WV Beer & Barrel Trail updated for new license year

Gone from the WV Beer & Barrel Trail with this update are some long-time favorites. Added are one brewery and one winery, although a couple more breweries are expected to be added before the end of the year. 

New to the trail map are Walton Mountain Brewing in Walton and MonValley Winery in White Hall. Walton Mountain was licensed earlier this year and, more recently, began offering its made-on-premise brews to customers. MonValley Winery has been operating a Marion County vineyard for quite a few years but now is making wine out of its own grapes.

Most significant among the deletions to the WV Beer & Barrel Trail were Heston Farm in Fairmont and Blackwater Brewing Company in Davis.

Heston Farm closes for good

The Heston family, led by patriarch Mickey Heston, operated both Heston Farm Winery and Pinchgut Hollow Distillery on their farm next to Fairmont. When Heston Farm was put up for sale earlier this year, they had ceased producing new goods but continued operating their wine and spirits retail store through the end of the license year (June 30).

With a location right off I-79, Heston Farm was probably the most successful destination winery and distillery operation in the state. Heston Farm included a wine and spirits tasting room & bottle shop, gift shop, popular restaurant, and event center. Its attractive building and grounds became a sizable tourist attraction. For a time, Heston even planned to open a brewery there. Heston Farm wines were once in distribution statewide and were prominent in volume retailers such as Walmart and Kroger. It’s Pinchgut Hollow distilled spirits were found in liquor retailers across the state. The owner’s declining health and frustration with the state’s restrictive liquor laws contributed to the decision to close the business.

Blackwater Brewing turns off its taps

Blackwater Brewing Company was a staple of West Virginia’s brewpub scene that harkened back to an earlier era of local craft beer. Opening in 1998 at Davis, the business was the first of three breweries to be established in eastern Tucker County. Back in the day, it brewed simple ale styles popular in 1990s, such as a basic blonde, porter, stout, and American wheat. In its most recent edition (since 2012), brewer/owner Lincoln Wilkins turned it into a home for his European-style session beer. Usually featured were his easy-drinking Alt Bier, Pale Ale, and Kölsch. He augmented those with some more-complex flavored brews featuring local ingredients, such as his Angus Macker Hardy County Sweet Stout, Indigenous IPA, and Goldenrod Gold Ale. A couple of months ago, Wilkins decided to hang up his brewers boots and take a full-time job with a major pharmaceutical company, an industry in which he worked for many years before owning the brewery.

Brilliant Stream will miss Mickey and Lincoln. They added intelligent energy to the state’s craft beverage industry. You could always count on both for interesting conversation and insights into the current state of affairs. They were straight shooters. Neither was afraid to speak his mind, even if some of those comments might not prove popular with all their industry peers. In coming months, there will be new brewery, winery, and distillery owners added to the fold, but they will not replace Lincoln and Mickey.

Also gone from the trail are Lost River Brewing Company in Wardensville and Mash Brewing in Charles Town. Both closed in early 2018.