The picturesque state of Montana is a place that looks like a permanent postcard, with its gorgeous lakes and snow-capped mountains, but it’s important not to let its natural beauty and wildlife detract from another thing they do fantastically well: distilling spirits.

Over the years, Montana has garnered a reputation for its range of distilleries, which all use majority local Montana agricultural products to make a variety of different spirits.

It’s been a fast-growing industry, thanks to the success of each distillery and its delicious products, and it’s only going to grow more and more.

However, part of the reason that it’s been able to grow so strongly is the Montana Distillers Guild.

A network set up to unite and support the small-batch distillers of Montana, the Montana Distillers Guild promotes the state’s impressive distilling work, as well as the agriculture and tourism linked to that industry.

In our handy guide below, we’ve got a complete guide to the Montana Distillers Guide. You’ll find a more in-depth look at who they are, what they do, where they’re located, and much more.

Read on!

What Is The Montana Distillers Guild?

The Montana Distillers Guild is a community of small-batch distillers all across the gorgeous state of Montana, but it also contains their supporters too.

Formally put together back in 2014, the Guild acts as a great way for small-batch distillers of Montana to work together and promote their rapidly-growing industry – to both the world and Montana locals.

Each distiller may be successful on their own, but they’ll be even more successful as a group of like-minded entrepreneurs, allowing them to promote one another, share techniques and tips, and more.

In fact, the Montana Distillers Guild is primarily focused on promoting the key aspects of the state’s distillery industry: manufacturing, agriculture, and tourism.

The manufacturing process may differ between distilleries, but with the help of the Guild each distillery has the opportunity to share the fascinating techniques behind its quality spirits to the public, thanks to tasting rooms and tours.

The Guild even has a Montana Distillery Trail Map so that the public can easily find their nearest distillery and have a visit.

Naturally, all these aspects feed into the tourism aspect of the Guild, showing the public what the state is capable of – and driving interest and sales.

As for agriculture, every distillery member of the Guild uses a majority Montana agricultural product to make their drinks (such as rye, wheat, barley, or even apples and potatoes), making the most of their state’s local output and proudly promoting their agricultural industry.

Where Is The Montana Distillers Guild?

The Montana Distillers Guild has its headquarters in the city of Bozeman, Montana.

Notable for its trails and dramatic mountains, Bozeman is a great spot for the Montana Distillers Guild to operate out of, and they have their base of operations at 106 Village Center Lane.

Which Distilleries Belong To The Montana Distillers Guild?

At the time of writing, the Montana Distillers Guild has 18 members in its community.

These include:

• Westslope Distillery in Hamilton, Montana
• Lolo Creek Distillery in Lolo, Montana
• Undammed Distilling Co. in Billings, Montana
• Portal Spirits Distillery in Kalispell, Montana
• Mountain Wave Distilling in Great Falls, Montana
• Lakeside Distillery in Townsend, Montana
• Trailhead Spirits in Billings, Montana
• Whistling Andy Distillery in Bigfork, Montana
• Dry Hills Distillery in Bozeman, Montana
• Bozeman Spirits Distillery in Bozeman, Montana
• Headframe in Butte, Montana
• WildRye Distilling in Bozeman, Montana
• Willie’s Distillery in Ennins, Montana
• Glacier Distilling Company in Coram, Montana
• Gulch Distillers in Helena, Montana
• Spotted Bear Spirits in Whitefish, Montana
• Crawford Distillery in Haver, Montana
• Terminus Distilling Co. in Dillon, Montana

These are located all around Montana, from places like Billings to Great Falls.

Some of them are even found in Bozeman, Montana, keeping them close to the Montana Distillers Guild HQ!

Meanwhile, the Guild also has Associate Member businesses.

What’s The Fee To Join The Montana Distillers Guild?

For a distillery to join the Montana Distillers Guild, it’ll cost a base fee of $250 per year.

However, there are then additional payments that you’ll need to make, which are based off proof gallons that have left your bond in Montana in the prior year.

You can find all the payment information you need here.

Additionally, if you’ve got a Montana distillery in the works that you’ll be opening in the future, then you join the Montana Distillers Guild too.

In return, you’ll have access to the Guild-curated best practices, lobbyist advice, promotion, and calls with other members. It costs $250.

What Does The Montana Distillers Guild Do?

As we’ve touched on already, the Montana Distillers Guild is a community of distillery entrepreneurs that’s dedicated to promoting Montana spirit distilling in every sense – from its production to its agriculture and tourism.

However, they also offer a network of assistance to fellow local distilleries – as long as they’re members.

The members of the Guild have gathered together their extensive individual experiences and created a list of best-practices that’s readily shared with new members.

This is especially useful to newly-established distilleries in the state, because it starts them off with key knowledge, practices, and techniques.

Meanwhile, the Guild also provides the public with a trail of all the local member distilleries, improving their tourism and business.

Additionally, members of the Guild can call each other and help one another with business issues.

State Fees

In order to operate a distillery in Montana, you’ll need a distiller license. This costs $600 per year.

However, there are additional licenses you’ll need on top of that, including federal licenses for manufacturing spirits and having the distillery and distilling equipment.

Licensing Requirements

In order to keep your distillery license in Montana, there are certain conditions you’ll need to fulfill when operating.

These include conditions about selling and delivering spirits, and you can read them all here.

Distillery Restrictions/Laws

With the right licenses, you may operate a distillery in Montana. However, you may not use the distillery to manufacture moonshine.

Additionally, a license to operate a distillery is not a retail license, so you’ll need to acquire one of those if you wish to sell it too.

Final Thoughts

The Montana Distillers Guild is a community of distillers across Montana, unifying to share practices and promote the state’s distillery industry.