Beaverhead Brewing Company Open in Dillon

 

As I returned from a weekend in Virginia City, Montana, and attending the Dog & Grog Brewfest, I detoured southwest to Dillon, Montana, and its new brewery, Beaverhead Brewing Company. Having been open about five weeks already, owner/head brewer, Brett Maki, says, “It’s been busy, which is great.”

Brett was born and raised in Dillon. He began brewing in Seattle 13 years earlier after his wife surprised him with a homebrew kit for his birthday. After only three months he got the brewing bug and went to work for Pyramid Brewery, washing tanks and driving a forklift.

After Pyramid Brewery closed in Seattle, Brett wasn’t about to give up his new art. He started working for Georgetown Brewing and soon became its head brewer.

In 2011, Brett and his family moved back home. He thought his hometown should have a brewery again. Yes, again. The original Dillon brewery was also called Beaverhead Brewing Company, and it operated in the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries. This brewery, like many ma