It’s 1991. Tim O’Leary, a third generation Montanan was living in Colorado, finding his way working for NOAA, mountain biking and skiing… and feeling a little bit like a fish out of water. Colorado is a beautiful state, but Montana was home. One afternoon on his bike ride home, he spotted a new business that had cropped up in Boulder. It was a Brew on Premise (BOP) – a place where customers could come in and brew their own beer. Having dabbled in homebrewing for a few years, he tried it and thought, “This is my ticket back home.”

Fast forward to 1995. Tim and his wife, Suzy Rizza, open Missoula’s first BOP. Lots of people came to try it, and lots of people had a great time doing it. It wasn’t quite making the bills though, and for the next 13 years, through good times and worse times - Tim was the guiding force behind the transformation of the Kettlehouse into a small microbrewery and neighborhood taproom.

Innovative – we introduced “growlers” to our little corner of Missoula. Maverick – we, along with two other breweries, lobbied the Montana state legislature to legalize on-premise consumption of our beers in our taproom. Pioneers – we are the first Montana brewery in 30 years to put beer in a can. We are defined by our willingness to try and fail; to try and succeed. Our mission is to strive for better, cooler times in the quality of our beer and our lives. By handcrafting the highest quality premium beers that convey our passion for an active Montana outdoor lifestyle, and producing and packaging them in environmentally sensitive ways, we expect to grow a community of beer drinkers and thinkers that can help cool our warming world. We are… In Search of Cooler Times.