Louisville’s Goodwood Brewing adds West Virginia markets

Goodwood Brewing Company of Louisville has opened several markets in West Virginia over the past month and a half. Brilliant Stream caught up with Scott Lykins, sales representative for Goodwood Brewing in Kentucky and West Virginia, and he filled us in on the details. 

In May, the brewery launched its first West Virginia distribution through Martin Distributing in Martinsburg that covers the Eastern Panhandle market. Last week it added Atomic Distributing of Huntington for the Huntington, Charleston, and Beckley markets.

“We’re real excited to be here,” Lykins said. “We launched our with Louisville Lager, Walnut Brown Ale, and Bourbon Barrel Ale, which I think are three great beers for this area.”

As the Goodwood brand get established here, the market will likely see more of their core brands and seasonals.

Goodwood was originally the packaged beer operation of Bluegrass Brewing Company. In 2015, they rebranded the entire brewery and brewpub to Goodwood Brewing Company, because as Lykins put it, “everything we do touches wood in some fashion.”

“We’ve got Louisville Lager that’s enhanced with white ash. That’s the wood the Louisville Slugger baseball bats are made out of. We’ve got a Spruce Tip IPA, a Goodwood Pale Ale that’s aged on Kentucky poplar, a Walnut Brown Ale, and a line of barrel-aged products: Bourbon Barrel Stout, Bourbon Barrel Ale, Brandy Barrel Honey Ale, and Red Wine Barrel Saison.”

The brewery is also known for using local ingredients — Louisville Lager is made from all-Kentucky grains — and the use of the local limestone water — the same water that helped make the Bluegrass area bourbons so famous.

“We’ve also got a Hemp Gose, a German-style sour aged on hemp that’s delicious,” he said. “But we can only sell it in Kentucky right now.”

Goodwood Tasting Notes

Goodwood Louisville Lager is the only beer brewed with 100% Kentucky-grown grains. And, in a tip of the cap to the wood used by their Louisville Slugger-making neighbors downtown, white ash is used to enhance the brewing. This results in a light-bodied, balanced lager with a sweet finish delivered by those Kentucky grains.
4.2 ABV/23 IBU

Walnut Brown Ale is an ale aged on oak with walnuts. Made with a brewing style that dates back to 16th-century England and using a blend of six choice malts and two English hops, it features notes of caramel, toasted biscuit, and chocolate with a finish that is pleasingly nutty.
6.0 ABV/31 IBU

Bourbon Barrel Ale is made by a process that produces a balanced, adjunct-free ale with delicious bourbon notes. This copper-toned beer is medium-bodied and malt-forward with a hint of sweet caramel. It finishes strong and dry with notes of vanilla and bourbon-soaked oak.
6.0 ABV/33 IBU

More info at the brewery website