Melvin Brewing Brings Home the Gold

The Great American Beer Festival held each year in Denver is a beer enthusiast’s paradise. Started in 1982, the event features more than 750 breweries from around the country pouring 3,800 different beers. The popularity of the festival has reached epic levels as well, with tickets now selling out within hours of being released and this years event attracting over 60,000 people. For the breweries involved, each submits a selection of its beers to be rated by a panel of judges. This year there were 92 categories for submissions, ranging from common styles such as IPA’s or pale ales to categories such as chocolate or smoke beer.

Brewer Kirk McHale with his new hardware

Brewer Kirk McHale with his new hardware

This year, Melvin Brewing cleaned house, taking home three medals. Their ChCh-Cherry Bomb won gold for best fruit beer, they snagged a bronze in the fresh hop category for their Melvin IPA, and also took home the coveted Small Brewpub and Small Brewpub Brewer of the Year award.

Kirk McHale, head brewer, and Jamie Morris, general manager of Thai Me Up, were all smiles when I got a chance to sit down with them last week. “We are proud to be from Jackson,” Morris says. “This will always be our heart and soul.” The recognition could not have come at a better time for the brewery, with their new expansion facility in Alpine scheduled to be up and running in a couple months. The new brewery will be a huge upgrade from their current 170 square foot spot inside Thai Me Up.

With plans to grow distribution throughout the Rocky Mountain region and the Pacific Northwest in the coming months, you will hopefully be seeing some of your favorites like 2×4 and Killer Bees on tap well beyond Jackson. With the new brewing system in place you can also expect to see the tap list at Thai Me Up filled up with 20 or more Melvin beers when everything is online, allowing for more of the great experimentation that started the whole thing.

Chris Hogberg

Food and cooking has been a great travel buddy for Chris, finally taking root in Jackson. Originally from Seattle, Chris enjoys rainy walks to get coffee, cold dark beers, and cozying up in a warm restaurant kitchen. He has a background in marketing but has spent most of his days working in fine dining behind the line. Now you can find him selling hummus, perusing the farmers markets, or mountain biking behind his Aussie Shephard, Zephyr.

Terra
Tom Evans
Haagen Dazs