HELENA - Helena’s newest brewery, Mount Ascension Brewing Company, opened its doors to the public on August 13.
Some of the brewery’s biggest selling points are the fantastic 180-degree view of Mount Helena, the surrounding mountains, and the picturesque downtown Helena.
“We're bringing this view to Helena, and we get to share it with the public and that's really amazing. You know, there are a lot of private buildings here that have this type of view, but we’re so excited to share it with the public here,” says Mount Ascension Brewing Head Brewer and General Manager Becky Peppelman.
But the new place isn’t all just looks. They’re working to give back to and work alongside the city it’s just joined. For example, 2% of sales of their Happy Trails IPA is donated to the Prickly Pear Land Trust. And they’ve partnered with their soon-to-be neighbors, Montago Coffee to create a coffee stout.
Rob Lehrkind, owner of Julius Lehrkind Brewing in Bozeman and Big Spring Brewing in Lewistown approached Peppelman about working on this project. Peppelman has been working in the brewing industry for nearly 20 years and brewing commercially for almost 15 years.
The new brewery resides on the main floor and top floor of the Independent Record’s old home, The Independent. The brewery cohabitates the building along with four other businesses: the soon-to-open Montago Coffee, Ascencion Grill, Mosaic Architecture, and The Sidecar.
“I just fell in love with Helena. I love the community here. I love the people here. I love the brewery community as a whole here is really amazing. I love our proximity to the trail system. And I just, I think that there's nowhere else that I would rather be,” says Peppelman.
The downstairs brewery is open 7 days a week from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. The top floor brewery is open Monday – Thursday from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. and Friday – Sunday from 11 a.m. until 8 p.m.
