A little brewery in North Idaho took a big step over the weekend at this year’s Great American Beer Festival.

Kootenai River Brewing in Bonners Ferry brought home a bronze medal for its McGreagor Scottish Ale from the nation’s largest beer event, held every October in Denver.

It was definitely a surprise, said co-owner Mike Naumann: “We’re excited about getting a bronze at GABF. That’s pretty big.”

Only three other Inland Northwest breweries have won medals at the festival since it started in 1983: Coeur d’Alene Brewing in 1988, and both No-Li and Laughing Dog two years ago.

Kootenai River, which opened in August 2011, first participated in the festival last year.

The McGreagor – named after Montana’s Lodge at McGregor Lake, which carries Kootenai River beers – is relatively light, at 5.2 percent alcohol by volume and 25 International Bitterness Units. It previously won a gold medal in June at the North American Brewers Association Awards in Idaho Falls.  

It will be pouring at a pair of Spokane events later this month: the National Multiple Sclerosis Society’s OktoBrewFest on Oct. 18, and a Kootenai River beer dinner Oct. 26 at Hills’ Restaurant and Lounge (more on that here).

Naumann, a former Boundary County sheriff’s detective, owns the brewpub with his brother, Don. The brewmaster is Joe DeVita, a former Laughing Dog apprentice.

Other GABF winners

Some familiar beers from around the region also earned awards in Denver.

A pair of longtime mainstays, Pyramid Apricot and Widmer Hefeweizen, won gold and silver, respectively. On the stronger side, Alaskan Smoked Porter bagged a bronze.

Seattle’s Fremont Brewing brought home silver medals for both its Bourbon Barrel Aged Dark Star imperial oatmeal stout (always a hit at Spokane’s Inland NW Craft Beer Festival) and its all-Amarillo Summer Ale.

In Idaho, Grand Teton took a silver for its Ale 208 – made with Idaho-grown grain and hops – and Sockeye snagged a bronze for its Power House Porter. There’s more info on all the winners here.

Fresh Hop Ale Festival

For a second straight year, local brewers were shut out at the Fresh Hop Ale Festival awards in Yakima over the weekend.

Lagunitas, Kulshan and Fremont took the top three spots. Kulshan finished first and Fremont second last year.