EVERGREEN - Back in 2015 Matt Hegstad started home brewing, hoping to one day open a brewery of his own.
That dream has become a reality in Flathead County as Matt and his wife Josie opened Patriotic American Brewery in Evergreen.
Matt, a U.S. Army Combat veteran, plans to make his brewery a haven for all veterans and first responders looking for a place to connect.
“When I started home brewing I fell in love with it right away and Josie and I started talking like, wow, wouldn’t it be really cool to open a brewery someday,” said Matt Hegstad.
Patriotic American Brewery has officially opened for business, after deciding the small community of Evergreen is a perfect fit to call home.
“Evergreen is kind of a working-class community, very veteran-oriented," Matt Hegstad noted.
Supporting veterans is important to Matt and Josie.
“I graduated high school in Libby and joined the Army, I was in the army active duty for five years, deployed to Bosnia and Iraq,” said Matt Hegstad.
When Matt came home, he worked on his passions, including making beer, and studying through Flathead Valley Community College’s Brewing Science and Operations Program.
“Beer has been within the framework of America since its beginning," Matt Hegstad noted.
Matt and his wife Josie don’t shy away from combining their love of beer with their love for the country they call home.
“You know George Washington supplied his troops with beer, and his favorite beer was porter,” added Matt Hegstad.
Matt and Josie brew on a four-barrel system with five beers currently on tap.
“Our core values are honor, independence, and tradition and those are actually three of the beer names that we have,” said Matt Hegstad.
Matt said he’s thrilled to create a safe space for veterans in Montana to meet and connect over a cold glass of beer.
“We’ve already actually had that happen in just the short while we have been open, where two people that didn’t know each other at all, and it turns out they’re veterans and they served in the same military unit, you know maybe years apart but in the same area anyways, so yeah it’s really cool to see that." Patriotic American Brewery owner Matt Hegstad.
Matt and Josie plan on hosting fundraising events and currently offer $1 off all pints for veterans, active military, and first responders.
“We just want to give back a little bit, that’s a tiny thing we can do just show our support and give back just a little bit.”
Patriotic American Brewery is located at 2177 US Highway 2 and is open from 2 p.m. until 8 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday.
