Page 17 - Flathead Beacon // 5.14.14

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MAY 14, 2014 | 17

ter Cole Schneider, 31, and beer ambas- another brewery is also getting ready to

sador Maggie Doherty, 32, have long sling cold ones. Kristin Smith and Sar-
dreamed of starting their own brewery. ah Dinning are leasing the old Cabinet
Doherty irst worked in a brewery in Mountain Furniture, Pottery and Gifts
Michigan when she was 16 years old and building a downtown and are remodel-
Schneider has been brewing at home for ing it in hopes of opening Cabinet Moun-
more than a decade. The two met on the tain Brewing Company in mid-July.
slopes of Big Mountain in 2010 and were They’ve also hired a head brewer, Grant
married in 2012, about the same time Golden, who currently works at Lom-

they purchased the brewery’s new home poc Brewing in Portland, Ore. Cabinet
in downtown Kalispell.
Mountain will be unique in that it will
After purchasing the building on the be the irst entirely female-owned brew-
corner of Fourth and Main streets, the ery in Montana, according to Smith.
couple began the long process of gutting Smith said building the brewery
and remodeling the interior, while still downtown was important to them be-
trying to retain the structure’s historic cause they wanted to help breathe life

charm.
into the area. Breweries have been
While Doherty acknowledges that known to spur local economies and the
building the brewery has taken lon- folks in Libby are hoping for the same.
ger than expected, the couple said they According to Herbert, Montana’s
wanted to get it right the irst time. They craft beer industry injected more than
also said there were a gamut of permits Dave Fretz, owner of Fretz Construction Inc., places bricks along the back wall of the Kalispell Brewing $50 million into the state economy and
and impact fees they needed to navigate Company. GREG LINDSTROM | FLATHEAD BEACON
employed 450 people in 2011.
and address, and it was tough being Ka- With the opening of the breweries

lispell’s irst new brewery in decades.
in Kalispell and Libby, Northwest Mon- 1955, and Doherty has been researching time consuming but lavorful.
“I think being the city’s irst brew- tana will have seven locations to enjoy a it and dug up photos of the old brewery “You do it for lavor,” he said. “You
ery (in nearly 60 years) is tough because local beer.
to hang in the new one.
really can’t mimic that lavor.”
they’ve never had to deal with it before Doherty said being downtown was Recently, the new Kalispell brewery The brewery’s 10-barrel system will
and I think there was a big learning also important for the Kalispell brew- received its state license and will soon produce ive lagship beers and Doherty
curve for everyone,” Doherty said. “But ery. And even though the doors haven’t begin making its irst lager beer, which said there would also be room for some
we had a commitment to doing this right opened yet, the community has been in- takes about ive weeks to ferment. The seasonal brews. The brews will also be

and not taking any shortcuts.”
credibly supportive.
brewing company will use a unique pro- served in a beer-speciic glass; so a pil-
In 1894, the Kalispell Malting and “We really believe in this town and cess called decoction to produce some sner will be in a glass designed for a pil-
Brewing Company was the town’s irst thought it was time Kalispell had a of its beer. The method, once common sner and a lager will be in a glass made
beer maker, run by two German broth- brewery again,” she said. “I think people in Europe centuries ago, requires part for a lager. Schneider said it is common
ers. It survived Prohibition by selling are excited in this town to have a brew- of the mash to be removed and boiled in in Europe and will add to the drinkers’
“near beer,” essentially a brewing kit ery they can call their own.”
a separate vessel before being put back overall experience.
people could inish at home. It closed in
[email protected]
into the main mash. Schneider said it’s
Two hours down the road in Libby

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