Screech Owl Brewing expansion impressive

Screech Owl Brewing Company will soon have a greatly expanded operation that promises to be an absolutely delightful place to spend some time. The success of this little brewery in the mountains of eastern Preston County has led the owners to invest in a large expansion to their building and brewery operation. They hope to open the first phase of the expansion before the end of May.

Since they opened their original 900 sq. ft. building in September 2015, they say business has been strong and they just ran out of room.

“People were standing outside on Fridays and Saturdays,” said proprietor Roger Johnson, “so we needed a bigger place to accommodate everybody.”

From its start-up, Screech Owl has only been able to offer small samples and fill growlers to go.  With the expansion will come many more parts. Being added are:

• pints and flights
• a full-service restaurant with wine too,
• a 50′ x 10′ wraparound outdoor deck under roof,
• garage doors that will open to the outdoors in good weather,
• a spacious picnic area with recreation and play spaces
• new, much larger brewery equipment.

First to open will be an attractive restaurant space called the Spent Grain Cafe. The decision to add a brewery restaurant came down to serving their customers.

“Everybody wants to know if they could come out and sit down and have a pint of beer, and are you going to sell food,” said co-proprietor Christa Johnson. “That’s what everybody wants to know.”

The Spent Grain Cafe will operate as a counter serve operation, offering both indoor and outdoor seating. It will have a full kitchen complete with a grill and large ovens for making pizza and their namesake spent grain products: breads, pretzels, and pepperoni rolls. The spent grain products will also include a special ingredient: a dose of dark beer in each batch of dough. The menu will have other popular items such as beer-battered onion rings, and will feature seasonal vegetables and meats from local farms and the Preston County Coop. Morgantown chef Curtis Miers will head the kitchen operations.

As they cleared the property next to the building, they left some tree stumps that they will outfit with tabletops and use for outdoor picnic-style dining. They will set up spaces for a volleyball net, horse shoe pits, cornhole, and children’s play area. It will be very family friendly.

“We are a farm brewery,” Roger said, “We got chickens, cows; we got turkeys.” He says you’ll see an occasional chicken walk up to the brewery door looking for a handout of popcorn.

“People enjoy coming and seeing all the animals,”

On certain weekends, Roger plans to have special events with music and food. They are looking at some mountain bike and motorcycle themes. Down the road, they are thinking about adding some RV spaces on the farm to allow patrons to spend the night. While their location may seem a bit off the beaten path, they attract a much broader clientele than just local folks.

“We want to make it a destination,” Roger said. “We get people from all over the world now. Last week we had five people stop in from Boulder, Colorado.” 

Architectural features abound

The interior of the restaurant and bar contain several very cool architectural features. Part of the room is paneled with recycled metal roofing from a nearby barn. Ceiling lamps hang from recycled automobile hub caps; lamp shades are made from mason jars.

The gorgeous 20-seat bar will immediately grab your attention as you enter the room. The bar top was cut from a single log at a local sawmill. The front side of the bar is clad with sassafras paneling from a tree felled right on the Screech Owl farm.

Pints & flights

At the bar, the cafe will maintain 8 taps, six or seven of which will serve Screech Owl beers, but with always one or two guest taps for other West Virginia breweries. 

“Every month the patrons will get a little survey card where they can mark down what other West Virginia beer they’d like to have, and we’ll make an effort to get it,” Roger said.

They are currently interviewing for their head bartender position, seeking a person familiar with craft beer.

From trucker to brewer

After 21 years of driving a truck across the country, Roger decided it was time to begin a new chapter in his life. His children had grown up, married, and moved away from home. With truck driving keeping him on the road for weeks at a time, and he decided he needed an occupation that would keep him home with wife Crista. So Roger retired to start a brewery on their 70-acre farm in Preston County. He says he’s never worked so hard before in his life.

He got his start in brewing a number of years ago as a hobbyist beer and wine maker. Crista explains it as “a beer kit gone wild.”

“That’s how he actually got started,” she said. “I bought him a beer kit for Christmas.”

Roger says he just started brewing beer and people liked it. “It just took on a life of its own.”

It’s clear from talking with the couple, who met and became sweethearts at Glenville State College where they both graduated, that they are enjoying their business venture together. They relish the idea of offering their community a comfortable place to relax, dine, and enjoy a pint or two.

A brewery grows on the Allegheny plateau

“We started out here with a Sabco half-barrel system, brewing 12.5 gallons twice a day, seven days a week,” explained Roger about the beginning days of Screech Owl Brewing Company.

Soon, they bought their current brewing system — a 3.5 barrel system — on which they brew about twice a week. Utilizing their 4 fermenters and 4 bright tanks, they currently produce around 800 gallons of beer per month.

The variety of beer they make is broad and delicious, from IPA to strawberry ale. Beer fans have likely noticed a marked positive progression in their beers, as this brewery has tweaked its recipes and dialed in its brews. That is the sign of a brewery that strives for constant improvement.

Screech Owl has also been active in efforts to better the environment. This winter they teamed up with the West Virginia Land Trust to make Muddy Creek Ale, a beer promoting clean water. Muddy Creek Ale was voted the People’s Choice Award at the Cabin Fever Craft Beer Festival in Morgantown last February.

Screech Owl’s decorative ceramic growlers have been a huge hit. Coming out in November each year, they are nearly impossible to get your hands on. Sorry, but all of this year’s 90 units are already pre-sold.

The Johnson’s have received notice, not just from beer fans, but from others as well. Roger and Crista are being recognized this year as the Encore Entrepreneur of the Year in West Virginia by the Small Business Administration and the WV Small Business Development Center. That is quite an impressive honor.

Family members involved

During all the construction work on the new building, Roger largely moved over to be the builder. That left assistant brewer Kristin Johnson (Roger’s & Crista’s daughter-in-law) to handle most of the brewing chores. In that, she has performed admirably, Roger says. Her husband Jameson also helps out at the brewery making it a family affair.

Roger and Crista say they love having their family involved in the brewery work. One of their primary goals is building a business that will thrive and serve the next generation of Johnsons.

A brewery equipment upgrade coming

The next big step for Screech Owl will be a new 10-barrel brewing system that will initially double their production. That could come about by late summer or fall. The 10-barrel system will focus on supplying beers for distribution. Screech Owl will produce much of its variety pub beer on its half-barrel system.

Distribution has been a big part of Screech Owl’s success. Mona Supply Company in Monongalia County and Preston Silver Eagle in Preston County handle that aspect for the brewery.

“They take 95% of our product,” Roger says. “We have over 30 accounts in Morgantown alone selling our beer.”

Screech Owl’s most popular beers in distribution are the smooth and sessionable Old Blonde Ale (no. 1) and the hoppy Hoo’s Your Daddy IPA (no. 2). Brewery exclusive Wild Wonderful Strawberry Ale has been the hottest product for growler fills at the tasting room.

“We can’t make enough of this,” Roger says.

Once the larger brewing system is in place, they will not only be able to finally keep up with demand, but may also gradually explore a larger distribution footprint, possibly including bordering counties in Maryland and Pennsylvania.

When the new brewing system is online, they will also begin some small batch bottling. Screech Owl owns a 4-head bottler and will package special releases for at-the-brewery sale. Roger says they can package about 20 cases of bottles in an hour. He has the labels already designed.

There is a lot to look forward to at Screech Owl Brewing Company this summer. Sitting only about 7 miles down a quiet country lane (Cuzzart Road) from the I-68 Hazelton exit, or alternatively 13 miles from the Bruceton Mills exit, the brewery is easy to find and easy to get to, even though it feels like you are way out in the country. Pick a pretty day and head for the mountains.

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