The Sidney Area Chamber of Commerce and Agriculture will host a new event this year, the Bakken Brew Fest, scheduled for Saturday, March 10 at the Richland County Fair Event Center. Activities include sampling a variety of specialty brews, and this year one of the featured beers will be Bakken Bock, a unique microbrew dark lager beer produced by Bayern Brewery, Missoula, and developed specifically with the MonDak region and its Bakken oil resources in mind.
The idea for a specialty brew designed for our region originated with local businessman Randy Olson, Blue Rock Products and Distributing, Sidney. Olson had a dream and the opportunity arose this past fall to realize his vision. “I’ve always been a fan of dark beer, and I’ve thought for a long time that we should have a beer that speaks about what is going on here,” Olson remarks. “The beer needed to be tied to the oil boom and it needed to be a dark beer, symbolizing oil. I also thought the name ‘Bakken Bock’ had a nice ring to it and would fit such a beer.”
He adds, “One day Ron Messmer, our beer manager, happened to be on the phone with Bayern Brewery, Missoula. He asked me if I wanted to present them with my idea, and of course, I did.”
Olson spoke with Bayern’s German brewmaster Jurgen Knoeller. Knoeller agreed to develop a specialty dark beer tailored for the MonDak. Three months later, the finished quality product hit the market. “I had this conversation with Jurgen in October and he had it ready by mid-January,” Olson remarks. “Jurgen brewed a dark dopplebock that, in his words, ‘is smooth and does not have the rough bite or aftertaste of other dark beers such as stouts or porters. It is a treat after a hard day in the oilfields’.”
Olson also points out that Knoeller brewed this beer in strict accordance to the Rinheitsgebot or German Law of Purity.
Olson not only had the idea for this dark lager; he also had a specific label in mind, and Bayern incorporated his ideas and created a label that epitomizes our region. “I wanted some basics on the label, like a pump jack, blue sky, the Badlands and cattle, because that’s what we have here,” Olson comments. “I wanted this beer to convey what the Bakken is all about. I sent Knoeller’s graphic designer my ideas, I proofed the artwork that Chontos Design drew up, and the rest is history.”
At the present time, Bakken Bock is available only in eastern Montana and Billings. This microbrew will be a featured beer at the Bakken Brew Fest, and Olson invites people to try this delicious brew. “This lager is smooth and even people who think they don’t like dark beer will like this,” Olson confidently predicts. “Bakken Bock is an incredible, awesome beer. I encourage people to look for it at local stores and restaurants, and to give it a try. We at Blue Rock are so thankful that Bayern stepped up to the plate and brewed such a fantastic beer.”
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