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Ground Up is a series by 1:1 Studios designed to spotlight Missoula's entrepreneurs who are building their businesses and community from the ground up. Each installment dives into the challenges and insights of local ventures, bringing you the stories of the people cultivating them.

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Thirty people showed up to the first meeting of OddSmut Club, a romance book club hosted at a brewery just off Kent Avenue. By the next day, seventy-five more had signed up.

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This is OddPitch Brewing. If you’ve never pictured yourself hanging out at a brewery, that’s sort of the point.

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Walking Off the Cliff

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The idea started fourteen years ago, five blocks from where OddPitch now stands. Gabe was drunk, homebrewing for the first time, when he decided he was going to open a brewery in Missoula. He didn't know what kind of beer he'd make or what the place would look like. He just knew he loved the culture and history surrounding beer, and he wanted to build something around it.

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Eight years later, he found the spot on Kent Avenue. He met with the landlords, discussed terms, took the lease home that night. One problem: he had maybe $10,000 in the bank.

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"I called my Dad, excited and scared out of my fucking mind," Gabe recalls. "I told him I loved the location, but I have no means to make this dream come true. 'Why would I sign a lease when I don't have any money?!'"

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His dad's response: "Gabe. You're looking over the edge of a cliff right now. And you can't see the  bottom. But you know, you're going to be ok when you land. Just walk off."

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Gabe signed the lease that night.

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More Than Good Beer

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"When you open a brewery you want to believe, 'All I have to do is make good beer and everyone will come!'" Gabe says. "Or at least, that's what I thought, briefly."

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The beer matters. Jacob Principe, OddPitch's head brewer, makes some of the best Gabe has tasted in thirteen years in the industry. If they wouldn't drink it, they don't serve it.

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But a good product isn't enough. A brewery has to be an experience. So Gabe built OddPitch around the things he actually cares about: pinball, board games, comic books, nerd culture. 

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The pinball lineup is a curated mix of old and new machines. The graphic novels on the walls came from Gabe's own collection. Every beer name has a story. Every label includes an Easter egg.

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"OddPitch might seem a little wacky from the outside," Gabe admits. "But the consideration, intention, and heart that has gone into every inch of OddPitch is staggering."

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"OddPitch is me," he says. "I put myself into it, so others could know they too can have a pint at the bar, and just simply be themselves."

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The Regulars

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When the dust settled after the grand opening, Gabe looked around and saw something unexpected: strangers.

"I was like, 'Who are these people? I don't know them. Why would they be here?'" he recalls. "And it's because they wanted to be at OddPitch. They liked what we had to offer, and they were there."

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Some kept coming back. OddPitch was the first place in Montana to host official IFPA (International Flipper Pinball Association) tournaments. What started as six to eight players a week has grown to sixteen or more, with warmer months bringing upwards of thirty. The Zoo Town Pin Pals, who meet twice a month, use an inclusive definition of women, welcoming cis, trans, and nonbinary players who identify with womanhood. This year, Montana sent its first Women's State Champion to Nationals.

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Beyond pinball, there's weekly trivia, bingo, and OddSmut. People form friendships inside the brewery and continue them outside of it.

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"We are doing things that we are passionate about and it's contagious," Gabe says. "We don't want to force things just to build a 'community.' There is intention behind everything, and we want to have a great time doing it."

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What’s Next

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The long-term vision is specific: a second production facility and taproom somewhere else in town. The original location gets a beer and wine license, production moves out, a bar goes on the other side. Late-night barcade, the likes of which Midtown Missoula has never seen.

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But he's not chasing scale for its own sake.

"I'd rather have people upset that they can't get OddPitch beer than people upset that they have more OddPitch beer than they know what to do with."

Ask him if OddPitch has finally gotten off the ground and he'll tell you he's not sure. "I still don't feel like we are off the ground. But I feel like we are REALLY close to hovering."

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Either way, the hardest working employee at OddPitch Brewing is still Ole Blue (the pallet jack Gabe bought before anything else). 

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Connect with OddPitch:

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Website

Instagram

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