The Black Star Double Hopped Golden Lager was first brewed in 1994 at The Great Northern Brewing Company located in Whitefish, Montana. The beer was created by Minott Wessinger, a 5th generation brewer. In fact, the brewery was specifically built for brewing just Black Star, but since then, they have added 15 other year-round and seasonal ales and lagers to their list of beers. On February 6th, 2012, The Great Northern Brewing Company will have been brewing Black Star for 17 years.
Black Star is a double-hopped American golden lager formulated like a traditional European Pilsner. This dry hopped lager has a crisp refreshing body with plenty of taste. With hops used at the beginning and at the finish, the hop aromatics are bountiful.
To meet the demand for Black Star, The Great Northern Brewing Company is also now brewing it in Milwaukee, WI. They use the all the same ingredients and quality control as is used in Whitefish, in fact Milwaukee even has the same severe winter conditions as Whitefish, thus even the environmental conditions match. Therefore, it does not matter if your Black Star came from Whitefish or Milwaukee, it will have the same taste.
Right now, Black Star is available in Montana and Idaho, as well as parts of the Pacific Northwest. But with the additional brewing being done it Milwaukee, it should become available in other areas soon.
The Great Northern Brewery is unique in that it was built in a traditional gravity flow arrangement; being, perhaps, the most complex, but highly automated, brewery for its size. It is a 20 barrel brew house with an 8,000 barrel annual capacity.
In addition to Black Star, The Great Northern Brewing Company offers the following ales and lagers:
Year-round:
Buckin’ Horse Pilsner: European-type pilsner.
Wild Huckleberry Wheat: light lager blended with real Montana huckleberry juice.
Wheatfish: brewed like a German wheat beer, cold-fermented, aged like a lager, and hopped like an American Ale.
Hellroaring Amber Lager: medium bodied lager.
Highlander Premium Beer: Scottish (not scotch- style) style ale.
Fred’s Black Lager: dark beer using a special de-bittered dark malt.
Going to the Sun IPA: true IPA unlike a typical IPA of the Northwestern US.
Big Fog ESB: amber beer with loads of hops and a complex maltiness.
Seasonal and Specialty Beers:
SnowGhost Winter Lager: rich and malty winter lager.
Frog Hop Fresh Hopped Pale Ale: American Pale Ale, brewed in September.
Glacier Chaser Marzen Lager: a malty German Marzen lager.
Pack String Porter: complex American-style Porter.
Barrel Aged No. 1: Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Aged Porter.
Barrel Aged No.2: Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Aged Ale.
Good Medicine Imperial Spring Ale: malty, hoppy ale with an 8% alcohol by volume.
