Big Sky Brewing in Missoula, Mont., is a little brewery with aspirations as big as the sky. The idea for the brewery came to Brad Robinson and Neal Leathers while brewing five-gallon batches of beer in Robinson’s kitchen.         

Robinson and Leathers had been homebrewing together in Missoula for about six years before they decided to start their own commercial brewery. Like many homebrewers they had nurtured a closet dream of someday turning their hobby into a business. People kept telling them, “If you could brew this commercially, I would buy it,” according to Robinson. “There was another brewery in town, and we figured if it could be done once there was a pretty reasonable chance it could be done a second time,” he says.

Despite their lofty aspirations, they encountered a few roadblocks along the way, including no money, no
commercial brewing experience, and no experience in opening or operating a business. “As a first step, we started honing our skills at homebrewing and doing research to try to be as well versed as possible in the industry. That way when we came across investors who had any savvy, we wouldn’t get stumped” Robinson explains.

But a funny thing happened to Robinson and Leathers on their way to opening their brewery. With the help of the local community access station’s series of courses on television production and Robinson’s background in telecommunications, the pair managed to produce, direct, and star in their own television program about beer.  The idea behind their unique marketing ploy was to gain recognition in the community and to lure potential investors.

“Beer Talk” consisted of the partners tasting and talking about different commercial beers in front of the camera. Robinson says they didn’t write a script, and each segment was basically a stream of consciousness. The 20- to 30-minute episodes were filmed in Robinson’s basement. Commercial sponsors were not allowed, so not only did they work for free, but they also had to buy their own beer.

The few times they allowed call-ins, the response was overwhelming. On one show they received 40 phone calls in 30 minutes.

“We had a lot of fun doing the show, but the truth is, none of the investors were found directly through the
program,” Robinson confesses. “Investors were mostly family and friends. Among them, probably 40 invested less than $10,000 each. So they are the kind of people we can relate to, just ordinary people who like good beer.”

When the pair opened the microbrewery, they had invested about $700,000. Of that, $225,000 was a Small Business Administration loan. Robinson and Leathers enlisted Bjorn Navozney, a Swedish student majoring in business administration at the University of Montana, to write their business plan for one of his business classes. Then they hired him as an intern for the summer to finish the business plan. The three formed a partnership and only two months after finishing the business plan, Novozney became president of the company. Now, how’s that for rapid promotion? Each year they rotate among the offices of president, secretary, and treasurer. This allows each to experience the responsibilities that come with the different positions.

Initially, Leathers concentrated on the technical aspects, Novozney on the business, and Robinson on brewing. Novozney has no brewing background but is learning from Robinson and Leathers, who in turn learn business strategy from Novozney.

At the end of 1994, the trio found a site for the brewery and began renovating the building, which took almost six months. It was a long, narrow building constructed during World War II on an old railroad siding.

Instead of buying a package of equipment from one manufacturer, they bought individual components from different manufacturers.

They bought their 30-barrel brewhouse from Ripley’s, a Canadian firm. The two 60-barrel fermenters and
single bright beer tank were made by the Paul Mueller Co. of Springfield, Mo. A local company built the grist hopper, installed the stainless, copper, and steam piping, and put the facility together.

The brewery went into production in June of 1995. In the first six months the partners made 675 barrels of beer. Demand skyrocketed around the first of this year and production doubled. By the summer they found it necessary to install a third 60-barrel fermenter. Now their beers are available in kegs from the Billings-Missoula area to Spokane, Wash. After the first six months the three partners quit their day jobs to devote their full energy to the brewery. In addition they have hired two full-time employees. Robinson’s father, Russ, runs the taproom and Novozney’s brother, Kris, sells, brews, and cleans.

Brad Robinson believes the styles of beer and the names they chose are important to their success. They picked English-style ales, which were perfect for the hard water they have in Missoula. They don’t have to treat the water other than removing the chlorine with an activated charcoal filter.   

Their flagship beer is a Northern English brown ale called Moose Drool. It’s made from a recipe Robinson worked on for several years as a homebrewer. They also make Scape Goat (golden ale), Bobo’s Best Bitter, and Powder Hound (an English strong ale). Their latest release is an oatmeal stout called Slow Elk, which is the tongue-in-cheek name given by locals to cows that are shot during elk season.

They are trying to keep their ales as British as possible. Their primary bittering hop is East Kent Goldings. For yeast they use Fuller’s from London. Five different pellet hops are used for flavoring and aroma: Kent Goldings, Crystal, Willamette, Liberty, and Saaz. They have begun to experiment with whole-leaf Willamette, Mt. Hood, and Fuggle in the Bobo.

The tasting room is open Monday through Friday from 2 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Tours are usually held on Thursday and Friday. Customers can visit their World Wide Web site at www.graphi. com/bigskybrew.html.

Big Sky Brewing is located at 120-A Hickory Street, Missoula, Mont. To get there from Interstate 90, take the Orange Street exit and go south. From there it’s about 1.5 miles to the Clark Fork River. After crossing the river, turn west on Cregg, which intersects Hickory. For more information call (406) 251-3079.
 
Steve Johnson lives in Clemson, S.C. and is author of three brewery guidebooks: On Tap: a Field Guide to North American Brewpubs and Craft Breweries; On Tap New England; and On Tap Northern California.