By Paul F. Vang "It was a situation where the brewery was about to shut down," recalls Dennis Konopatzki, the principal owner of the Great Northern Brewing Company in Whitefish, Montana. "We stepped in and took it over."
The Great Northern Brewing Company was built in 1994, the brainchild of Minott Wessinger, the great-grandson of Henry Weinhard, one of the pioneers of Northwest brewing.
The Wessinger family sold the Blitz-Weinhard brewery in 1979 and after 14 years away from the business, Minott and his father, Fred Wessinger decided to get back into the family trade. They built the Whitefish brewing facility and began brewing Black Star Golden Lager, later adding Wild Huckleberry Wheat and Wheatfish Hefeweizen.
The Wessingers were initially successful, marketing their beer as far away as California, and contracting with a Seattle brewery to produce additional beer to meet market demand.
"Minott' father died," Konopatzki said, "and they started to make changes, taking on McKenzie River Corporation as partners. They were changing their focus to becoming larger, and going from making microbrews to specialty brands, and decided to sell off the Whitefish operation. (Note: see sidebar story.)
"I thought a brewery was a nice feature for the community. I recognized it was going to change, but I didn't want it to go away, either," says Konopatzki. With that thought in mind, and along with family members, he made the move to acquire Great Northern Brewing, taking over in 2002.
Konopatzki has varied business interests, including Wood-Tech, a millwork business manufacturing custom doors and windows. "I keep a low profile," he adds, "but I do a lot of different things."
Konopatzki went into the beer business with a conservative approach. "I didn't try to make too many changes. I wanted to work on a strategy of keeping this a small, specialty brewing operation. I like to work on a nostalgia theme. We make a traditional western beer--the kind your dad might drink."
While the brewery has a full bottling line, Konopatzki said their primary focus is producing draft beer, distributing primarily to cities in western Montana, such as Missoula, Bozeman, Great Falls, Butte and, of course, the Flathead area, plus some outlets in Idaho. "We're also exploring ways to get into some larger markets."
While Wild Huckleberry Wheat and Wheatfish continue to be Great Northern' signature beers, they've added additional products, including some seasonal brews. Current beers also include Hellroaring Amber, Fred' Black Lager, Bear Naked Amber, Going to the Sun Pale Ale, and a winter seasonal, Snow Ghost Special Edition Winter Lager.
"We're always experimenting with new ideas and approaches," Konopatzki commented. Black Star Golden Lager is no longer produced at Great Northern Brewing.
"It' a very competitive business," Konopatzki mused. "We have to continually focus on what we are. We're not Budweiser. We make products that are representative of Montana. We try to do things that give people the idea that there is something special here in Montana."
Brewmaster Joe Barberis, who learned the art of beer-making at Lang Creek Brewing of Marion, Montana, says the brewing facility has great potential.
"We have a lot of room to grow. The brewery was built with high expectations for Black Star Golden Lager. They thought they were going to find a niche between the brewing giants such as Bud and Miller and the microbrews, but it didn't work."
Barberis says the brewery' strong point is to produce specialty beers for a local market, noting, "We're a bit unusual, in that we make mostly lager beers instead of ales, which most microbreweries produce. We're similar to Bayern Brewing in Missoula in that regard."
Barberis says that Great Northern Brewing just developed a new summer seasonal brew, Bucking Horse Pilsner, which he described as a European-style pilsner. This temporarily replaces Fred' Black Lager, which he says will be back in the fall, after getting the summer off.
Barberis just started work at the Whitefish brewery in November 2005, and says, of his new job, "I love it. I live and work in the same town."
He goes on to say he enjoys seeing people come into the tasting room to sample his work. "It' fun seeing people come in. People are dropping in all the time." Barberis said that the Great Northern tasting room used to open in early mornings as a coffee shop but no more. "We're concentrating on beer."
Incidentally, Barberis notes that most of the amber lagers he produces are sold through the tasting room and never make it to other outlets.
Long range plans for Great Northern Brewing include entering the Seattle area market. "It' a long term thing," says Konopatzki, "but I think we do need a larger market presence to be successful."
A crucial partner in expanding Great Northern Brewing' sales is Shelley Burton, sales and marketing manager. She' another new employee at Great Northern, who says she first met her boss, Dennis Konopatzki, when, working for a different employer, she sold him a boat.
Ms. Burton has an unusual sideline: she' a professional boxer, generally getting in about six bouts per year. She notes of her employer, "They sponsor me."
Burton is currently not in training for future fights in that she' too busy working to increase sales of Great Northern beers.
"It' more than a full time job," she says, telling of traveling all over western Montana, setting up tastings at bars. "We give their crowds a taste of it, and hope they'll take it from there,"
She, too, looks forward to expanding sales to the Seattle area. "We definitely see that in our future, but it'll be a winter project. It' crazy in summer here in the Flathead."
Regardless of possible market expansions, Konopatzki maintains the brewery' focus as a community-based business. "I think it' pretty special," he says. "It' a real treasure for Whitefish.
"A lot of people don't appreciate what we have until it' gone--and it (brewery) almost went."
Source: The Montana Tavern Times, August, 2006, published monthly by Continental Communications, 125 W. Granite St., Suite 102, Butte, MT 59701.