowed portable DVD players for each of the kids.
We loaded and charged up our iPods so we couldn't hear the kids.
On June 28, just after sunset, we drove our three drowsy children westward.
These days, on a road trip, I always think about the opportunity to try some beers that Surge readers might have tried during their own journeys, or maybe at their previous residencies. After all, the Grand Strand is full of transplants and people on extended visits with transplants - as well as tourists who, if they're smart, pick up a copy of this fine weekly.
Our stop at the Gateway Arch in Saint Louis, Mo., involved two disappointments for me: first, a downtown brewpub was temporarily closed; second, I had to hike all over the city to find free WiFi so I could file my last column on time (that's why it sucked).
We spent a night in Custer, S.D. On our way to Mount Rushmore, we ate lunch at Slate Creek Grille in Hill City, S.D. The restaurant could swing homey as well as hip. When I saw the tap for Moose Drool Brown Ale, I knew it was five o'clock somewhere.
Moose Drool Brown Ale is a product of Big Sky Brewing Co. in Missoula, Mont. As a brown ale, Moose Drool passed the test. It was dark brown with a medium-light body and a perfect balance of malt sweetness and roasted nut bitterness - and balance of the two would be the key in this category of beer.
The next time I got to try a new beer was after we had arrived in Bozeman, Mont. The adults dumped all their kids on one unlucky babysitter and headed for nearby Livingston for a rodeo. But the rodeo was sold out, so our Montana friends recommended Murray Bar, also in Livingston, which proved to be a local gem.
At Murray, I tried Harvest Moon Beltian White. It's named Beltian instead of Belgian because Harvest Moon Brewing Co. is located in Belt, Mont. I thought it could just about go toe-to-toe with the famous import Hoegaarden, a white ale from Belgium.
I also tried Drifter Pale Ale from the Widmer Brothers Brewing Co. in Portland, Ore. For some reason, most of the pale ales I've tried recently have leaned on darker malt flavors, which I don't understand. Widmer's Drifter was a step back in the right direction: lighter with citrus notes, but no pungent hopping.
Later, back in Bozeman, a friend picked up a sixer of Big Hole Headstrong Pale Ale, produced by Big Hole Brewing Co. in Belgrade, Mont. I scribbled down a brief note that relates to my tasting of Drifter: "toastier malt than most pale ales, and less citrusy on the hops." Headstrong was good, but my preference is on the Drifter side of pale ale.
With the long drive and the three kids, I wasn't able to sample nearly as much as I had hoped, and as we got toward the end of our return trip, all five of us could have used a pint of beer. But we visited some places, and tasted some things, we never had before, so that makes for a good journey.
Contact Colin Burch - the Beerman - at or visit his beer blog at http://maltyhops.blogspot.com.
