GREAT FALLS – This Sunday, the Downtown Association will kick off its second annual Great Falls Craft Beer Week.
Downtown Association Director of Operations Kelly Pierce said organizers are excited the event has taken off.
“Craft beer is such a cultural thing, and we are lucky that we have craft beer here, but we are not so big that it has lost its luster. We are embracing the culture of craft beer,” Pierce said.
The week-long event will start with an obstacle course at Gibson Park at 12 p.m. on June 2.
Throughout the week, there will be education sessions, firkin (a small cask) tappings, and dinner pairings at local restaurants.
“We have also added a few different events, such as the Beer Olympics, that will be happening on Thursday. We have added extra dinner pairings because they were so popular,” Pierce said.
On Friday, they will have a “Hop on Craft Beer Tour,” where breweries from across Montana will take over taps at 18 locations.
This year, organizers are taking over the Montana Beer Fest, which will be held in the heart of downtown Great Falls.
“We have close to 40 breweries coming that are just from Montana. It is about double than it was last year. We will be inside the Mansfield Convention Center. We will also have the Beer Now Conference that will be taking place. There will be a live blogging event happening where the brewers get to present their beers and the bloggers and writers will be talking and writing about them nationally,” Pierce said.
Pierce added Great Falls Craft Beer Week also has new “passports” that participants can get stamped at the different events around town.
The passports can be purchased for $10 at the Downtown Association, Mighty Mo, Stein Haus, Elevation 3330, and Kaufmans Menswear.
Click here to learn more about Great Falls Craft Beer Week.
Reporting by Margaret DeMarco for MTN News
