Brewing equipment will see second life in C-Falls

Kettles, fermenters and other brewing equipment from the former Desert Mountain Brewing Co. will one day be boiling and bubbling again now that a couple in Columbia Falls have acquired the gear.

Darin and Carla Fisher bought everything at the closed brewery on Nucleus Avenue except the roof-mounted ventilation hood and the restroom, Carla said.

That includes the big gas-fired stove and walk-in chiller, kegs to store finished beer, furniture and artwork, and the unique bar fashioned out of wood salvaged from Somers Bay.

The Fishers hope to have a microbrewery and tap room operating somewhere in Columbia Falls about a year from now.

“We don’t have a location yet,” Darin said.

“We have a name,” Carla said. “Backslope Brewing.”

Darin, who will head up the brewing part of the new business, helped out at Desert Mountain when the state’s smallest brewery began operating early last year. He also has a full-time job with the Forest Service at the Hungry Horse Ranger Station and serves as a Columbia Falls city councilor.

Carla will manage the new business once it’s up and running. She currently manages the Montana Coffee Traders restaurant in Columbia Falls. The couple are also kept busy with their two-year-old daughter Hazel.

The Fishers met while attending Bowling Green State University, in Ohio where they grew up. The couple moved to Columbia Falls in April 2009 and are very active in the community.

Darin said he first got into home brewing about 10 years ago using pre-made kits. It wasn’t great beer at first, he conceded.

“It took me about two years to learn how to make good beer,” he said. “But in the beginning, so long as it tasted like beer and was dark in color, it was exciting.”

While his favorite styles are Belgians, including dubbels, tripels and saisons, they’re not as hoppy as beers more commonly found in American microbreweries. He expects their new business will feature American-style beers, IPAs, porters and stouts.

The equipment from Desert Mountain was for a four-barrel system capable of producing eight kegs per brewing session. The Fishers’ long-range plan could include expanding capacity and maybe getting a cabaret license so they can stay open longer and offer food as well as craft beer.

“Realistically, we’ll take our time,” Darin said. “We need a space before we get our brewing license. Then we can start brewing. We won’t open the tap room until we’re satisfied everything is working great and putting out a quality product.”

Meanwhile, some of the Desert Mountain equipment is already back in use. The Fishers loaned a couple fementers and kegs to Graham Hart, whose Bonsai Brewing Project in Whitefish is currently the state’s smallest microbrewery. Darin explained the camaraderie between microbrewers.

“Of course there’s competition, but we all have pride in our product and want to help other brewers succeed,” Darin said.

“We felt good about loaning the equipment to Graham,” Carla said. “The more people get accustomed to craft beer, the more the industry will expand.”