(WBBM NEWSRADIO) --- A small, Huntley brewery won the highest medal at the Great American Beer Festival in Denver.
Sew Hop'd Brewery received a gold medal for their German-Style Altbier. The small suburban beer maker was one of four local breweries to earn a medal in the annual beer competition.
"We are over the moon about taking home the gold; it's a wonderful thing and gives our brewery some credibility," said Lance Lamb.
Lamb is a co-owner of Sew Hop'd. He opened the microbrewery with his friend, Terry Hitpas, four years ago.
"The German styles are one of the things we're very proud of," said Hitpas.
More than 2,000 breweries from across the country entered more than 9,200 different beers in 175 styles. Medals were awarded to 303 beers from 263 breweries.
In 2021, Sew Hop'd won the silver medal for the same German Style Altbier. The brewery specializes in German beer, offering 8 different varieties including German pilsners, kölsches, altbier and more
"One of our dreams was to put something in town that brought people to town, and to put Huntley on the map," said Lamb.
The two friends met while working in the sewing machine business, traveling across the world for their careers. They often found themselves working in Germany — and looking forward to sharing a pint.
"The beer at the end of the day would be the thing that gets us through it," said Lamb.
AnnMarie Welser
Their German coworkers took them to different brew pubs across the country. The fresh German beer was unforgettable but missing in the states. The pair began toying with the idea of starting their own microbrewery and came across an engineer at work who had a side hobby: home brewing.
"We all came together and said let's go for it," said Lamb.
The two friends partnered with brewer Doug Vanderwalker to create Sew Hop'd Brewery. Vanderwalker was stationed in Germany during his time in the Air Force and became an expert on the type of brews.
"That's kind of why the backbone of Sew Hop'd is related to German style beers, all of us just absolutely love the different styles," said Lamb.
The history of the brewery location is as unique as its inception. Located in what used to be an old dairy production facility in the early 1900's, Sew Hop'd Brewery shares its home with Union Special.
Union Special is one of the only remaining industrial sewing machine manufacturers in the county. Sew Hop'd Brewery combines the never-say-die perseverance of the vintage manufacturer with the creativity of the new craft beer producers.
"Everything that we hoped it would be, it's turned out so far for the best," said Hitpas.
The Great American Beer Festival competition was judged by 250 beer experts from 10 countries. You can read more about Sew Hop'd Brewery and other winners here.
