Bridger Brewing Company: Pints With Purpose

Bridger Brewing Co. (BBC) has engaged in purpose-based marketing since it opened its doors in 2013. On Monday nights from 5pm-8pm, BBC donates a dollar from each pint sold to a selected non-profit organization. In 2014, BBC raised more than $15,000 for local and national non-profit organizations. Many other local breweries, such as Outlaw Brewing Co. and Katabatic Brewing Co., have implemented similar nightly benefits. This program is especially effective because it is purpose-based, rather than cause-based. Marketing communication is, "social, digital, and experiential," as Max Lenderman suggests in his "Cause vs. Purpose" article. Pints With Purpose is marketed only through the BBC website and its Facebook and patrons experience the cause in-house with informational materials provided by the non-profit. Supporting the community is at the core of BBC's mission, and this program helps communicate and reinforce those ideals. So come in on a Monday and have a pint of Vigilante IPA for a good "purpose."

Von Stomper at The Murray Bar, Livingston, MT

8 Reasons to Drink at The Murray Bar

1. It allow dogs.
2. It boasts an awesome array of homemade infusions. Try the vanilla blueberry vodka and soda or the horseradish vodka in a Bloody Mary. The Murray also does some in-house barrel aging with various whiskies.
3. The bartenders bring you varieties of chocolate chip cookies so that you can pick out "the best."
4. It offer $5 wood fired pizzas on Mondays from the 2nd Street Bistro next door.
5. It displays a photographic wall of "bar flies:" a combination of Murray Bar regulars and fly fishermen (and women) that patronage the watering hole from time to time.
6. Its draft list is excellent, with a wide variety of rotating local micro brews and all the usual suspects.
7. The Murray is one of the best (and only) places to see live music in the greater Gallatin Valley. It typically hosts a different band or artist every Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. There's a great little dance floor and unless the rodeo is in town, it's never too crowded.
8. Von Stomper is playing there on Saturday, May 9th. From their website, "Inspired by the lonely, the downtrodden, and the insane-- the voices of Von Stomper, a Colorado based five piece, reach into the expansive lexicon of American roots music and make it howl. Their high energy live show has left boots tattered and dance floors torn time and time again." Von Stomper is a bewitching combination of americana, blues, folk, and rock 'n' roll, complete with a rollicking, barefoot harmonica/banjo player. They closed the show with, "Thanks everybody. Now who wants to buy us some shots of whiskey?" Jim Beam it is.





While you're eagerly searching for some of Von Stomper's songs and videos, check out their instagram. It's engaging, genuine, and reflective of their vintage feel and blues rock sound.

Floating in the Gallatin Valley: Madison or Jefferson

During my first two summers in Montana, I spent five days a week floating the Madison River. It's relatively close to town, traveled enough that you can get away with hitch-hiking in the summer, and it's a mecca for young people in Bozeman. But then I had a revelation: I floated the Jefferson at the end of the second summer. It was new, it was exciting, and it had a bridge to jump off of. Since that second summer, I've floated the Madison less than five times. The Jefferson made me a floating snob, a maximizer in regard to lazy rivers. I now happily wait to float the Jefferson, even though I float less, rather than float the Madison. Plus, there's the allure of the Sac Bar, the Three Forks rodeo, and bridge jumping, of course.

Red Lodge, Montana's Winter Carnival and the Cardboard Classic

Currently, I have five hundred pounds of cardboard sitting in my garage. No, I'm not anticipating some imminent rapture or apocalypse and the need for some versatile shelter materials. Some of my rather debaucherous friends and I entered a contest called the "Cardboard Classic": a sled-building competition where the only materials you may utilize in construction
are cardboard, duct tape, and glue. Red Lodge's Cardboard Classic is one of the main events at its annual Winter Carnival, a good timin', Music-On-Main style event. This years' theme was "Camelot," We entered the "unlimited category": our sled had to weigh more than 200 pounds and hold four adults. First prize was $200. The value of the duct tape, cardboard, cutting utensils, and our collective time far outweighed $200. So do incentives really matter? This makes me wonder at the value in monetary incentives versus incentives of other types. In this instance, the incentives were the thrill, the memories, and the glory. Priceless.

