Bad Shepherd brewery now official

Let’s welcome West Virginia’s newest brewery to the flock. Bad Shepherd Beer Company of Charleston is now officially licensed.

Bad Shepherd is a spin-off of the Black Sheep Burritos restaurant group. The brewery was founded and formerly operated as the Charleston Brewing Company. Bad Shepherd bought Charleston Brewing in September and the new company has been going through the brewery licensing process. Its final permits were issued this week.

While the brewery is a separate business from the restaurants, it will continue to operate in the space right next door to the Charleston Black Sheep location. At least initially, Bad Shepherd brewery will not have its own beer outlet, but will sell all its production through the restaurants. The complete line-up of Bad Shepherd beers will be available in the Black Sheep Burritos restaurant locations.

The first Bad Shepherd beer

Bad Shepherd’s first beer is the Bitter Santa, a big-time dry-hopped red IPA that portends more hoppy things to come. Bitter Santa features Equinox and Azacca, two of the newer hop varieties, that when dry-hopped, provide lots of fruit and little bitterness. While there are some nicely toasted malts included, they are modest in impact. The hops are definitely the star here.

Ross Williams to lead brewing

Brewery proprietor Patrick Guthrie has hired Ross Williams to lead the brewing at Bad Shepherd. Previously, Williams spent several years learning the brewing ropes at Morgantown Brewing Company.

Williams also brewed the final beer under the Charleston Brewing Company license and in addition to Bitter Santa, it should provide a little insight into Bad Shepherd beers to come.

It was a take-off on CBC’s highly respected Raj IPA called Baby Raj. A bit lighter in bitterness, body and alcohol than the original, Baby Raj is dry hopped with Mandarina Bavaria giving it a touch of tangerine. It has all the complexity you would expect in a beer carrying the Raj moniker.

Two weeks until the brew bonanza

This week, Williams commenced brewing  in earnest trying to fill all the fermentation tanks in the brewery. In about two weeks, Bad Shepherd should be releasing a bunch of these new beers.

You will definitely want to stop in then and sample Williams’ stuff. You should surely be able to find something to elevate your Holidays.

More information

For more information on Bad Shepherd beer releases follow Black Sheep Burrito and Brews at The Brewery Facebook Page.