Hi-Line Winter Brew Fest returns to Havre Saturday

The Snowdance Ski Association will be hosting its fourth annual Hi-Line Winter Brew Fest Saturday at the Havre Ice Dome, welcoming brewers and people from across the area.

“It’s really a community-driven event by volunteers and sponsorships,” event organizer and Ski Association member Dave Martens said. “We’re always overwhelmed and thankful for all the support we get for the brew fest and for people who come out and support the ski hill.”

The event seeks to celebrate and promote the best of Montana’s handcrafted and distinctive microbrews, wines, and ciders, a press release said. The brew fest also raises money for the association’s all-volunteer work at Bear Paw Ski Bowl, it added.

Tasting begins at 4 p.m with the last keg tapped at 8:30. Cost is $15 to taste brews, wine, and cider. That includes a commemorative 8 oz tasting glass to the first 1,000 attendees and two drink tickets

Martens said the event is cash-only.

He said that the Ski Association is hoping to top last year’s 1,000 attendees. The brew fest has also added a number of new brewers to the event, with at least five more than last year, he said.

“We really do try to hit the Hi-Line-area brewers emerging,” he said.

This year’s featured brewers are Havre’s Vizsla Brewing, Triple Dog Brewing Co. and Old Station Brewing Co.; Big Spring Brewing, Lewistown; Crooked Furrow Brewing, Helena; Blue Ridge Brewing, Malta; Beaver Creek Brewing, Wibeaux; Mighty Mo Brewing, Great Falls; Jeremiah Johnson Brewing, Great Falls; Cut Bank Creek Brewing, Cut Bank; Busted Knuckle Brewing, Glasgow; Lewis & Clark Brewing, Helena; Philipsburg Brewing, Philipsburg; Tailing Loop Winery, Kalispell, and Western Cider, Missoula.

Mighty Big Jim and the Tall Boys from Wibeaux will perform live music.

Martens said he is looking forward to the music and enjoying the event.

“It’s exciting to meet all the emerging breweries on the Hi-Line and then some of the bigger ones that are coming back year after year to the brew fest,” he said. “It’s just fun seeing everyone again.”

He added that, this year, they also invited the people from the breweries that are participating in the brew fest to ski at Bear Paw Ski Bowl.

The Eagle Creek Ski Patrol will be serving Hermie Burgers, Augie Dogs and Iron Mike’s at the event.  

Parking for the brew fest will be at Fifth Avenue Christian Church, Martens said, and the Ski Association will have a shuttle, provided by Havre Ford, to take people back and forth from the parking area to Havre Ice Dome.

The release said that Bear Paw Ski Bowl has been serving the Hi-Line since 1960. In the 1970s, Snowdance Ski Association formed as a ski club with the purpose of maintaining operations at the bowl.

“Our goal is to provide a safe, fun and affordable skiing experience for the people of Havre and the surrounding communities on the Hi-Line,” the release said.

Martens said that he first had the idea of the winter brew fest while finishing his graduate degree in Missoula. He said that Havre previously had a brew fest at the fairgrounds in the late 1990s, although it ended in the early 2000s. He said that, after speaking with a friend, he realized that a brew fest would be a great fundraising event to raise money for the Ski Association.

This year, the brew fest has about 30, sponsors, including Havre Tourism Business Improvement District, Triangle Mobile, Tilleman Motors, New Media Broadcasters and all three breweries, in Havre.

“The Hi-Line Winter Brew Fest is a community effort, and we couldn’t do it without the generous support of our sponsors and volunteers,” the release said.