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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Liberty Ciderworks win prestigious Good Food Award

Austin Dickey, and Rick Hastings launched Liberty Ciderworks in 2013. This year, they won a Good Food Award for one of their specialty ciders. They’re pictured here in a 2014 file photo. (Colin Mulvany / The Spokesman-Review)

Liberty Ciderworks has won a prestigious Good Food Award for its Heirloom Series McIntosh.

The Spokane cidery was one of 13 nationwide winners in this year’s cider category.

Its Heirloom Series McIntosh is made exclusively from McIntosh apples grown at Bishops’ Orchard in Garfield and the wild yeast found on the apples themselves.

That particular cider was poured as the exclusive pre-event beverage at the Jan. 11 awards ceremony, held at the San Francisco Performing Arts Center. Alice Waters was the gala’s honorary host.

The awards, in their ninth year, are part of the Good Food Foundation, which – according to its website – “exists to celebrate, connect, empower and leverage the passionate and engaged, yet often overlooked, players in the food system who are driving towards tasty, authentic and responsible food in order to humanize and reform our American food culture.”

This year, there were more than 2,000 entries in 16 categories. Three food crafters from each of the five regions – north, south, east, west and central – are usually selected as winners from a pool of finalists. Finalists this year represented 401 products from 40 states.

In all, Washington state had 19 winners this year – from Finnriver Farm and Cidery in Chimacum and Bow Hill Blueberries in Bow to Fran’s Chocolates in Seattle and, of course, Liberty Ciderworks in Spokane. The only other winner from the east side of the state was Blue Bus Cultured Foods in White Salmon

“We’re excited and honored to be part of Spokane’s emerging food and beverage scene, and to help elevate our region’s reputation as a place where some of the world’s finest wines, beers, distilled products and ciders are made,” said Rick Hastings, who co-owns Liberty Ciderworks with Austin Dickey.

Liberty Ciderworks, established in 2013, is at 164 S. Washington St., Suite 300. Call (509) 321-1893. On the web: http://libertycider.com/.

For a complete list of winners, visit https://goodfoodfdn.org/awards/winners/.