Matchwood Brewing claims GABF bronze medal
Matchwood Brewing Company's Kennden Culp handpicks spruce tips for the Sandpoint brewpub's spruce tip pale ale. The seasonal offering recently won third-place honors in the 2022 Great American Beer Festival.
(Photo courtesy MATCHWOOD BREWING COMPANY)
Andrea Marcoccio of Matchwood Brewing Company gets help gathering spruce tips for the Sandpoint brewpub's spruce tip pale ale. The seasonal offering recently won third-place honors in the 2022 Great American Beer Festival.
Matchwood Brewing Company won a bronze medal at the 2022 Great American Beer Festival competition for its spruce tip pale ale. The specialty seasonal pale ale is brewed with fresh, handpicked spruce tips in partnership with local farmers and property owners.
SANDPOINT — Matchwood Brewing Company won a bronze medal at the 2022 Great American Beer Festival competition. Presented by the Brewers Association, GABF is the nation’s largest commercial beer competition and recognizes the most outstanding beers produced in the United States.
Matchwood Brewing Company was recognized in the herb and spice beer-style category for its spruce tip pale ale. The specialty seasonal pale ale is brewed with fresh, handpicked spruce tips in partnership with local farmers and property owners. The result is a pale ale that is bright and crisp with notes of citrus and pine.
A 10-barrel brewpub, Matchwood specializes in a diverse flight of English, German and American ales and lagers handcrafted with time-honored European brewing technique, pioneering hop blends and innovative brewing technology.
“We are honored and proud of our entire team,” Matchwood’s Kennden Culp said. “The most exciting part of this particular beer being awarded is the community and team effort that goes into its creation each year.”
From partnering with local farmers/property owners and handpicking the spruce tips to crafting, brewing and canning the beer with head brewer Josh Francis, Kulp said it is one of Matchwood’s favorite beers to make.
“Maybe just maybe all the community love and effort was the tipping point,” Culp said.
The top three winners were announced Oct. 8 at the GABF awards ceremony held in Denver, Colo. The competition featured 98 beer categories and covered 177 different beer styles
The 2022 GABF competition winners were selected by an international panel of 235 expert judges from 9,904 entries, plus 94 collaboration and 35 pro-am entries, received from 2,154 U.S. breweries.
“Each year the Great American Beer Festival showcases the best that American brewers have to offer,” said Chris Williams, competition director, Great American Beer Festival. “With more than 9,900 entries, this year’s competition was the most competitive to date. Congratulations to all the winners who truly demonstrated why the U.S. is the best brewing nation in the world.”
Matchwood Brewing is located at 513 Oak St. in Sandpoint. They can be found online at matchwoodbrewing.com.
