“Everything I’ve seen so far is doubling in lead time, which is really hard for small brewers to adjust to,” he said.
Steep competition
At last count, Montana was nearing 100 small breweries and ranks third for breweries per capita in the nation. Montana brewers produced 218,547 barrels of craft beer in 2019, enough for 8.5 gallons of beer for every adult aged 21 or older, according to the Brewer’s Association.
“The competition between all the brewers was getting rough, even before COVID,” said Mohr of Angry Hank’s. “If you go to any grocery store and look at the beer shelf, you almost blow your mind trying to make a decision.”
Canning his product will help Mohr grab back some of the lost business from the taproom. “We have a huge market share in Billings. Hopefully, we can capture a big part of that can market.”
Angry Hank’s is among local brewers working through the pandemic and material shortages.
At the Hank’s taproom, Mohr has kept his pints priced at $3. “Beer is a volume game,” he said. “The more you can put out, the cheaper you can make it. Because we make it right here, and make a lot of it, there is no middle man. You are on premise, so there is no cost to us, besides paying bartenders.”
Hastings and crew at Überbrew have their sights set on distributing the brand across Montana, hoping for 3,500 barrels this year. The sister brewery, BAM, is still in its infancy, distributed only in Billings at this point.
