Mountaineer Brewfest shines for charity

Wheeling’s Mountaineer Brewfest takes a back seat to no other festival in West Virginia when it comes to supporting local charities. The festival raised an amazing $20,000 last Saturday for the Upper Ohio Valley Sexual Assault Help Center, Inc. In its five-year history, the festival has contributed a total of $70,000 to charity.

To see this kind of effort really tells you something about festival organizer Jeff Hayes, his committee, and the dedicated team of volunteers, especially those from the Circus Saints & Sinners community service club. Another great boost that helps make a large charity donation possible comes from the title sponsorship.

Wheeling Island Hotel-Casino-Racetrack has been the festival’s title sponsor since 2014. That support not only adds some great festival week events, such as the Thursday V.I.P. food and beer pairing dinner, but also helps underwrite part of the basic costs of putting on the festival. Those costs are not insignificant, and Hayes says there always seems to be another expense pop up, sometimes unexpectedly.

He relates that Friday night right before the festival they got hit operationally by a passing thunderstorm. “We lost four tents, so we had to go out this morning and buy some new tents,”

But then there can also be a silver lining. “We added two new sponsors for next year while we were standing there in the rain last night.”

Of the festival’s experience with Wheeling Island Hotel-Casino-Racetrack, Hayes says “It’s been a fantastic marriage.” One thing Hayes excels at is recruiting sponsors. Just about every aspect of the festival has a sponsor, from the individual beer tents to the bandstand. Overall, this makes a big difference, as a bevy of sponsors allows him to keep ticket prices reasonable and still offer a first-class event.

A beautiful site with beautiful sights

The festival site at Wheeling Heritage Port is just about perfect for the size event they conduct. Beginning at street level and then gently sloping down to the river shelf, the space provides great waterfront views. With around 1,800 festival attendees, the riverfront area never gets overcrowded. Rows of shade trees provide welcome relief from the hot afternoon sun. A long line of food vendors offers about as much variety as you’ll ever see at a beer festival in the state.

Circus Saints & Sinners Serve

The Circus Saints & Sinners service club helps with fund raising at Mountaineer Brewfest each year. This year more than 30 club members staffed an extra set of tents and tables where patrons could purchase full-pint pours. All the tips they collect, plus their matching sponsor’s donations, go directly to the designated charity. These guys did a great job.

Charity benefits from Brewfest

For the past 40 years the Upper Ohio Valley Sexual Assault Help Center has served victims of sexual violence in a five county region of the Northern Panhandle. As a small non-profit, money is always very tight, so the Mountaineer Brewfest donation is important to them. They say the extra funds will allow them to offer more services and help more affected individuals. The center provide 24/7 crisis intervention, victim advocacy, counseling, follow-up services, and prevention education. All their services are free to the public.

West Virginia breweries are the stars

Hayes has masterfully surmised that beer from West Virginia’s breweries will be the main attraction that draws the ticket-buying crowds. So, he makes all the West Virginia brewery tents easily accessible at the top the hill. This year, beer from 13 WV breweries was poured. Beer was also available from several regional and national breweries. The festival posted its offerings on Taphunter.

To help the breweries have fun too, the festival holds a little friendly beer competition. First place was Parkersburg’s Blonde on Blonde Ale, 2nd – Wheeling Brewing’s Nail City Porter, and 3rd – Brew Keeper’s DH Project Double IPA. Brew Keepers took home the People’s Choice Award as the attendee’s favorite overall. Brilliant Stream’s Beer Name Award also goes to Brew Keepers for its Jeff Hayze Affect, a New England-style pale ale sorta named after the brewfest’s president.

Festival Website Link