January 2, 2012
Visited the brewery, with a brewery employee. I had an awesome time, as well as a private, one-on-one tour, but I realize that this isn’t typical, so I’ll try to keep my review purely on the taproom/tasting room. The tasting station is set up in a reasonably large gift shop, and they pour small (3oz?) samples of about a half dozen of their beers. Generally the big sellers like the IPA and Moose Drool, and a seasonal or two. All the samples are free, but there is a hard limit on how many you can have, and you can’t pay for a full pint, or for extra samples. Not Big Sky’s fault, this is just Montana’s legislation, but I think you honestly woould be better served just checking out a few of the local pubs and trying the Big Sky stuff that way, unless you’re DYING for a Big Sky travel coffe mug.

November 1, 2011
Great place to grab some FREE BEER. They give you four free, I’d say, 6 oz. pours. I wouldn’t have cared if it was a smaller sample, I mean shit, the beers were free. The place had a nice gift shop, but they were selling some unexpected gifts, e.g., winter coats. Some of the merchandise had their name of it, and some of it didn’t. They had a special barrel-aged Slow Elk, and a Saison, on-tap only, so it was cool to try those. Also, they had their "regular" line up there to top it all off. Nothing here food-wise. It’s not too far from the downtown area, and it’s surround by beautiful Missoula. Actually, it’s quite beautiful out here. Overall, the value is perfect, and the beer, in my opinion is mediocre, but when you’re not paying for it, who cares? Bartenders are friendly.

September 18, 2011 [ Updated September 19, 2011 ]
This is very much a working production brewery, and, when you drive up, the overwhelming impression is one of the immensity of the facility. You know there’s a lot going on. When you walk in, the tasting rooms feels far more like a gift shop than a bar. You can schedule a tour in advance, but if you just show up, you can at least peek through the windows in the tasting room as well as upstairs. Downstairs you can see the fermenters; upstairs, the bottling line, barrels, and bright tanks. The merch is impressive--in addition to the usual t-shirts, sweatshirts, and bottle openers, you get the coozies, the multitudes of glassware, coffee mugs AND Big-Sky-labelled coffee beans. Well, actually, it’s Hunter Bay coffee, and you can also get bags of it ground. But you get the idea--TONS of different Big Sky schwag. The tastes are free. 4 ounces of complimentary goodness. They will sell you growlers, growler fills, and I believe bottles to go. They have four faucets going on a given day. It’s a nice operation for a bustling regional brewery, though it’s definitely not a bar--just a tasting room.

February 28, 2011
Nice place but to commercialized for my taste. Moose drool and summer honey are their big sellers. I wish they did more seasonals they are the best in my opinion.

December 22, 2010
Four free tastings – fairly nice sized pours too. A lot of their merchandise to shop through while tasting. The prices were decent; especially on growlers (there were several specials when we visited). I liked the majority of their beers – I shared tastings with my wife so I was able to taste most of their lineup. I’d definitely visit them again if staying in Missoula for any reason.

July 11, 2010 [ Updated September 19, 2011 ]
The first time I went in I was a little let down because they only had four beers on tap, all of which I had had. The last three times I’ve been in they have had some nice single batch stuff. Always friendly service. Been here a lot now. I just get the feeling that they focus a little too much on Moose Drool and selling Patagonia stuff. Still, the service is great and the people are what make me come back time after time.

April 5, 2010
It’s too commercial for me, and too far out of town. I love the beer, but that is an unfortunate downfall of this place.

November 4, 2009
Large commercial swag and tap room. Cool bar and counter, but no stools? At least they could put out a stool. The cool part, once I forget about the lack of seating, is that they give out four free samples per person per day. That and the bartender was really on top of what was going on in the brewery. No food, but I hate to eat while standing anyways. Still, free smaples trump no seating!

May 27, 2008
Stopped by today on my way back to Spokane. Had a few free samples at the tasting room and visited the gift shop. Not too busy, and the service was average, but friendly. Definitely will try and stop when passing through Missoula again. Picked up some cool glasses and posters. They had a bunch of cool stuff at the gift shop.

September 30, 2007
I had a great time visiting this breweries tasting room. I thought that the tasting bar was well done, and the service was wonderful. The merchandise is great as well, I especially liked the selection of tin signs they had available for purchase. They will fill growlers to make sure you take your growler along with you.