New Belgium beer enters WV market Monday

New Belgium Brewing Company beer hits West Virginia restaurants and retailers beginning Monday, February 22. West Virginia becomes the 41st state to receive the line.

New Belgium will initially introduce five brands to the WV market. Fat Tire Amber Ale, Ranger IPA, Slow Ride Session IPA, Citradelic Tangerine IPA, and the spring seasonal, Hoppy Blonde Ale. Products will be available in draft, bottles, and cans.

The initial shipments to WV came from New Belgium Fort Collins, Colorado brewery. Future shipments of beer shipped to West Virginia will come from the company’s brand new, $140 million state-of-the-art brewery in Asheville, NC. Once the Asheville brewery is fully online, the brewery will send additional brands to the state. WV distributors expect the Lips of Faith series and other beers, such as Rampant Double IPA and Snapshot Belgian-style tart wheat beer, to arrive here within the next two months or so.

New Belgium’s launch follows quickly on the heels of Oskar Blues, Devils Backbone, and Lagunitas—all major craft brands that have launched in WV within the past six months. New Belgium officials recognized the rapid growth in craft beer sales here, and wanted to strike while the iron was hot.

“New Belgium is very excited to join a growing craft beer scene in West Virginia and hopefully establishing ourselves as one of the industry leaders within the state,” said New Belgium’s Area Manager Ryan Kurtz. “We’re gradually making our way to more places in the east and we look forward to toasting with new friends in West Virginia.”

Retailers enjoy preview in Huntington

Eagle Distributing Co./Triple Crown Beverage Group hosted a New Belgium preview on Thursday evening, Feb. 18, in Huntington. It gave the region’s retail licensees an opportunity to familiarize themselves with the five new brands entering the state.

Nick Williams, general manager of Triple Crown Beverage Group, says New Belgium’s intro to the state will be a big deal for the local beer market. Williams speaks from experience on this topic since his Triple Crown Beverage Group has been New Belgium’s distributor in parts of eastern Kentucky for the past couple of years.

Jeff McKay, owner of the craft-centric Summit Beer Station, agrees with Williams and also calls New Belgium a “game changer” for wholesalers and distributors. He expects New Belgium’s emphasis on cold delivery, tap maintenance, and line maintenance will help focus distributors on product quality because that is such huge priority for the brewery.

Taking note of the wide range of beer—from the popular Fat Tire to the high-end Lips of Faith series—McKay believes the state doesn’t really have another brewery that spans the breadth of product that New Belgium does.

“We’re going to have the Lips of Faith, the sours, the barrel-aged beers that West Virginia hasn’t really seen yet,” McKay says. “I think Fat Tire will blow out just like Yeungling did the first year,”

Beer retailer Suzanne Brady, owner of Bottle & Wedge at Heritage Station, agrees with McKay’s assessment of New Belgium’s immediate impact.

“I have about five to ten people a week come in asking if I have Fat Tire,” she says. “I’ve owned this shop for a year and a half and not a week’s gone by that someone hasn’t come in and asked, “Do you have Fat Tire?”

Brady says Huntington’s craft beer market has grown exponentially in the past year.

“Last January, it started when Terrapin came in and it has just continued to grow with new, big, well-known breweries coming in.”

Nick Roberts, beer director for Le Bistro and Cellar Door restaurants, is also excited for the launch.

“We’re hosting Flights & Bites, on Wednesday night, doing New Belgium beer flights with little food pairings,” he says. “New Belgium’s huge around the country, and we’re really excited to get them in the state.”

Upcoming Tap Takeovers

Several craft-beer focused on-premise licensees across the state will host New Belgium tap takeovers this coming week. Among these are:

Monday, Feb. 22. 4pm– close
Summit Beer Station
Heritage Station, Huntington

Monday, February 22, 6-10pm
Apothecary Ale House & Café
227 Chestnut St, Morgantown

Wednesday, February 24, 5-8pm
Pies & Pints
222 Capitol St, Charleston

Monday, February 22, 5-8pm
Glory Days Grill
190 Oak Lee Dr, Ranson

Tuesday, February 23, 5-9pm
Pies & Pints
1002 Suncrest Towne Centre Drive, Morgantown

Tuesday, Feb 23, 6 to close
Black Sheep Burrito and Brews
1555 Third Ave., Huntington

West Virginia’s New Belgium distributors

New Belgium is distributed by the following beer wholesalers in West Virginia:

• Capital Beverage Company, Charleston
• Northern Eagle Inc., Romney/Morgantown
• Wine and Beverage Merchants of West Virginia, Weirton
• Eagle Distributing Company, Huntington
• The American Beer Company, Smoot/Princeton
• Jefferson Distributing Company, Martinsburg

Tasting notes on the initial lineup

Citradelic Tangerine IPA

The brewery calls this beer a kaleidoscopic wave of happiness. The primary Citra hop flavors are enhanced with real tangerine. Other hops include tangerine-like Mandarina Bavaria, tropical Azacca, and fruity Galaxy. A touch of malty sweetness for balance.
6.0% ABV; 50 IBUs

Slow Ride Session IPA

Golden color, easy drinking session ale. A blend of eight shop varieties, led by Mosaic and Nelson Sauvin, gives brilliant tropical scents of melon, lime, and grapefruit.
4.8% ABV; 40 IBUs

 Ranger IPA

Rich deep amber/copper color with a delicious hopping that includes Cascade, Chinook, and Simcoe. Citrus over dark caramel malts.
6.5% ABV; 70 IBUs

Hoppy Blonde Spring Seasonal

Refreshing, light, soft malt base. Hops provide vibrant notes of mango, lemon, blueberry, and pine. Dry-hopped with Mosaic, UK Admiral, and Centennial.
5.75% ABV; 45 IBU

Fat Tire Amber Ale

Brilliant amber color. Toasty, gentle taste. Aroma of biscuit and caramel apple. Mild bitterness. Good food-pairing beer.
5.2% ABV 18 IBUs

New Belgium – a standout craft brewer

One of the best-selling lines, New Belgium follows only Boston Beer Co. (Sam Adams) and Sierra Nevada as the top-maker of craft beer in the nation. New Belgium Brewing is recognized as one of Outside Magazine’s Best Places to Work and one of the Wall Street Journal’s Best Small Businesses. The 100% employee-owned brewery is a Platinum-level Bicycle Friendly Business as designated by the League of American Bicyclists, and one of World Blu’s most democratic U.S. businesses, and a Certified B Corp.

New Belgium brews fourteen year-round beers: Fat Tire Amber Ale, Citradelic Tangerine IPA, Ranger IPA, Rampant Imperial IPA, Shift Pale Lager, Slow Ride Session IPA, Snapshot Wheat, Sunshine Wheat, 1554 Black Ale, Blue Paddle Pilsner, Abbey Belgian Ale and Trippel and a gluten-reduced line, Glutiny Pale Ale and Glutiny Golden Ale.

The seasonally-changing Lips of Faith series is very popular with avid craft beer fans. It includes the stand-out La Folie Sour Brown Ale, Le Terroir Dry-hopped Sour, and the new Barleywine, along with many other seasonal specialty releases.

New Belgium also has a regular-priced line of seasonals that tend to vary over time rather than repeat annually. Over the past year, the seasonal beers have included Hoppy Blond, Side Trip Belgian-style Pale Ale, Accumulation White IPA, Pumpkick (tart pumpkin beer), and Long Table Farmhouse Ale.

Learn more about the brewery here.