KettleHouse Brewing Company

KettleHouse Brewing Company

Location	Missoula, Montana, USA
Opened	1996
Annual production volume	40,000–47,000 US beer barrels (47,000–55,000 hL)
Owned by	Tim O'Leary and Suzy Rizza
Website	http://www.kettlehouse.com
Active beers
Name Type Cold Smoke Scotch Ale Brown ale Eddy Out Pale Ale Pale ale Double Haul IPA India pale ale Fresh Bongwater Hemp Pale Ale Pale ale Bonner Lager Lager
Seasonal beers
Name Type Garden City Pale Ale Pale ale Ginseng Pale Ale Pale ale Brick & Mortar Strong Belgian Dark Ale

KettleHouse Brewing Company is a craft brewing company located in Missoula, Montana. Founded in 1995 by Tim O’Leary and Suzy Rizza, the company has grown from a single taproom to two taprooms in Missoula and a major production facility in Bonner, MT on the Blackfoot River. In 2017, the company in collaboration with Top Hat Entertainment opened the KettleHouse Amphitheater near the new facility in Bonner.

History

Founders Tim O’Leary and Suzy Rizza discovered a growing community of craft brewers while living in Colorado in the 1990s and  were inspired by a group of chemist friends to begin brewing beer. After experimenting with homebrewing in their kitchen, they quickly moved their production to a brew-on-premises in Boulder. Inspired by the new craft scene and a desire to move back to Montana, the couple opened the first brew on premise in Missoula, with the state only requiring them to obtain a brewer’s license. They established KettleHouse with the idea of beer and recyclable packaging as a guiding point for success.  In 2006, KettleHouse became the first brewer in Montana to can its beer rather than bottle, fulfilling O’Leary’s original goal of an environmentally friendly brewhouse. After only occupying its original Myrtle St. location since opening, the canning required a move to the larger facility to accommodate higher production numbers and larger equipment. Moving into the Northside location in 2009, the company did not think they would reach the production limit as laid out by the state of Montana. Despite two facilities working at full production, the company could not meet demand for sales of their product and still remain under the 10,000 barrel cap. Beginning in 2012, the company began to move out of markets in response to the demand in the Missoula area. O’Leary stated he was unwilling to  “close down our taprooms and risk alienating ourselves from our core market” but that he hoped he could help “remove this 10K (barrel) hurdle”, something he had help put in place in 1999 and increase the barrel limit. In 2017, the rise in barrel production limits promised by O’Leary was passed in the Montana State Legislature with production limits raised to 60,000 barrels and a 2,000 barrel limit on taproom sales for breweries in Montana.

Today

In 2017, KettleHouse expanded outside of beer production and its related products for the first time. In January 2017, the company opened a brand new canning and brewing facility in Bonner to prepare for the rise in barrels allowed as passed in the legislature. The new facility has the ability to brew 30,000 barrels per year, surpassing the production of both other taprooms. In the summer of 2017, KettleHouse opened the new KettleHouse Amphitheater in Bonner, MT with inaugural act Lyle Lovett.

Products

KettleHouse has four mainstay beers available at its tap houses: Cold Smoke Scotch Ale, Double Haul IPA, Eddy Out Pale Ale and Fresh Bongwater Hemp Ale. Cold Smoke is KettleHouse’s best seller and most awarded beer with four Golds at the North American Beer Awards as well as a popular ice cream version served in Missoula.Bongwater Hemp Ale attracted some controversy with its initial offering that culminated with an investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.All four are available for purchase in the company's well-known 16oz cans.

Seasonals

In addition to its mainstays, the brewery offers a rotating selection of seasonals that differ based on the tap house and the time of year. Some of the more popular offerings are the Garden City Pale Ale and the various cask aged beers released throughout the year. Included at the tap houses are nitro-served beers, with Cold Smoke on nitro being a popular choice by consumers as it creates a smoother drink. Exclusive to its KettleHouse Amphitheater is the Bonner Lager, a beer designed to be consumed at the venue and brewed to celebrate the opening of the amphitheater in 2017, though it is available in select Montana stores for purchase.

See Also

List of breweries in Montana

Bibliography

Cederberg, Jenna.“Local demand forces Kettlehouse to remove products from Kalispell…” The Missoulian, Mar 4, 2012. http://missoulian.com/news/local/local-demand-forces-kettlehouse-to-remove-products-from-kalispell-helena/article_d565bb08-64f0-11e1-88c3-001871e3ce6c.html

Eaton, Joe. “Missoula Taps the Power of Beer.”City Lab, Aug 3, 2017. https://www.citylab.com/life/2017/08/missoula-taps-the-power-of-beer/535800/

Moore, Michael. Olde Bongwater has State Crime Lab all abuzz.” The Missoulian, Dec 12, 1999. http://missoulian.com/uncategorized/olde-bongwater-beer-has-state-crime-lab-all-abuzz/article_988667de-1fa0-568d-9b85-8cefb561946f.html

Newhouse, Ryan. Montana Beer: A Guide to Breweries in Big Sky Country. Charleston, SC: American Palate, 2013.

Nickell, Joe. “Kettlehouse, Big Dipper Team Up to Make Coldsmoke Beer Ice Cream.” The Missoulian, Sept,17 2009. http://missoulian.com.weblib.lib.umt.edu:8080/news/local/kettlehouse-big-dipper-team-up-to-create-cold-smoke-beer/article_2112e0e4-a40f-11de-9713-001cc4c002e0.html

Tabish, Dillion.,”Legislature Approves Bill Raising Brewery Production Limits,” Flathead Beacon, Apr 13, 2017. http://flatheadbeacon.com/2017/04/13/legislature-approves-bill-raising-brewery-production-limits/