Man follows brewing ambition

Brewmaster is the title commonly given a microbrewery's head brewer.

It's not something Joe Barberis considers himself.

"I don't call myself a brewmaster," he said.

Even though he's been in the business for more than a decade, Barberis, the new head brewer at Great Northern Brewing Co. in Whitefish, doesn't think he's earned that title.

In some places in Europe, people start extensive beer-making training around age 16 or 17, Barberis explained. They get advanced degrees. Even in the United States, people can specialize in brewing science at the University of California, Davis.

Barberis doesn't have a brewing degree. He's just a guy who likes to make beer. He started by brewing his own at home.

And even though he's become proficient, Barberis still doesn't consider himself a master of the brew.

Barberis joined the crew at Great Northern in October. Before that, he worked for 10 years at Lang Creek Brewery in Marion.

"I just fell in love with that brewery," he said.

It was a great way to begin his official career as a brewer, Barberis said. He'd started making his own beer at home during the late '80s. As his ability increased, so did his ambition.

"I started thinking about starting a brewery, as each successful home brewer does," he said.

Starting a brewery is expensive, though; Barberis estimates needing a few hundred thousand dollars to do it right.

"That's a lot of money to put together," he said, "a lot of risk."

Instead, Barberis went to work at Lang Creek. Then, when he and his wife had a child, they moved to Whitefish. Not long after, Barberis decided to quit his job at the brewery.

"The hour commute each way got to be a little much," he explained.

Barberis didn't think he'd ever get to be a professional brewer again. He was working as a painter when the head brewer position at Great Northern opened up.

"This came from out of nowhere, just right out of the sky," he said.

He had a couple of months to catch his breath, as fall is typically a slow season for brewers. With winter, snow and increased action at Big Mountain, though, business picked up considerably for Great Northern around Christmas.

"Everything just gauges by what the mountain does," said Lisa Lyford, the brewery's office manager. "This year's been good."

Next weekend may be better. That's when Whitefish holds its annual Winter Carnival, and this year, Great Northern is hosting a major attraction.

Four riders from SCS Freestyle, a group of motocross and snowmobile riders, will put on a snowmobile showcase at 4 p.m. on Feb. 4. Their headquarters during the carnival will be at the brewery, where they will sign autographs.

The showcase will take place on the corner of Central Avenue and Railway Street, just one block north of Great Northern.

During the carnival, Barberis and Lyford are eager to show off changes the brewery has undergone. To attract more passers-by, the tasting room has moved from upstairs to down. The upstairs room can now be rented for events and meetings, Lyford said.

In its new first-floor location, the tasting room has six tap handles instead of four. Only two summer seasonal beers aren't available right now.

Even with an anticipated increase in traffic next weekend, business will pick up still more when the weather gets warmer. Breweries tend to do around 70 percent of their annual business from June through August, Barberis said.

"I'm still learning how to run this place," he said. "I have to have it figured out by this summer."

Come summer, Barberis hopes to have a new beer on tap. Long-time customers will recognize the name: Bucking Horse Pilsner.

Even though the name is

the same, Barberis will create a new recipe - a whole new beer.

In a little over a month, another new beer will be on tap all over Whitefish.

In honor of the Whitefish Winter Classic, an annual fund-raiser for children's medical care, Barberis will brew a special batch of beer.

"There seems to be pretty good interest," he said.

Barberis plans to start brewing the European-style lager next week so it will be ready for the Winter Classic on March 9. The single batch will yield 30 to 40 kegs, which Barberis estimates will be gone within a couple of weeks.

One beer that won't be new for summer is Great Northern's most popular drink: Wild Huckleberry Wheat Lager. Because of its popularity, Barberis plans to start brewing it year-round. His first batch will be out before the end of February, he said.

"We get lots of calls about it," he said.

Lyford is excited about having the huckleberry brew available throughout the year. It's all about experiencing something unique to the state, she said.

"It's very Montana," she said. "That's what people like about it. Even if they don't like it, they'll probably still drink it."

The Montana experience, Lyford said, is enhanced by the fact that all the beer is made in Whitefish. And despite the arrival of a new brewer, the beer has remained the same.

"My job basically is to try to make it consistent from batch to batch and stable out in the marketplace," Barberis said.

If someone buys a Great Northern beer from the store three months from now, it still needs to taste good, he said.

Through a careful process, Barberis does all he can to make sure that happens.

First, grain and hot water steep in a giant, stainless steel vat for about two hours.

"It's like a huge bowl of oatmeal," Barberis said.

The mash then drains into another vat, called a lauter tun, where it's sprayed with more hot water. The lauter's false bottom filters the sweet liquid into a kettle, where it's brought to a vigorous boil.

At this stage, Barberis adds hops to balance out the sweetness. The spent grain left in the lauter becomes feed for cattle.

From the kettle, the beer moves to the whirlpool, where it's spun to separate the sediment. It is also cooled to about 56 degrees.

Still at this temperature, the liquid moves to the fermenter. Here Barberis adds lager yeast, which breaks down the sugars in the beer to create alcohol.

Finally, the beer moves to the lager, where it sits for three to four weeks at 32 degrees. Before the beer is put in kegs or bottles, Barberis adds carbon dioxide. Then the batch is ready to go.

Each batch yields about 20 barrels, and each barrel holds around 31 gallons. This means a single batch could yield about 4,960 pints.

The whole process usually takes about four weeks, although Barberis occasionally tries to stretch it out.

"Sometimes I'll take a little longer if I can," he said. "It's nice to age it longer."

Reporter Kristi Albertson may be reached at 758-4438 or by e-mail at kalbertson@dailyinterlake.com