Chico Hot Springs and The Old Sal, Emigrant, MT

As romantic as it is to be sitting in hot springs with snow on the ground and stars in the sky, go to Chico in the afternoon, in the summertime. Take the Trail Creek exit if you're heading there from Bozeman, for its winding dirt roads and mountain expanses, and it'll spit you out at the Old Saloon in Emigrant, MT. The Old Sal has everything I want in a bar: it's unpretentious, classic, and serves beer in mason jars; it has a great jukebox, the regulars will tolerate you, and there's a horse shoe pit out back.

I can't think of many better activities than yard games at the Old Sal on a sunny afternoon in Paradise Valley with a Fresh-Squeezed IPA in one hand and a horse shoe in the other. Unless your partner is exceptionally good at horse shoes. To perpetuate the representative heuristic, once he lands one ringer, ten more will follow. I'd like to say, "It's as certain as death and taxes," but I'd hate to admit to believing a known fallacy.

After imbibing at the Old Sal, head over to Chico for some soaking and some dancing, hopefully to Ten Foot Tall and 80 Proof or The Red Elvises.

Willow Creek Cafe and Saloon and the Sac Bar, Willow Creek, MT and Three Forks, MT

I am in a perpetual state of craving for the Willow Creek Cafe and Saloon pork ribs. They're tender and slathered in the most incredible mustard barbecue sauce. Located in a building that is more than 100 years old, the Willow Creek Cafe is a small-town gem that opened in 1977. In addition to the draw of incredible food, patrons observe little pieces of history and the story of the town of Willow Creek. Vintage portraits, floral wallpaper, pressed tin ceilings, vinyl tablecloths, and legendary bullet holes all help to narrate the past of this near-forgotten place.

The Sacajawea Hotel in Three Forks has a different success story. From 2001-2009, this historic hotel was boarded up and closed. It has since experienced an incredible 8-month long renovation and now offers 29 rooms, two full-service bars, a fine-dining restaurant, and several other amenities. The Sacajawea Hotel has re-branded itself for the modern age, while simultaneously maintaining its historical integrity. A similar challenge is faced by Cannabrand: re-branding marijuana in a respectful, socially acceptable way whilst trying to positively communicate and preserve marijuana's cultural identity. On your way home from Willow Creek, stop at the Sac Bar, the more casual of the two, located in the basement of the Sacajawea Hotel. Its got great wood floors for dancing, live music on the weekends, shake-a-day, and local spirits from Willie's Distillery in Ennis.

Renova Hot Springs and The Two Bit Saloon, Whitehall, Montana

Renova Hot Springs is one of my favorite places in Montana. Renova Hot Springs is located about 20 minutes south of Whitehall, MT. The springs themselves are glorious and allow you to adjust the temperature to your preference. There are two pools located off of the Jefferson River, one shown here enclosed by a man-made rock wall, in addition to a more natural pool downstream. Whitehall is just far enough to feel like you're getting out of town, but not so far that only going for the evening is a chore.

Renova Hot Springs is also very intimate. On a Wednesday night, we were the only soakers and saw just one other vehicle on the dirt road. At night, bring candles to set around the rock wall for light or some wood to build a fire in the pit aside the pool.

The last time I went to Renova Hot Springs was a divine experience, as always, but I did find myself in an argument with another patron. My companion and I brought a six-pack of beer to share and were very careful not to accidentally leave a bottle cap or any trash behind, as we're conscious of trying to leave such an incredible space as pristine as we found it. As we were finishing up, a man tossed his bottle cap into the Jefferson nearby.

I asked him, "Did you just throw your cap into the river?"

"No, I flicked it."

"Why are you littering in such an amazing place? Don't you want to leave it as beautiful as you found it?"

"Well have you seen this place in the daytime?"

"No, we usually come at dusk."

"If you saw it in daytime, you wouldn't care about littering either."

We departed after this exchange, but this conversation has stuck with me. His argument is a logical fallacy and a status-quo bias. It makes no more sense to litter just because other people have than it does to drive drunk because other people have or buy something because other people do.

If you're hungry on your way out of town, stop at the Two Bit Saloon and get the Montana ribeye. It's cooked on the grill right in front of you and they've got a decent draft beer offering. Their chicken tenders are "world famous," but the ribeye is a much better choice.

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