Western Montana

I love brewery tours, mostly because of the beer at the end of the tour. I’ve been on the Kokanee brewery tour so many times that the staff actually recognized my friend and I the last time we went. It was a little embarrassing to say the least. So on a recent trip to Glacier National Park my boyfriend and I were driving along highway 2, heading towards Kalispell and I saw a sign “brewery 1″. There was a little confusion about the sign between my boyfriend and I. I thought it meant 1 mile down the highway and he thought it was a mile down the road that the sign was near. Unfortunately he was correct, so we decided to go on the tour on our way home when we past this location again.

On our return trip home we turned off the highway and I started to question if we were going the correct way. We were driving down a long road that did not look very brewery like. We past a tree with a 8″ X 11″ piece of paper that said “Brewery 11am to 5pm” with an arrow pointing down a dirt road, there also a white sign that said 42 right on the corner of the road. We made our way down the road where we pulled up to what looked like someone’s house and a large red barn overlooking a field. I noticed a windsock and what looked like an airstrip, which foreshadowed what we were going to learn about the brewery. I thought the brewery must be close as there were small kegs oddly located around the field. We pulled into a parking lot and found a sign that said “Lang Brewery” attached to the red barn.

We were about 15 minutes early from the 11am time that indicated when they were open for tours. I walked into the office and asked if we could take a tour, which turned out to be free. They were very nice and immediately took us on a tour. We found out their brewery process, that they had just purchased a new labeling machine and that the original owner was a piolet who’s hobby of brewing beer became a little out of control and took over his airplane hanger, where the brewery now resides. We were brought into the tasting room, where we were told they were in the middle redoing the room, which consisted of two banquet tables, a couple chairs and some pretty tasty beer. After we had a few samples and my boyfriend and I made our decisions on which beers we were going to purchase, he got a case of amber and I got a growler of their stout for about $42.

Although it was a little bit of a trek to get there it was well worth it. The beer was very good and the employees were super nice and accommodating to our early arrival. If you would like to visit the Lang Brewery they are located about 42 miles west of Kalispell in Marion off of highway 2. The sign on the highway is small, so keep an eye out for it. The road’s name is Lang Creek Road. Off the highway you go about 3/4 of a mile until you turn left by the 8″X11″ brewery sign and go for another 1/4 mile. They can be reached at 406-858-2200.