'Mystery of the Bapple': Coveted beer hits Bozeman's most eccentric gas station

The limited edition apple-flavored beer, affectionately nicknamed “Bapple” by its devotees, has developed something of a cult following, inspiring social media countdowns, stockpiling, and the kind of panic buying that harkens back to toilet paper sales at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

For Bapple disciples in Gallatin Valley, the Brake Time convenience store on College Street across from Montana State University offered the best odds of scoring a pack. Store manager Mark Efeetus said distributors predetermined how much each business in the regional network would receive.

Of all the stores and bars stretching from Three Forks to West Yellowstone and White Sulphur Springs, Brake Time landed the largest shipment, with 53 cases delivered at sunrise.

“It’s a whole Easter egg hunt,” Efeetus said. “Everything is typically gone within an hour.”

As Abramson waited to buy his Bapple and head to work, Efeetus handed him a Jason mask and toy ax to pose with for a photo beside his haul.

“The whole point is satire here,” Efeetus said. “You can caption the photo, ‘These customers will kill for Bapple’.”

The joke fit naturally inside Brake Time, where nearly every corner of the former Loaf N’ Jug is layered with some kind of gag.

Behind the counter, a prominent sign bluntly declares, “Buy some sh*t and leave,” which Efeetus described as the store motto. Customers entering through the front door are greeted by what appears to be an official warning sticker, until a closer look reveals the message, “Caution, NO stupid people.”

In the bathroom, a sticker on the paper towel dispenser says the machine is voice activated, just to see how many customers fall for it.

Last week, the station picked up some Reddit notoriety after a concerned citizen posted a photo of a sign above its gas pump reading, “Pull forward after fueling or get shot,” expressing concern that the message was normalizing violence.

“With only one gas pump, we had to get the sign because people coming in shopping holds up traffic,” Efeetus deadpanned. “Our Brake Time snipers are on the roof, ready at all times.”

The satirical placards, printed on metal and vinyl, are shipped to the store by corporate. Efeetus said the station is one of several owned by Pakistani millionaire Usman Bashir, an investor and “shark boss” on the Pakistani version of Shark Tank.

Stickers of Bashir wearing a crown and gold chains while seated on a throne are sold beside the station’s case of vapes and erectile dysfunction pills, making it initially hard to tell whether the lore of the owner was itself part of the joke.

But according to reporting from C-Store Dive, Bashir is the head of the Houston-based corporation BreakTime Corner Market, which acquired nine Montana gas stations during a 2024 expansion.

Efeetus said the company’s other gas stations, including another former Loaf N’ Jug on Main Street in Bozeman, do not share the same satirical flair as the College Street location, but ownership has been happy to embrace his aesthetic.

“They buy the skeletons of dying gas stations and plug them full of vapes and boner pills,” Efeetus said. “He doesn’t care as long as the store is making money.”

Though Bashir’s company owns more than 300 stores nationwide, Efeetus said the businessman still makes time to visit the Bozeman station. Those visits, he said, tend to draw attention, with Bashir arriving in a decked-out Mercedes Winnebago accompanied by an entourage of seven to 10 people.

“He’s all smiles, super friendly, smells like weed and cologne,” Efeetus said. “It’s like Snoop Dogg’s tour bus when they open the door.”

Despite the blunt messaging, the store has the feel of an unconventional mom and pop shop. As Efeetus scrolled through surveillance of the last Busch Apple drop in late April, he pointed out one regular customer by name.

“She’s so sweet,” Efeetus said. “She always takes a basket and buys, like, three items.”

Behind the counter, cashier Vanessa Green added that she’s worked at many gas stations, but Brake Time is by far her favorite. The compliment was promptly met with a crumbled receipt tossed her way by Efeetus, telling her to say it with more enthusiasm because “the beatings will continue until false morale improves.”

By noon, there were still 14 cases of Busch Light Apple that hadn’t been bought. It’s a departure from the past two shipments, Efeetus said, which both sold out within two hours. He said it could be due to many of the beer’s core demographic spending their morning taking finals at Montana State University.

Or, perhaps, the Bapple craze is nearing its end. After all, Efeetus said he’s never been sure why the beer has such a cult following anyway.

“It’s the great mystery of the Bapple,” Efeetus said.