New stuff!!!

Okay everyone. I have a couple of items I'd like to bring to your collective attention:

1. We now have a new page on our website that allows our retail accounts to create point of sales items themselves! No longer are you a slave to the periodic whims of the brewery!! Go to http://www.glacierbrewing.com/POS to see for yourselves.
2. Tim at the Grizzly Growler blog put up a really nice video of Glacier Brewing on his blogsite: http://grizzlygrowler.com/?p=510. I recommend you bookmark the Grizzly Growler and check it often. Good Montana beer news source.

There is some rumbling in the Montana beer world about some efforts to change/amend the current brewery laws. One I know about is based on the failed attempt by the Department of Revenue to change a rule about having a pint in your hand at the stroke of 8:00pm in a tasting room. As you remember, that got shot down (thanks again!). We know the new one is to keep no more on-premise sale after 8:00pm, but at 10:00pm, your (by now-warm) pint of beer IS removed from your meaty grasp. So the state wants to set it in the books that you have two hours to finish you last pint.

While we're at it, how about raising the alcohol limit breweries in Montana can enjoy. Currently, we are NOT ALLOWED to produce any beer that is stronger than 7% of alcohol by weight. It's even illegal for breweries to have even one bottle of stronger beer on premise, never mind selling it. There are many beer styles that, by their nature, are meant to be stronger in alcohol than 7%: Maibocks 8-10%, Barleywines 10-13%, Dubbels, Trippels, etc! All wonderful styles but we're not allowed to make 'em in the Treasure State. Are there some breweries making stronger beers? Probably. Are there stores selling stronger beers? Yup. Are there distributors handling stronger beers? Where do the stores get 'em from? I've always felt that this is one of the laws that need to be enforced or removed from the books. Preferably, removed from the books.
Well, that's my two cents.
Until next time, I remain, your humble brewer.

PROST!

Happy (FRIGGIN'!) New Year!

This has been a Hell of a start to our New Year.
New Years Eve day:
2:00pm:
Got a phone call from my wife:
"Hate to do this to ya' on the last day of the year but our downstairs just flooded."

........what?

Yup, outside temps in the teens, our downstairs of our split-level house (read: our bedroom!) flooded. "From what?" you may ask.

THE CITY SEPTIC PIPES!!!!

Luckily, we only received graywater, no blackwater (read: POOP!).
We ripped out the carpet, carpet pad, drywall gone four feet up, and have had dehumidifiers and hepafilters running 24 hours a day. Happy friggin' new years.......
So that's what we've been dealing with. Luckily, we own a brewery!
Jim and I have been working on various techniques to stay warm in the brewhouse during the "cold season". We wear warm hats during the work day, we fill the sanitizing buckets with warm water, we put our pints of beer in the microwave! Cold mutha! Not much fun. But we keep at it. Why? you may ask. Well, we do it for you! Yes, you! We keep the beer flowing for our loving public! (you DO love us? Right?)

Our special yeast is on the way. The special "dunkel hefeweizen" yeast. This particular strain of yeast has been imported from Germany and has been kept alive since the 1600's! Believe it.....or not!
Please stop into the tasting room during this winter. We have several specials going: Monday is growler specials, Tuesday is pint specials, Wednesday is six-pack specials, Thursday is pint and "keep da' glass" specials, and Friday is just SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL BREWERY for beer's sake!!!

Until next time,
your humble brewer.....