india pale ale

Top draft choice: Bozeman's Bridger Brewing wins 'Large Brewery of the Year'

Bridger received its award in late March at the third annual Montana Beer Awards. / Bridger Brewing

Bridger Brewing is is officially Montana’s “Large Brewer of the Year”.

“We were stoked to do as well as we did,” said Jason Brenden, head brewer and director of operations for the Bozeman and Three Forks taprooms.

Bridger received its award in late March at the third annual Montana Beer Awards. Brewers from around the state accepted awards for their lagers, porters, pale ales and more.

In all, 33 Montana breweries were awarded 72 medals at the Lewis and Clark Brewing Co. taproom in Helena.

Bridger, which opened in 2013, won awards at the last two competitions — but never one of this magnitude.

“There’s a lot of good beer being made around the state, so you never know how it’s going to go,” Brenden said.

The competition featured 24 beer categories. The breweries with the most points received one of three breweries of the year awards: Small, medium and large.

Small and Medium honors went to Imagine Nation Brewing Co and Cranky Sam Brewing, both in Missoula. The most popular beer category this year was the India Pale Ale. Bridger Brewing’s Vigilante IPA was tops among 35 entries.

Brenden said his brew team made a few new beers specifically for certain categories, and those beers are available on tap at Bridger Brewing.

The Montana Beer Awards were created by Loy Maierhauser several years ago and are hosted by the Montana Brewers Association. Maierhauser now acts as the event’s competition director alongside her job as chief operating officer of MAP Brewing Co in Bozeman.

Maierhauser won “Montana Beer Champion”.

She said she was “very surprised” and was tricked by the other organizers into thinking she wasn’t going to get it but was “very, very honored and humbled.”

“It was an honor, truly,” Maierhauser said.

This year, the Montana Beer Awards coincided with the Montana Brewers Association’s release of its 2026 Peaks to Prairie beer. This bear was released to celebrate 406 Day, Montana’s unofficial holiday, and America’s semiquincentennial.