Smurf beer dwarfs competition

Smurf might seem an odd name for a champion beer.

But its creator, Clint Nissen of Lolo, has a simple explanation.

"I was trying to think up a name, and my kids were watching "The Smurfs," so I googled Smurf, and it turns out, according to Wiki, to be a Belgian cartoon," he said in a phone interview with the Tribune before Friday's event.

Well, the beer was a Belgian saison, so Smurf it became.

In March, Smurf and Nissen were named winners of the Mighty Mo Brewing Co.'s homebrew contest in March, and, on Friday, Mighty Mo put the beer up for sale in its taproom as the prize for winning the competition against a field of 96 entries.

The type of yeasts used in a saison gives it a spicy, peppery flavor.

Nissen brewed about 20 kegs, and Mighty Mo will sell it until it's gone.

"Scaling it up" was a little hard, Nissen said, because it wasn't your typical saison because it had more hops and other complicating factors, but he said the process was pretty smooth.

Especially since it wasn't his first time turning his homebrew into a commercial size.

He won a Bozeman contest and had the chance to do the same thing before, so he knew what to expect.

Nissen also recently took second in a Spokane contest.

Smurf, though, wasn't the one he expected to steal away with the top prize.

Nissen had another beer with much higher alcohol content that he really liked: "That's the one," he said. "But I understand a commercial brewery looks at things differently."

Smurf has 6 percent alcohol by volume, so a customer can sit down and enjoy a few and spend more time at an establishment, Nissen said.

He estimates he brewed about 30 saisons, tweaking a thing or two each time, before he came up with Smurf.

Nissen had a couple fans Friday night shortly after his beer was released at Mighty Mo.

"It's an awesome sessionable, summertime beer," said Phil Bretz of Great Falls. "You can have a few. And have a few more."

Jon Hogenson, who has been homebrewing for 25 years and used to own Big Sky Homebrew Supply in Great Falls, agreed Smurf is great for the summer.

He said when it's hot outside, a crisper beer like Smurf is exactly what is needed "when you're sitting on the porch and having a stogie enjoying the finer things."

Great Falls brewers Josh Wulf and Bill Sparklin took second and third, respectively.