KettleHouse Brewing Co’s Myrtle Street taproom is lived-in, but not in a way that feels shabby. Stubborn, decades-old houseplants flank a cozy couch of indeterminate original color, and fading stickers suggesting you “get off the internet” and “keep Missoula weird” cover the coolers. Until recently, the Missoula, Montana brewery had three taprooms; the second-oldest, the North Side taproom, closed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The South Side one—you’ll rarely catch locals calling it by its proper Myrtle Street name—is the O.G., and it perseveres.
I can’t remember when I met assistant manager Alena DeMillo; she just always seemed to be behind the bar, smiling. Even now, as KettleHouse recently reopened with limited curbside and delivery service, I can tell Alena has a grin on behind her colorful cloth mask as she packs up orders. She’s never not smiling—not when tipsy customers come through the door five minutes before last call, not when the line for growler fills is six people deep on a Thursday night, and not even in the midst of a pandemic.
I can’t imagine being that gracious. “Grace” is actually the word Alena uses when I ask how she’s dealing with customers who are perplexed by the new curbside system: “I’m just trying to have a lot of grace with that and make sure people get what they need,” she says. Working in the service industry is tough, even at neighborhood spots like the South Side that draw a lot of regulars. Just getting through a shift feels Herculean some days, let alone getting through it with grace and a sincere smile.
Seven years as a bartender at KettleHouse have given Alena a deep familiarity with the place; I wouldn’t be surprised if she could do her job blindfolded. When the taproom was still open, she was everywhere at once: refilling a glass, dispensing dollar bowls of Chex Mix, bobbing her head to a Lauryn Hill song that shuffled on the playlist, suggesting an off-menu beer blend (try half-Eddy Out Pale Ale and half-Double Haul IPA).
She missed the regular customers when the taproom was closed. Even now, with limited hours to fill to-go and delivery orders, Alena is glad to be back—it allows her to check up on many of those same regulars. She’s doing some dog-walking to stay busy, and cooking all the time—a treat, she says, for someone who always works nights.
She won’t see a taproom packed with people anytime soon. Montana governor Steve Bullock allowed bars, taprooms, and restaurants to reopen May 4, though Alena says it’s likely KettleHouse will take a conservative approach to reopening. In the meantime, she’ll be filling growlers and crowlers of beer to-go as long as Missoulians keep buying them. And not to worry, Alena reassures me—she and the South Side’s brewer have been watering the taproom’s houseplants in the interim.
Words by Kate Bernot