6 Whitefish and Kalispell Breweries to visit after exploring Glacier National Park

If you are in Kalispell or Whitefish Montana, chances are you are going to be visiting Glacier National Park. Whether you are just here for the weekend or passing through, the Whitefish and Kalispell breweries are definitely worth a stop in.

From some surprising wits, beer slushies and great IPAs, you will be able to take your taste buds on a journey through the breweries in Kalispell, Montana.

Short on Time? Here are the key takeaways: 

• Sunrift Brewing and Bonsai Brewing were our favorites.
• The Brass Tap is a great option if you don’t have a lot of time.
• If you need a break from beer, Spotted Bear Spirits has amazing cocktails.

Psst:  We have a bunch of guides about Montana. Browse them all here.

This post was originally published in December 2020, and was updated in March 2023.

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Montana Beer Laws 

Let’s start this thing out with a quick lesson on Montana beer laws because they can be rough for the local Montana breweries (if you like to drink the amounts we do).

As of October 2020, Montana ranked second in the nation for breweries per capita. 

BUT, Montana state law sure makes it difficult for beer-lovers to saddle up at a Montana brewery for a few pints.  That’s because breweries can only serve customers between the hours of 10 AM and 8 PM.  

Also, it is unlawful to serve a customer more than 48 ounces of beer in a single day.  That’s 3 pints FYI. 

Even worse, if your brewery produces more than 10,000 barrels a year, you can only provide free samples to customers. (There are some loopholes to all of these, for what it’s worth). 

These rules are all in place to “protect” the bars and restaurants of the world. 

Although unfair to the craft breweries across Montana, it did force us to brewery-hop (and the rest of Montana) and taste everything that these local breweries have to offer.  Poor us!

Map of Whitefish and Kalispell Breweries

Random / fun fact:  Kalispell is a Salish word (a critically-endangered Pacific Northwest language) meaning “flat land above the lake.”⁣

SunRift Beer Company

• Hours: 7 days a week
• Food Available: Yes, full kitchen

SunRift Beer Company has a great outdoor patio and deck space that takes up two buildings and exposes you to the beautiful Montana outdoors (and hot summer sun).

This would be one of the fun Kalispell breweries to party at given its setup and large outdoor facility.

SunRift is inspired by the mountains, sun and water, all plentiful here in Kalispell and the surrounding areas, and they “strive to bring more sun in every pint with great craft beer.” That’s something we can definitely get onboard with!

The Blonde Bomber was one of our more favorite blondes while the Sol-Gravy oatmeal stout was bold and velvety all at the same time.

Bias Brewing

• Hours: 7 days a week
• Food Available: Yes, full kitchen

We might be biased, but alcoholic slushies are awesome in the hot Montana summer!

Bias Brewing doesn’t really focus on many flagship beers, so they are continually experimenting and bringing new beers and ideas to the table, including this frozen daiquiri slushie made with their seltzer. A delicious frozen treat, just beware of the brain freeze!

Enjoy a pint or sample many of their offerings in the large tasting room or out back on their great patio.

The Hellroaring Hazy IPA, the Josephine Imperial IPA, and the Mittlekinder Kölsch rounded out our tray of practice beers.

Sacred Waters Brewing Co 

• Hours: 7 days a week
• Food Available: Yes, full kitchen

Sacred Water Brewing is inspired by the founder’s mother, an outdoor enthusiast and avid fly-fisher, who passed away after a battle with cancer. 

Wanting to celebrate the memory of her mother, the founder is putting everything into sharing the beautiful outdoors with everyone with that true Montana hospitality and great beer! 

The Raspberry Mojito Sour, Bull Trout Coffee Stout, and the Bob IPA were our favorites, but we really liked all 6 of our beers in our flight. 

Cheers to celebrating the things in life that matter: the people we love, the great outdoors, and delicious beer!

Bonsai Brewing Project 

• Hours: Tuesday – Sunday, Closed Monday
• Food Available: Yes, full kitchen

This is another of the “Kalispell breweries” which isn’t really in Kalispell, but we included it on our list since it’s only about 30 minutes north and you’ll probably be going through here to get to Glacier National Park.

Located just a few minutes from Whitefish Lake which gives this charming town its name, Bonsai Brewing Project is specializing in IPA’s, barrel-aged brews, and sours, along with all styles in between.

After the closure of one of Whitefish’s long-time breweries, Bonsai Brewing Project is the only remaining brewery in town. Thankfully, they are serving up some delicious craft beers and food to satiate the inhabitants and tourists alike.

There is a cozy tasting room inside, but we chose to sit in the huge outdoor green space and enjoy our flights and pints on an unseasonably cool summer day in Whitefish.

We liked everything we tried but really enjoyed the Cranky Sheriff, a sour brown ale aged in red wine and bourbon barrels, the Sea Walk, a barrel-aged gose, and the Quarter Wit, a super-simple wheat ale with lemon and coriander.

On your next trip to Glacier National Park, which should be soon because it’s stunningly beautiful, make a stop in Whitefish for some great local brews.

Patriotic American Brewery

• Hours: Wednesday – Sunday, Closed Monday-Tuesday
• Food Available: No

Patriotic American Brewery was established in early 2023, when a wife-husband team, Josie and Matt, wanted to bring exceptional craft beer to their fellow Americans in Kalispell.

With years of public and military service under their belt, this dynamic duo is honoring a favorite American pastime: coming together over a delicious drink.

“George Washington drank beer. Enough Said.” as their website proclaims!

From American-style ales, IPAs, stouts, and lagers, their beer styles are influenced by original patriots of America and offer a range of beers brewed on their 5-barrel system.

Veterans, active military, and first responders enjoy $1 off all pints!

