June 27-28, 2011 – It was only our second day in Yellowstone National Park, and I had already experienced amazing wildlife, beautiful hydrothermal features, and great local beer. I was expecting the first two, but the third was a pleasant surprise. With over 3.5 million visitors per year, I expected to find a lot of fizzy yellow beer in Yellowstone. But no, the restaurants and lounges in Yellowstone only served beer from Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana.
On day two of our Yellowstone adventure, we left our cabin in Lake Village and drove to Canyon Village. On the way, we explored the Mud Volcano area before hiking around the Canyon all afternoon. One hike took us down 328 steps in a decent of less than half a mile to the bottom of the Lower Falls. Incredible views! After the hike back up those steps, I knew I had earned my beer for the day. The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone is my favorite place in the park — I’ll let the pictures below speak for themselves.
Later that evening at the Canyon Lodge Dining Room, I had my first beer from Bozeman Brewing Company (Bozeman, Montana). I scored a total of four Bozeman beers throughout the trip:
- Bozone Select Amber, the flagship of Bozeman is a drinkable Amber (5.5%)
- Plum Street Porter, a smooth, dark, enjoyable Porter (5.8%)
- Hopzone IPA, this hoppy IPA was one of my favorite beers of the trip (7.2%)
- Hefeweizen, an American version of a classic German Wheat beer (6.0%)
After dinner we drove down to Hayden Valley to look for wolves and we were lucky enough to spot an alpha female running across the valley. That was an awesome ending to one of the best days of our vacation.
Next: our rafting trip in the Yellowstone River and more local beer.
Bozeman Brewing Company
Boa Beer Blog 
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