Brewmaster

By John Grant Emeigh, of The Montana Standard - 09/28/2007

Schnabel shows some of his brewing equipment at the new Quarry Brewery located at 45 West Galena in Uptown Butte. Walter Hinick / The Montana Standard.

When you get a pint at the Quarry Brewery, don’t expect some frat-house swill with about as much flavor as a Dixie cup of ice water.

The beer Chuck Schnabel brews is expected to storm your taste buds like a division of Marines on D-Day.

Beer drinkers thirsting for libations with more muscle will get their first taste Saturday at the grand opening of Butte’s first brewery in decades.

Schnabel is excited to expose Butte to the world of microbrewing.

“This is the beer culture, and people here haven’t experienced it,” he said earlier this week.

Schnabel, who runs the business with his wife, Lyza, has an eight-barrel brewing operation at 45 W. Galena St., Uptown Butte, where he’ll concoct a variety of microbrews.

The brewery will officially open with a ribbon cutting at 1 p.m. Saturday.

Customers will be able to wet their palettes on five different types of beers.

Schnabel brews hefeweizen, amber, porter, pale ale and stout under the Reinheitsgebot, which is known as the German purity law of 1516. Under this provision beer is only brewed from the basic ingredients of water, barley and hops.

“I don’t add any fruit flavorings to my beers,” he said.

Despite that, his beers have a broad range of flavors, based on tastings made by this writer.

His Headframe Hefe is a hefeweizen with a slight touch of banana and clove taste. The amber brew, Open Cab Copper, is a smooth, easy-drinking beer with a See BREWMASTER, Page A7 strong malty flavor.

The Open Pit Porter is a rich, dark brew in which each sip ends with a satisfying coffee flavor. Schnabel originally planned to call this beer Pit Water Porter, but had to change the name after discovering it was already owned another Butte resident.

Schnabel plans to distribute these three signature brews through Thompson Distributing in Butte. The beers will be sold in kegs, and Schnabel says about 25 restaurants and bars in the region have expressed interest in carrying his beer.

The brewery will also make two “cask conditioned” beers called Sandstone Stout and Shale Pale Ale, which will only be sold at the brewery. Cask-conditioned beers are brewed with lower carbonation and have a much richer flavor than traditional brews.

“They are for the beer aficionados,” Schnabel said.

Schnabel has been into brewing for about 14 years, cutting his teeth with the Ram Bighorn Brewery in Washington state.

He says he’s passionate about brewing and sees his occupation more as a lifestyle than merely gainful employment.

“I love my job,” he said. “I wake up excited saying, ‘I get to brew today!’” — Reporter John Grant Emeigh may be reached via e-mail at john.emeigh@lee.net or by telephone, 496-5511.