Note: This newsletter is supported by Rohrbach Brewing Co., a pioneering craft brewery in the city of Rochester.
When I graduated from the University of Montana almost 20 years ago (holy shit, when did I get so old), beer choices were pretty limited. Typically, we reached for Kokanee, basically the western Canadian version of Labatt Blue, Deschutes Mirror Pond Pale Ale, or something local from Big Sky Brewing, Bayern Brewing, or KettleHouse Brewing.
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It really was a great time to explore and learn about the wide world of craft beer. Since I graduated with that degree in print journalism, beer has grown and Montanans continued to be spoiled by wonderful options. One of those beers I certainly would’ve consumed (responsibly) debuted just over 10 years ago.
Montucky Cold Snacks is a singular light beer. It’s the only beer produced by the brewery with the same name. The beer features bright, retro-leaning packaging and just puts a smile on the face of whomever happens to be holding a can. (At least that’s what my wife said when she held one for the first time last week.)
After all, Montucky Cold Snacks is the official, unofficial beer of Montana.
And since it was first released in 2012, Montucky Cold Snacks has become a wildly successful cultural phenomenon — it is currently available in 32 states, including New York (just not yet in the Rochester market) and will produce more than 70,000 barrels this year.
Brewery co-founder Chad Zeitner outlined the Montucky path and ethos during a recent phone interview. Zeitner and co-founder Jeremy Gregory hatched the idea for the cold snack revolution during one particularly blurry night at a favorite neighborhood bar in Bozeman, Montana. He demonstrated how the beer is about more than beer, showcasing how Montucky Cold Snacks gives eight percent of its profits to local causes.
“We were tired of our day jobs and beer was fascinating,” Zeitner said. “It was something we enjoyed and always had a good time with. … At the time, we were going to be a traditional brewery with all your IPAs and porters and all that stuff. We started putting together the business plan and we always planned to have the light beer as our flagship. We kinda wanted to be the PBR of outdoor culture.”
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If you wanna learn even more about the beer, check out this fantastic 2020 profile by Kate Bernot, my favorite beer writer on the planet right now: “Coming in Hot with the Cold Snacks — How Montucky Cold Snacks became the most successful beer brand you’ve never heard of.”
Montucky Cold Snacks is certainly more than just a brewery. The brewery is based in Bozeman, Montana, and contract brews the light lager in LaCrosse, Wisconsin. (And who knows, there might be a physical Montucky Cold Snacks brewery in the future.) The name playfully combines “Montucky,” a nickname for the “backwoods nature” of the state, and “Cold Snacks,” which Zeitner said came from a phrase a friend once used to refer to those satisfying beers pulled from the fridge.
Zeitner said the banks laughed at them initially. “They were like, ‘We’re not going to give you a million dollars to compete against Budweiser or PBR. Are you crazy?” Of course, they are the only ones laughing now. That’s evidenced by some of the ridiculously kitschy and awesome Montucky Cold Snacks merchandise the brewery sells, including pool floats, dog toys, sunglasses, onesies, hats, and a wide variety of other stuff.
The rejection caused Zeitner and Gregory to re-examine their plan. They realized that PBR doesn’t brew its own beer, helping them consider a similar, albeit much smaller, path. Contract brewing would allow them to grow the brand while also building equity in their vision. And an important part of the vision was giving back to any number of deserving local causes, including various environmental groups and other organizations promoting equality.
“I remember sitting in the lawn chairs in my apartment, because that’s what I was using as furniture at the time and talking about the plan,” Zeitner said. “Both Jeremy and I have always been involved in various nonprofits. We were gonna do this regardless. And if we we’re gonna do this, we wanted to make it a public pledge.
“It’s the right thing to do and there are so many organizations out there doing amazing things. If we can help in any way, we’re going to.”
The Montucky light lager (and this is gonna be a huge compliment coming from me) is really reminiscent of Genny Light. It’s light, crisp, and flavorful.
According to Zeitner, there was never any inclination that the brand would become as huge as it is. The founders had the modest goal of eating into domestic market share in Montana.
After a hearty chuckle, Zeitner offered, “We didn’t expect to ever be outside of Montana. If we can get some of that market share, we’d be able to quit our day jobs and ski and hang out.”
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The focus remains on fun and keeping it simple.
“When you want something you don’t need to think about and can enjoy, that’s our bread and butter,” Zeitner said.
And thanks and shout out to Caitlin Braun, a Buffalo native and SUNY Geneseo graduate, who is now based in Denver and works as Montucky’s Mountain Region market manager. She saw me talking about Montucky on Twitter, reached out and then put me in touch with Zeitner.
If the mood strikes and you need a quick road trip to track down an extra cold and satisying beer, you can consult the Montucky snack finder.
In closing, here’s my plea to Montucky and whoever controls its local distribution rights, can we please make sure this delightful little beer is available in Rochester and the Finger Lakes ASAP? It’s a crying shame that our buddies down the Thruway in Buffalo get to enjoy Cold Snacks whenever they want, but we can’t do the same here in Rochester. Let’s remedy this!
Title sponsor: Rohrbach Brewing Co.
This work is made possible through support from Rohrbach Brewing Co. Rohrbach features two locations — its Beer Hall at 97 Railroad St. in the city of Rochester and its brewpub at 3859 Buffalo Road in the town of Ogden. Since 1991, Rohrbach has been producing classics and influencing the Rochester beer scene, including its iconic Scotch Ale.
The brewery’s support allows this work to remain free for this audience. So make sure to get out to Rohrbach and support one of the best establishments in our area.
I remain open to sponsorships, sponsored content, and advertisements, especially if it’ll keep the newsletter free for readers. And if you have information about upcoming releases, events, or happenings, don’t hesitate to reach out. For more information, feel free to drop me a line at [email protected].
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Source: https://t-tees.com
Category: WHO
