HELENA — The Lewis and Clark Brewery, the Helena community, as well as others from across the Treasure State come together each year for a brew, to share a little taste of Montana in their Neighborhood IPA.
“They're all over the place. People who know about it, people who string their own hops, people who don't know about it. And it's been grown on their fence for the last 30, 40, 50 years,” said Don Wannebo, retired Lewis and Clark Employee.
For 15 years, at the tail end of summer, the Lewis and Clark Brewery receives donated hops from all across the state, and works with community members to make the Neighborhood IPA.
“It's really interesting to be able to rub those hops and you get pine, you get earthy, a lot of citrus all the way down to some. Sometimes they're garlicky and onions. So a lot of differences in the types of hops that we get in from the folks around town,” said Jayce Hancock, head brewer at Lewis and Clark Brewery.
The donations have grown over the years, with four dozen different bags donated this year.
“Ranging from, you know, big Winco or big shopping bags down to little kind of Ziploc bags of what they had. But normally in poundage, I would say it's around maybe close to 100 pounds of hops that we get donated in,” said Hancock.
They receive some interesting finds from across the Treasure State, like one this year from Virginia City that could have been growing as long as a century, and some of the hops come right from people's backyards
Wannebo has been picking hops from Helena's backyard for around seven years, and it never gets old.
“My favorite part of the year is going around and collecting up hops from around the town, talking to people about, hey, you should bring your hops in, and it's a real fun deal,” said Wannebo.
Even though he's now retired, this is something he’ll always come back to, and experience, each year.
“It's a big family thing. It's we all kind of bond at this. And it's part of a lot of people don't really know about this part of it,” said Wannebo.
The part Wannebo is excited about the most, like many, is the satisfaction of the final product.
“There's always the anticipation when it comes out and you drink it, said Wannebo, “and once you taste it, that's the best part.
Hancock explains that it's a two-to-three-week process from when they bag the hops, to canning the IPA and sharing it to the community. So keep an eye out around October for this year, to try the community brew yourself.
