Picture your favorite beverage. Think of attending a tasting room to sample it and discussing food with which it best pairs. Imagine becoming an expert in the aromas and subtle flavors.

Now, are you thinking of a craft beer or wine?

Even though wine continues to rank high in the tasting arena, a recent trend suggests craft beer is catching up.

Tom Britz, owner of the only local hops farm, Glacier Hops Ranch, said the craft beer trend is following the exact same trend wine followed 40 years ago in California, when local vineyards and wineries began experimenting with and creating their own wines from local products. The quality increased and helped to create a new market for unique, specialty wines.

This new trend is all thanks to the millennial generation, Britz said during a panel discussion Thursday with regional and national hops experts, hosted by the Kalispell Chamber of Commerce at Tamarack Brewing Co. in Lakeside.

“They have different drinking habits than the previous generation,” he said. “This is the generation that thinks a $5 cup of coffee is normal. They’re looking for quality, not quantity.”

Instead of being interested in “slamming a six-pack”, Britz said today’s younger generation is more interested in finding a quality, unique beer they enjoy drinking, much like the way people sip a glass of wine after a long day at work.

Because of this, those in the brewing industry believe craft beer is here to stay.

Josh Townsley, owner of the Tamarack Alehouse in Lakeside and president of the Montana Brewers’ Association, was one of several sponsors who helped get Britz’s farm operational last year. Montana alone currently boasts 53 craft breweries, and according to Townsley, the state can expect to be home to around 61 breweries by the end of 2015.

Townsley said one of the biggest obstacles for Montana craft brewers is finding locally grown hops. While the weather and climate in Montana is well-suited to grow hops, many farmers choose to stay away from them because of expensive start-up costs and the fickle nature of hops. However, Britz’s 1-acre farm has been successful during its first two years, and he plans to add 30 additional acres over the next two years.

“Seeing locally grown hops and all-Montana ingredients has been an interesting experiment and well worth the risk,” Townsley said, adding that the ability to create craft beers made completely from ingredients grown in Montana has been a huge selling point for brewers. “Everybody wants a piece of Montana.”

Because Britz is one of the few hops farmers in the state, the supply of all-Montana grown hops is still small. Many breweries continue to get hops from large-scale farms in Washington and Oregon.

Smaller-scale hops farms across the country are trying to make connections with breweries.

To help make these connections, the Hops Growers of America formed. Ann George, the executive director of the association, developed a small council of growers to address the problems hops farmers face and provide solutions.

Britz recently was elected the voting member at large for the council, and the group is beginning to look at the next steps to help connect growers and brewers.

“It’s a leap of faith to get started,” said Britz, whose farm has been in a field trail to evaluate the feasibility of commercial hops production in Western Montana.

“But it’s exciting to see growers taking that risk,” George said.

Right now, members of the association are only from Washington, Oregon and Idaho, where the states have created a statewide growers’ association that encompasses every grower in the state. The association is beginning to create individual memberships so growers in different states can join.

The association also is trying to connect all growers to get an accurate count of how many hops farmers there are in the country and what strains of hops they grow.

Once hops farmers are linked within an association, it will be easier for brewers to find the right hops farms. The group also hopes to create Web-based material for those who want to grow hops but don’t know where to start.

This will all take time, but both Britz and George are confident the association is a step in the right direction for better hops farming and brewing.

“The good news is that we are here at the table getting started,” Britz said. “It’ll take baby steps, but in the end, it’s all about the beer.”

In the 1960s and 1970s large, national breweries ruled the hops, with no room for small-town breweries. However, with the continuing growth of the craft beer industry across the country, the larger breweries are beginning to fall behind while craft breweries are flourishing.

“Big breweries were originally looking down their noses at us, saying it’s just a passing phase,” said George about the craft beer industry. “But now, they’re joining in and buying craft breweries to remain relevant.”

Over the past year, national brewery Anheuser-Busch purchased Seattle-based Elysian Brewing, New York-based Blue Point Brewing and Bend, Oregon-based 10 Barrel Brewing. In 2011, the company also bought Chicago’s Goose Island Beer Company.

Reporter Brianna Loper may be reached at 758-4441 or by email at bloper@dailyinterlake.com.