Bias Brewing makes move to Main Street

Working to open Bias Brewing in its new location on Main Street, co-owners Gabe Mariman and Adam Roberston looked to strike a balance between preserving the building's historical features while incorporating Bias’ trademarks.

Bias opened its doors last month in the former Kalispell Brewing Company building moving from its previous location nearby on First Avenue East. Bias is planning a grand reopening party for Saturday, Nov. 19 from 5 to 8 p.m. featuring drink specials, live music by local musician Colton C, raffles and giveaways.

Mariman and Robertson purchased the location in early August and have spent the last two months completing renovations to the building. Most of the renovations were aesthetic and included painting the walls, removing the former stage and replacing the wood floor throughout the main floor with epoxy coated concrete. They incorporated Bias Brewing’s custom wooden bar that Robertson made into the new location.

“We did not change the font or layout in any way, we just gave it a new coat of color to better match our branding,” Mariman said. “We deeply respect the history of this building and are taking great care to maintain its legacy. We are honored to own and operate our business within a historic building on Main Street in Kalispell.”

To maintain a family-friendly atmosphere, Bias Brewing built a new kitchen in the space and will offer their full food menu from Heck’s Kitchen.

“We want to be a family place, and without food, it’s very hard to accomplish that. We want to be a place where families and the community can gather and enjoy craft food and beer,” said Mariman.

Heck’s Kitchen is open seven days a week and offers Asian-fusion style bowls, hot sandwiches, tacos, pub nachos and fresh baked pizzas made with local Ceres Bakery pizza crust.

“We will continue to offer the same full lunch and dinner menu that our Heck’s Kitchen regulars

know and love,” said Mariman. “It is crucial to our culture and customer experience to offer a safe and comfortable space for the community to gather, no matter what is going on outside these walls. That is what our customers deserve, and it’s our mission to provide it.”

According to Mariman, the search for a bigger factory was several years in the making and the new location is the perfect place for Bias to expand to customers’ needs.

“We had outgrown our other factory and this space is everything we could have ever hoped for. I love the fact that we can hold special events upstairs while still running a normal tap room downstairs,” Mariman said.

Previous Kalispell Brewing Company employee Tyler Richardson has become Bias’ new assistant brewer and is collaborating with head brewer Christina Beisel to fuse the unique elements of both breweries’ beers. At their opening, Bias had 15 beers on tap, one of which was a Bias Dunkel, taken from Kalispell Brewing’s Midnight at Noon Winter Dunkel recipe.

“It’s not exactly the same beer, as we brewed it at our old location with a different water profile and a different yeast strain, but it’s our nod to KBC and their customer base. We wanted to open with something they were familiar with but also make it ours,” said Beisel.

With quadruple their brewing capabilities, Bias plans to begin canning in the spring while continuing to offer their mainstays and seasonals and will honor any existing KBC beer nickels out in circulation.

Future plans for the brewery include a special Demersville Club Members Night for former KBC mug club members with discounts on their own annual membership, pint nights to raise funds for local nonprofits, and Frosty the Brewfest, a downtown fundraising event.

“We are overwhelmed by the love and support everyone has shown us since our opening day,” said Mariman. “We are excited to welcome the community back into this space and are honored to be your new brewery on Main Street.”

Bias Brewing is located at 412 S Main St, Kalispell. For more information, call 406-730-3020.

Reporter Summer Zalesky may be reached at szalesky@dailyinterlake.com.