Arts & Entertainment
Community, brews and bikes
Recapping the first Headwaters Lager Festival
By Taylor Owens CONTENT MARKETING LEAD
The Headwaters Lager Festival at Bridger Brewing’s Three Forks location on June 1 featured lagers from over 15 of the best Montana-based breweries, as well as live music, food trucks and community fun.
All proceeds from the event supported the Southwest Montana Mountain Bike Association, a nonprofit committed to building and enhancing access to trails for mountain bikers in this region. The event featured a group bike ride with SWMMBA at Copper City, as well as the ability to demo bikes with Owenhouse Cycling.
The festival allowed participants to sample brews from all over the state of Montana with their ticket. Breweries included at the festival were Philipsburg Brewing Company; Blackfoot River Brewing Co; MAP Brewing Company; Bayern Brewing; Cranky Sam Brewing; Butte Brewing Company; Katabatic Brewing Co.; Last Best Place Brewing Company; Bozeman Brewing Company; Lewis & Clark Brewing Co.; Copper Furrow Brewing; Beehive Basin Brewery; Neptune’s Brewery; Smelter City Brewing; Sawdust and Steel Brewing; and the host, Bridger Brewing.
Each person attending the event was given a red ticket to cast their vote for their favorite brewery of the evening. Smelter City Brewing from Anaconda, Montana walked away as the crowd’s favorite of this year’s festival.
The event featured live music by Roadrunner and Chester Floyd, and guests filled the lawn while sitting and enjoying the music.
Great Creations Mobile Kitchen food truck was also available at the event, serving up dishes like currywurst, garlic parmesan fries and fresh salads to pair with the brews.
Prior to the festival, Bridger Brewing was the recipient of a handful of major awards given at the International Beer and Cider Awards for their beers.
“[We] just had the North American Beer Awards hosted in Idaho Falls,” said Jason Brenden, head brewer at Bridger Brewing. “We were lucky enough to come away with four medals there and the Wildlands Mexican Lager took bronze in that category.”
The awards given to Bridger Brewing at the International Beer and Cider Awards included bronze for Wildlands Festival Mexican Lager; bronze for Higher Haze IPA; silver for Premo Pilsner; and gold for Blue Horse Kolsch.
The Wildlands Festival Mexican Style Lager, a beer brewed in collaboration with Outlaw Partners, publisher of Explore Big Sky, for this summer’s live music event, was available at Bridger Brewing that evening. Bridger Brewing will donate 5% of gross sales of the Wildlands Mexican Style Lager to the beneficiaries of the festival.
“Super stoked to have everyone out here enjoying everyone’s great lagers, and we’re extra excited to have our Wildlands Mexican Lager on tap today,” Brenden said. “It’s a really nice, easy-drinking Mexican style lager. We’ve got a little bit of corn in there, some Vienna malt, which adds a little bit of sweetness, a little bit of character. Nice and light, a perfect summer beer.”
When asked what he was most excited about this summer Bridger Brewing owner David Breck responded.
“Our Summer Concert Series,” Breck said, referring to the Three Forks location’s live music offerings. “We’ve got an incredible lineup of acts coming this year.”
Bridger Brewing is set to host their biggest year of shows in 2024 with many different acts gracing their stage. Some of these artists and events include Paul Cauthen, Grace Potter, Kitchen Dwellers and a two-night bluegrass festival.
