Huntley brewery takes silver at 2021 Great American Beer Festival

Huntley’s Sew Hop’d Brewery was awarded a silver medal at the 2021 Great American Beer Festival competition for its ALT140, a German-style altbier that the brewery describes as “a light, crisp and malty beer that pairs well with all foods.”

The competition, presented by the Brewers Association, judged the best beers in 97 categories covering 175 different beer styles, according to a news release. The winners of the gold, silver and bronze medals were recognized last month at a ceremony at the Bellco Theatre in Denver during the Craft Brewers Conference, which was livestreamed on The Brewing Network.

Sew Hop’d Brewery is a 400-plus barrel microbrewery in Huntley that “prides itself [on] creativity and tradition to appeal to everyone who loves fresh craft beer,” according to the release.

“We take pride in brewing our German-style beers as close as possible to the beers brewed in Germany by using only German grains, yeast strains and noble hops,” said Doug Vandewalker, the brewery’s head brewer and co-owner.

Judging took place in 34 sessions over 17 days, with 170 judges evaluating 9,680 entries from 2,192 breweries located in all 50 states plus Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico.