More WV breweries plan to open in 2016

2015 was a record year with four new breweries opening in West Virginia. We all thought that was great, right. Now, get ready for the 2016 beer rush. 

West Virginia entrepreneurs are busy with at least eight brewery projects that have a decent chance to open this year.

If that happens, it would be a 53% increase in the number of breweries operating here. Holy milk stout, brew fans. That’s nothing short of incredible.

In honor of our West Virginia brew-trepreneurs, here’s a little rundown of each project with a shot to open.

Town Run Brewing Company

Organized by the entrepreneurial husband and wife team of Todd Cotgreave and Jessie Shanholltz, Town Run Brewing Company is located in downtown Shepherdstown,

The business is already operating as a tavern and hopes to soon begin selling its own beer.

Town Run will start with a 1/2 barrel system and later move up to a 6 barrel brewhouse. The owners say they hope to have 25 different beers on tap with a large variety of styles.

Their restaurant is already operational and is well-known for its Farm-to-Table and comfort-food cuisine. Until the brewery opens they are rotating WV beers and some of the owner’s favorite craft specialties.

With historic Shepherdstown already popular as a tourist destination, Town Run Brewing will enhance the area’s reputation as a fun place to eat and drink.

Status Update: As of Sept. 10 this project is still going through the state licensing process. No other details available.

202A East Washington St.
Shepherdstown
Website

The Peddler Restaurant & Brewery

This long-awaited project is heavily in build-out at its downtown Huntington location. (We wrote about this project here on BrilliantStream last fall.)

Owners Drew and Megan Hetzer plan to be serving their own beer by fall 2016. The brewery will be augmented by a gourmet burger-led food menu. They also promise a nice arcade game area, so patrons can have some extra fun while enjoying their burger and brew.

The brewery is based around a 10-barrel system, which should provide sufficient capacity to supply their other restaurants as well as put a small amount in local distribution. Brewer Jay Fox is at work in the facility brewing pilot batches of beer.

The Hetzers, who also operate the neighboring restaurant, Backyard Pizza and Raw Bar, have already proven they can serve up a great plate of food. Now, all beer fans in the Tri-State area are anxiously anticipating their beer.

Status Update: On Sept. 9, the Peddler restaurant part opened for business, but the brewery did not. The brewery is still awaiting its state licenses. Word is, that shouldn’t be too long.

833 Third Avenue
Huntington
Facebook page 

Brew Keepers

Organized by longtime Wheeling homebrewer Kevin Ayres and his wife Carolyn, the seeds of this brewery project go back several years. They want to be a part of the booming craft beer market.

This downtown Wheeling brewery received its state license in July and is now open for business. It is currently offering samples and growler fills. It is also self-distributing to several area retail accounts.

Status Update: Now open for business.

Pinchgut Hollow Brewery

You read about this possible project on BrilliantStream last fall, but now it is a real, for-sure go. Heston Farm will add a brewery.

Mickey Heston and family already have one of the state’s sharpest tasting room operations for wine and whiskey. Very soon, they will add beer to their product list. They recently hired veteran brewer Josh Clarke as Head of Production for the new Pinchgut Hollow Brewery and other operations at Heston Farm.

Pinchgut Hollow Brewery will initially offer two beers: a Lager and a Double IPA. The target opening date is late-summer or fall. Clarke has been brewing test batches.

They will start brewing on a 10-gallon system with a 2-tap draft setup in the bar. As business grows, they will definitely expand the operation. For now, it’ll be in-house sales only due to the small-capacity equipment.

With brewery, winery, and distillery licenses in hand, Clarke says Heston’s will effectively become “the first triple-threat in the state.” It’s also the first brewery in the state with its own built-in barrel program.

“I’ll be incorporating our wine and whiskey barrels into my brewing process pretty heavily for special releases,” Clarke says.

Status Update: As of Sept. 10 this project is still going through the state licensing process. It has a good chance to open by mid-autumn.

1602 Tulip Lane
Fairmont
Heston Farm Website

Front Porch Brewing Company

To be located in the middle of historic downtown Charles Town, Front Porch Brewing Company will add an exciting new dimension to the city’s food & beverage scene.

Led by Josh Vance, who is moving his brewing status up from amateur to professional, expect Front Porch Brewing beers to have lots of character and, often times, lots of hops. Vance still has a good bit of work to do renovating the historic building and installing his brewing system. With any luck, Front Porch could be open for business by late this fall.

Word has come down the Barrel Trail that Mike Vance, formerly a brewer at Morgantown Brewing, has moved to Charles Town to make Front Porch a true family operation. This is great news as Mike was an accomplished brewer at Morgantown.

Front Porch Brewing promises to be a cozy little brewpub with a great location in WV’s Eastern Panhandle.

Status Update: As of Sept. 10 this project is still going through the state licensing process. Licenses could be approved any time.

129 West Washington St.
Charles Town
Brewery Facebook Page

Parkersburg Brewing Company

Named after an old brewery that closed in 1912, Parkersburg Brewing Company promises to bring new life to a section of downtown Parkersburg. Revitalizing a block—that’s what craft breweries are good at. The brewery should bring foot traffic back to its part of town and provide the opportunity for other business to root there as well.

This brewery project is led by Justin Logue and Dan Curtis, a partnership that took form a few years ago after the two met in a local homebrewers group. They purchased their building and are busy completing building modifications and buildout.

They are installing a 7-barrel electric brewery and have six flagships to start. Expect an IPA, Black IPA, Pale Ale, Hefeweizen, Oatmeal Stout, and Brown Ale. In addition, they plan to have a sour program and regular seasonal/specialty beers. The guys will be hand pumping real cask ales, at times, in the taproom.

Parkersburg Brewing will initially offer only a light pub menu in order to keep focus on the brewing and beer quality. They plan to self distribute throughout the Parkersburg area. Three of the six flagship beers will be available through distribution.

Status Update: This brewery received its state licenses in August and will open for business Sept 17.

707 Market St.
Parkersburg, WV 26101
Website

Mash Brewing Company

Located in the historic downtown district of Charles Town, Mash Brewing Company will be operated by owner/brewer George Shaw.

Mash Brewing will start with a 1-barrel brewhouse. Look for a variety of popular American craft beer styles, IPAs, etc., but also Belgian-inspired brews. Shaw reports he plans to have beers infused with the “flavors of locally grown produce.” That could be real interesting.

Hopefully by late fall, you’ll find Mash beers sold in their own pub, plus at a few local bars and restaurants. Initially, their food service will mostly be ready-made snacks (popcorn, local pretzel vendor).

Status Update: As of Sept. 10 this project is still going through the state licensing process. No other details available.

122 N. George St.
Charles Town, WV 25414
Brewery Website link

Weathered Ground Brewery

Weathered Ground Brewery will the state’s first farm-oriented brewery. It is being developed on a 20-acre farm at Cool Ridge in Raleigh County (in the general vicinity of Glade Springs Resort and Winterplace ski area. Look for an opening late in the year.

Watered Ground is put together by Sam Fonda, who has been brewing for the past several years in Charlotte, most recently with Triple C Brewing Company.  He is installing a 7-barrel brewhouse at Weathered Ground and will include farm-raised ingredients in some of his beer. Fonda is best-known for making big, barrel-aged beers, but he also will develop funky farmhouse ales that fit with the theme of his new brewery.

Once open, the brewery will feature a spacious taproom inside a barn-like brewery building. Later, Fonda hopes to offer some of his brews to craft-oriented restaurants and bars in southern WV.

Status Update: As of Sept. 10 this project is still going through the licensing process. The brewery building is under construction. Opening possible by end of year.

2007 Flat Top Road
Cool Ridge, WV
Instagram: @WeatheredGroundBrewery
Brewery Facebook Page

Sophisticated Hound Brewing Company

Owner Matthew W. Barnett is developing this brewery project in Princeton, WV. No other details have been announced.

Pipestem Oktoberfest says it will be serving Sophisticated Hound beers on October 8.

Status Update: This brewery received its WV production brewery license on Sept. 9.

Pubstomper Brewing Company

Pubstomper began as the dream of several Morgantown homebrewers in 2014. Two of those guys, Christopher DeFazio and Cody Cheesebrough, decided to make the move to a pro-brewery.

In 2015, WVU students Cheesebrough and Defazio wrote a detailed business plan for Pubstomper and entered it in the West Virginia Collegiate Business Plan Competition. They ended up winning a $10,000 prize. With the help of this seed capital, they began organizing their brewery project.

On September 9, 2016, Pubstomper was awarded its WV production brewery license.  To our knowledge, no announcement has been made concerning its operational details. Their licensed address is the same as Morgantown Brewing’s production brewery in Westover.

Status Update: On Sept. 9, Pubstomper received  its WV production brewery license. Opening date is unknown.

Brewery facebook page

WV breweries charge ahead

2016 could easily become a record year for opening WV breweries. Beyond the seven projects described above there are other less-advanced projects that could take shape. Few other categories of industry show this kind of growth track. WV breweries are certainly on their way to becoming a more significant force in the state’s manufacturing sector.