First place: Chattanooga-brewed Scottish Pride ale

McHale's Brewhouse and Pub wins best beer honors at Great American Beer Festival

photo Adam Hale works on a batch of beer at McHale's Brewhouse.

IF YOU GOWhat: McHale's Brewhouse & PubWhere: 724 Ashland Terrace, ChattanoogaWhen: Monday-Thursday, 3 p.m. to 1 a.m.; Friday and Saturday, 3 p.m. to 3 a.m.; Sunday, 2 p.m. to midnightContact: 423-331-2919Online: www.mchalesbrewhouse.com

Sidney Hale takes a good drag off his cigarette, looks you in the eye and tells you exactly how big it is that his Ashland Terrace brewpub, McHale's Brewhouse and Pub, won a gold medal at this year's Great American Beer Festival.

"It's the World Series, man," he said.

A fitting analogy this time of year, and a solid point.

McHale's Brewhouse won gold at the 2014 Great American Beer Festival for its Scottish Pride beer, a traditional Scottish-style "80 schilling" drink. The festival took place the first weekend of October.

This year, 1,309 American breweries submitted 5,507 beer entries in the festival's competition. Beers were broken up and judged categorically.

McHale's Scottish Pride won out over 50 other Scottish-style ales.

Adam Hale, brewmaster at McHale's, is the brain behind the award-winner.

Wielder of a master's degree in classical guitar, inventor of a one-of-a-kind two-barrel brew system and cousin of McHale's owner Sidney, he spends many eight-hour days standing over the stainless steel kit in the side room at McHale's.

It's sure not fancy.

"Our equipment is so limited," he said while brewing this week.

But that makes this year's big win that much sweeter.

"It makes me excited what I can do with different equipment," he said.

Brewing equipment is expensive. The two-barrel system Hale brews with now represents upwards of $45,000 in capital.

But it's theirs. McHale's -- founded only four years ago -- owns its equipment and facility.

Bo Amos, vice president of marketing and sales, is tasked with taking the young brewery's products and selling them in a city with a reputation for having a higher-than-average beer IQ.

Which means Amos' job is a little tougher, and the beer has to be better, and McHale's has to know what it's doing.

For Amos, the light bulb moment came when a Chattanooga bar pulled a mega-brand beer tap to offer McHale's.

"I've got the best job of them all, just selling the beer," said Amos this week. "Because it sells itself."

Adam and Sidney Hale say it's the quality of ingredients used at McHale's that sets their beers apart.

The brewpub imports malt and hops from the United Kingdom. The malt comes from Scotland and the hops England.

"Because we're so small, we can get genuine ingredients," said Adam. "It makes a difference."

The 222-member judging panel at the Great American Beer Festival seemed to think so, too.

Still, the gold medal that Scottish Pride won is not a magic recipe for growth. At the end of the day, McHale's walked away from Denver far more popular than when they came and with more expert recognition, but that's about it.

The medal carries no monetary award, no exclusive endorsement or free marketing campaign.

Going forward, Sidney Hale says the brewhub has to get back to work, making good beer, doing the things it knows and the things that it got it here.

"This is all free and clear," he said this week, and discussed potential future plans to also purchase the Ashland Terrace property where McHale's sits.

"After that," said Hale, "it's a giant step to get bigger. You have to look for investors."

McHale's currently self-distributes inside Hamilton County. Going further would require more licensing, more equipment and maybe more personnel.

In the mean time, Hale said folks have been dropping by saying they heard about McHale's because of the Great American Beer Festival win.

"Before the medal, we were just one of hundreds and hundreds of breweries [at the festival]," he said. "We were pretty much ignored."

Now folks from Arkansas, North Carolina and California are making special effort to drop in.

"Immediately, we were rock stars," said Hale. "It felt amazing. Still does."

And oh yea, Hale added: McHale's is actively entertaining investor proposals.

Contact staff writer Alex Green at agreen@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6480.

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