New Brewery for Missoula? Big Medicine Brewing Co. Seeking Funding

According to the Helena Independent Record, a new brewery may be headed to Missoula. Big Medicine Brewing Co., founded by Fernanda Menna Barreto Krum and Robert Rivers, a Helena native, are seeking about $200,000 to open doors to a new brewery in Missoula.

With a goal to produce beers inspired by their world travels, a larger mission for the couple is bring a message of peace. The brewery will be a place they can “bring people together to educate them about social conflict and social change.”

In place of seeking conventional funding sources, the couple is asking for donations for their for-profit venture. So far they have raised $35,000 toward their goal of $200,000.

Both have been brewing beer for about five years, and Robert Rivers holds a certificate in brewing and malting science from the University of Wisconsin.

Once doors are open, Big Medicine Brewing Co. will produce no more than 1,000 barrels annually and earnings for the couple will be capped at $50,000 each, with any earnings beyond that going toward the purchase of land for a retreat center near Missoula.