12th Annual Montana Brews and BBQ

The Montana Brews & BBQ is one of the state's signature events. This brew festival features breweries from across Montana. The free event is family-friendly, with live music, food trucks, and a lot of beer.

Experience the Best of Montana’s Breweries

The 12th annual brew festival will be held on Saturday, July 16th, from 1:00 PM to 10:00 PM. The event takes place in Chiesa Plaza at MetraPark in an attractive lakeside setting. This outdoor event features keg beers from Montana's best craft breweries. Many of the breweries will be offering special seasonal brews. Best of all, the event is free, and all ages are welcome.

Local band D'Tective will play live music, and all your favorite food trucks will be on-site.

Enjoy Local Craft Brews

Organizers say it would take guests 2,000 miles of driving to visit all of the Montana breweries attending the event. Instead, you can enjoy all the breweries at the Montana Brews & BBQ event in just one afternoon.

All the beers at the festival are in kegs to ensure the freshest taste, and guests can choose from 80 flavors of beer. Breweries such as Flathead Brewing based in Kalispell and Neptune's Brewing from Livingston will attend. In addition, brewers will be at the event to discuss their brews and answer questions.

Beer Tasting Tickets

The event is free to attend, so you can stop by, chat with brewers, and enjoy a great day outdoors. If you want to participate in tastings, you can buy ten tokens for $25 and exchange a token for a brew at each of your favorite breweries. You'll save five dollars if you buy tickets during the presale event. Along with the tokens, you'll get a commemorative glass.

Guests over 21 with valid ID will be allowed to partake in the tastings. Each guest over 21 will receive a wristband.

People’s Choice Award

The event features a fun People's Choice Award to recognize the best beer. Each brewer will be pouring from a 16-gallon keg. Whicher keg runs dry first will receive the People's Choice trophy.

In addition, guests can enter a drawing. Each guest will put their name and phone number in the drawing. At the end of the event, whoever's name is pulled will be rewarded with beer for a year from Uberbrew in Billings.

Enjoy Great Food

The original plan for Brews & BBQ involved a BBQ cookoff and beer tasting, where guests would vote for the best BBQ. Health department restrictions made this idea challenging, but the event kept the name. While there won't be a BBQ competition, visitors can enjoy a variety of delicious food choices. So don't despair -- you can still get amazing BBQ such as Blue Moose BBQ.

Twenty food trailers will be serving Montana's tastiest food. Try the Taste of Asia, 406 Wings, and the Corndog Company.

Experience Montana’s Hospitality

Billings, MT, hosts many world-class events. Visitors can experience entertaining festivities such as the Brews & BBQ event, concerts with international performers, and fabulous food. This cultural hotspot is surrounded by natural beauty and steeped in history. Learn more about the Magic City with these Billings, MT fun facts.