Backslope Brewery 

• Hours: 7 days a week
• Food Available: Yes, full kitchen

Located in the shadows (about 20 minutes south) of Glacier National Park in Columbia Falls, MT, Backslope Brewing is a great spot to grab a pint or flight of beer on your way into or out of Montana’s beautiful national park. 

 For reference, Backslope is located about 30 minutes north of the other breweries in Kalispell, but we wanted to include it on this list.

And much like Montana’s outdoors, Backslope Brewing has a lot to offer in terms of its beer styles.  Everything from the Pilgrim blonde ale and Crooked Wind IPA mainstays to the tropical gluten-free beer, saisons, wits, and Tripels that come and go from the tap rotation.

In addition to the good beer in this relaxed environment, Backslope also has a full kitchen that has dishes that are made to complement their beer varieties using locally-sourced ingredients whenever possible.  

While we didn’t have any of the main course meals, which all looked scrumptious being delivered to every table but ours, we did have some hand-cut fries tossed with garlic confit and doused in parmesan cheese. Mmmmm!

Beer Bar: The Brass Tap

• Hours: 7 days a week
• Food Available: Yes, full kitchen

If you are running short on time to visit multiple breweries, you should definitely consider stopping into The Brass Tap.

With more beers taps than we know what to do with (OK, that’s not true, we know what to do with them), including a heavy focus on many local options, The Brass Tap is a craft beer bar that allowed us to try many beers from all around Kalispell and other Montana cities without ever leaving our barstools.

With over 50 taps, almost every style of beer is represented from classic Belgians and lagers to IPAs and funky ale styles, you’d be hard pressed NOT to find a beer you’ll enjoy.

While this is a “franchise” chain, it doesn’t take away the fact that they support local breweries!
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If you are hungry, The Brass Tap also has a full menu of food options to help soak up those beer flights or pints! Happy hour is Monday through Friday from 4 – 7 PM which includes food and drink specials.

BONUS: Glacier Distilling Company 

• Hours: 7 days a week (winter hours vary)
• Food Available: No

Though not one of the Kalispell breweries or in Kalispell, Glacier Distilling Company is located about 7 miles from the West Entrance of Glacier National Park so it is the perfect location to take a break from the park and enjoy some local booze.

The Whiskey Barn is where you’ll do your tasting and features a large covered patio and a cozy tasting room with barrels (and pieces of barrels) everywhere.

We visited during COVID, so they were only offering tasting flights of 4 spirits for $5 (a steal, in our opinion).

With over 20 different spirits to choose from, we opted for 3 tasting flights and purchased a handful of airplane bottles to go (we have limited space in an RV, remember?). They also offer tastings or house-made cocktails.

The idea for Glacier Distilling Company can be traced back to a great Montana snowstorm in the winter of 2009-2010 when the founder and some of his friends were contemplating how they would survive if that snowstorm was the beginning of the end of the world.

Naturally, the conversation turned to how they would get their whiskey to warm their souls. And they determined the prudent thing to do was to start a distillery. Cheers to that!

A completely full lineup includes your core spirits (vodka, rum, gin, whiskey — many of them award-winning) as well as some Montana specialties like their single malt whiskey flavored with the juice of a bear’s favorite treat, hand-picked Montana huckleberries.

This delicious creation is simply known as Bearproof.

Unfortunately, although you might feel like it after a few drinks of this whiskey, you most certainly are NOT bearproof!

From our tasting lineups, our favorites were the Bearproof and the Trapline Rock & Rye, which is their house rye whiskey sweetened with honey and flavored with orange and other spices. We actually purchased a bottle of Trapline we liked it so much!

It’s an old-age recipe that is said to cure what ails you. This won a silver medal at the 2019 San Francisco World Spirits Competition!

BONUS: Spotted Bear Spirits 

• Hours: Tuesday – Sunday; Closed Monday
• Food Available: No

Again, not one of the Kalispell breweries, but Spotted Bear Spirits is located in Whitefish and has figured out the craft cocktail game and has managed to capture the essence of Montana in a drink.

With an emphasis on supporting local farms and produce, you’ll be delighted with the creative cocktails they offer. 

We enjoyed their Barracuda, a blend of pineapple, cucumber, lime, Serrano, and agave and the Montana Mule, a huckleberry-infused take on a timeless classic.

Spirits include vodka, gin, agave, barrel-rested agave, limoncello, and a coffee liqueur.

We also sampled their limoncello which was recommended to us by a fellow local bartender.

Having been to Sorrento, Italy, we can vouch that this stuff was fantastic!

Their tasting room is a nod to all the adventure to be had in Montana.  With rotating seasonal mules and margaritas,  Spotted Bear has figured out how mixology and craft cocktails can prosper in a rugged mountain town.

Bonus: Glacier Sun Winery 

• Hours: 7 days a week
• Food Available: No, but restaurant a few doors down

Glacier Sun Winery is located in between Whitefish and Kalispell, so you know the scenery around this place is just gorgeous. And any time you have wine in your hand, the views are amplified.

Connected with Rough Cut Hard Cider (which is next door), Glacier Sun is known for their Huckleberry Peach wine which uses local fruits, but also features red, white, and dessert wines using grapes from eastern Washington state.

While we didn’t make it over to the attached cider house, it’s a great option if you have a friend who doesn’t like wine (and you can’t get rid of said friend). Plus, Sacred Water Brewing is right next door too, so you have beer, wine, and cider within crawling distance!

Worried about getting the munchies while drinking all this local booze? Fear not! Fork in the River is located within the brewery to keep you nourished.

If all that hiking wasn’t enough in Glacier National Park, all the Whitefish and Kalispell breweries and bars will be enough to fill you up!

We find that a post-hike drink is a handsome reward for all the hard work and there are plenty of places in Whitefish and Kalispell to celebrate!