The Greek God Poseidon was described as the “earth shaker” who created islands and ruled the seas. He kept the seas calm, but when angered, he would strike the ground with the trident he carried and cause earthquakes, storms, and tsunamis. He was known in Latin to the Romans as King Neptune, and reportedly fathered dozens of children in many locations by a large company of women he consorted with. He was a peer of Zeus and Apollo, and his adventures are featured in Homer’s Odyssey. (For the younger readers, this is the same King Neptune that appears in Sponge Bob Square Pants.) There is a picture of Neptune on the sign out front of Neptune’s Brewery, and also behind the center of the bar inside the tasting room.

So it’s only fitting that a great brewing company in Livingston is named after King Neptune. Bill Taylor, the owner and founder of Neptune’s Brewery spent some of his younger years at sea in the South Pacific with the United States Navy, and clearly the influence of the sea (and some pics of a younger Bill) can be seen at the Neptune’s Brewery tasting room and restaurant. One publication described the decor as a cross between the Cheers bar and the set of Gilligan’s Island. I viewed it perhaps as a restaurant from Jimmy Buffet’s imagined Margaritaville. There are several beautiful salt water tanks stocked with lots of tropical fish, and lots of decor on the walls from around the world relating to the sea including several large mounted bill fish from tropical climes.

Bill himself perhaps bears somewhat a resemblance to what a modern day King Neptune might look like, and he brews several great beers that I’m sure Neptune and his God pals would appreciate. Actually, Bill kind of looks like Tom Selleck in his Magnum PI years complete with large moustache, so he’s easy to recognize when you go to visit the Neptune brewery. Bill is a native Montanan, hails from the Livingston area originally, and graduated from Clyde Park high school. After traveling around the world with the US Navy, he returned to Livingston to pursue his passion, brewing beer. Craig Lambert is the bar manager helping Bill run Neptune’s, and there are several other employees who help tend bar and serve food as well as make that great beer.

Neptune’s Brewery and Restaurant is located at 119 L Street, just half a block south of Park on the east end of Livingston a few blocks past the Rib & Chop house. There is a large sign on Park directing you where to turn, so it’s easy to find. Recently I drove over for dinner, beer sampling, and to check out the place, and it’s somewhere I intend to return to many times in the future. The tasting room has a small bar with a half dozen bar stools, and the restaurant area is small and quaint with a half dozen tables.

The featured food is described as Thai, and there is also as expected some great seafood on the menu. Pizza and Indian food can also be found. On the night I visited, the special was a pork chop brined in beer to tenderize the meat, unlike anything I’d experienced before. It was the best pork chop I have ever been served (sorry mom and Rib & Chop). I also sampled the crab cakes and coconut shrimp. This is the first brewpub tasting room I’ve visited which serves food, and admittedly it makes the beer sampling and tasting just that much more fun.

There is a list on the wall of the seven beers brewed year round. These have sea-themed names: the Shark Bite IPA, Dragging Anchor Lager, White Dragon Belgian White, Sheiza Titan Belgian Blonde, Scottish Ale, Barley Wine, and my favorite, the Chocolate Porter. There are also several seasonal beers including a Christmas Ale, a Hefeweizen, and an Octoberfest Lager. The Chocolate Porter is dark, smooth, great tasting, and perhaps the best porter I’ve ever tasted.

I first met Bill at the Virginia City Dog & Grog brew festival in July. While I tried a lot of great beers from the different Montana microbreweries that were there, the Chocolate Porter was also my favorite at that festival. I’m a little partial to the darker beers, my favorites from the past being Anchor Steam dark and Redhook’s XX Starbucks porter. Neptune’s Chocolate Porter is probably my favorite of those three porters.

Perhaps one of the things that makes Neptune’s beers so good is the time and care that Bill puts into his brewing. Often he’s there before 6 in the morning doing the work of several people, occasionally putting in an 18 hour day. It’s a love he’s been working at for 15 years. Neptune’s Brewery was opened 13 years ago. None of the beer is bottled or canned and is only sold in kegs. Currently Neptune’s produces around 30 kegs a month and it is supplied only locally in the Livingston and Bozeman areas. Bill says that the beer must be kept cold to preserve it’s freshness and realistically will last only a month or two before the taste changes. Because of this, Bill also is the distributor to ensure freshness and quality that may or may not be there when selling through a commercial distributor. Kegs can be purchased directly from Neptune’s, or one can bring in their favorite “Growler” and have it filled with one of the beers on tap.

For a similar, yet toned down visual experience without the drive to Livingston locals can check out The Dock at 806 7th Avenue in Bozeman. The Dock serves Neptune’s Brewery beer and a similar menu.

As for future plans, Bill does not plan to significantly increase production or begin bottling or canning beer. Maybe a move to a larger location closer to downtown Livingston, but for now, the one event on the calendar is the Neptune’s Brewery Octoberfest Celebration. That will happen on Saturday, October 1st starting at noon. The Octoberfest Lager will be featured along with great food & fun for everybody, so put it on your calendar, and make sure to come see Neptune’s brewery in the near future. Bill and the friendly staff await your arrival 7 days a week from noon until 8pm.

Neptune’s Brewery
119 N. L Street
Livingston, MT
(406) 222-7837
www.NeptunesDock.com

Mike Comstock is an MSU graduate; software engineer by day, math tutor in the evenings, musician on the weekends, and freelance writer in his spare time.