USA, MT: Bonsai Brewing Project changes ownership

The last day of June was also the last day that Keela Smith and Graham Hart were owners of Bonsai Brewing Project, the business they started in Whitefish over 12 years, Whitefish Pilot reported on July 9.

The beloved brew pub opened at a funky location in the Mountain Mall before moving to its current location on the corner of Wisconsin Avenue and Denver Street. The quality beers and freshly prepared food, along with the large yard and welcoming atmosphere, made Bonsai a favorite of locals and tourists over the years.

“For us, it felt like the right time to move on and do something different,” said Smith. “I think rather than us lose our heart in it and just let it falter because we're not putting the care into it, we [thought] it's time to let someone else take the torch and put some care into it.”

Smith and Hart were born and raised in Whitefish and currently live in Columbia Falls. They have no plans to leave the area.

“We're going to stay around. Both of our families are still here,” Smith said. “I don't know what we're going to do next, to be honest. I want to take a beat, and I want to travel some.”

Running the popular brewery has not afforded the couple time to spend time off, either to camp or take international trips. Other than some well-deserved rest and travel, the two have no concrete plans for the future.

"We don't have any plans yet, other than letting the wind take us kind of for a little while,” she said.

The new owners are from the United Kingdom. Daniel Wright and his business partner and aunt, Charlotte Lubert, typically work in real estate, namely eco residency, but decided to focus on an ongoing business that is part of the community.

Wright and his wife, Jordan, have lived in Whitefish full time for almost five years, during which time, they welcomed their daughter, Florrie. The Wrights will run the business, and Lubert, will oversee the operations from her home in the UK and her business base in Los Angeles.

“We first came here in 2017 on holiday, [and] this is one of the places we came in,” said Wright of Bonsai. “I was like, this is cool.”

The new owners have brought in Marty Vollmer, who was the assistant brewer for many years at Sacred Waters Brewing Company in Kalispell.

“Marty's lovely,” Lubert said.

All the Bonsai beer recipes will stay with the business.

“Graham’s been helping Marty learn the system, brew the Lil Blonde Honey, Due North, some of the classic ones, Initiation,” Wright said. “We’re going to try to get ... four flagship beers that are always on tap ... the rest of the beers, we’ll do some of the regular classics and whatever Marty comes up with.”

The new owners said they are not looking to make changes to the Whitefish brew pub right away, and all the staff will remain.

“Graham and Keela have done an incredible job of creating this business and we don’t want to change anything at the moment,” Lubert said. “We’re going to be learning from them. We’re going to be figuring out what works, what maybe could be tweaked and improved upon.”

Wright said Bonsai is a big part of the community and to keep it open year-round it would help to have an indoor kitchen. Another long-term goal is to expand beer production.

For now, Wright and Lubert would like the community to come and say hello.

“We feel lucky that we found these guys to be able to take it because I have confidence in them,” Smith said. “They've been great to work with. I want it to be easy transition, and I look forward to seeing what they do and seeing the things that they can improve upon and change.”