The heat of the day gives way to the steam of the night in one of the world’s biggest, sexiest and most notorious cities. I am about half-drunk, just sober enough to stay safe, and I’m wantonly lost on a dangerous backstreet. The music spills out of the raucous neighborhood bars–incoherent rhythms stumbling across the sidewalks and into the street, bouncing harmlessly off each other like whiskey-soaked drunks too wasted to fight.   

Every year, at least two million people visit Yellowstone National Park. Many of them approach from the west, driving from Bozeman, Montana into the mountains along Highway 191 up the Gallatin River to the park entrance at West Yellowstone. But before you head upstream to Yellowstone, why not spend some time exploring Bozeman’s robust beer scene.

Like Montana itself, this loveable little city (pop. 40k) enjoys a high number of breweries per capita. In all, there are three breweries in Bozeman and two more in nearby Belgrade. What’s more, there’s an upscale pub offering a vast selection of beers from breweries across the state, which enables you to get a real taste of Montana without driving hundreds of miles from one brewery to the next.