New owner, new plans at Greenbrier Valley

The biggest and best news by far to come out of the West Virginia brewing community this summer is the return of Greenbrier Valley Brewing Company to top-tier status. The investment by new owner Bill Heckel is putting much-needed fresh polish on an old favorite and positioning it for a great future run.

We’ve been a GVBC fan since it was in its planning stages. It’s been tough watching it struggle. Now, it’s the kind of resolution you hoped for but feared you’d never see. Local beer loving knight rides in on white horse and rescues brewery maiden in distress. They ride off together to better days. The village residents line the road and cheer.

Changes rumored last fall

Prior to this good news, GVBC had been through some rough waters. Things had appeared quite unsettled there for some time.

Word on the street last fall and winter was that the brewery’s majority owner was interested in selling. Then rumors hit that there was an interested buyer. You began hearing that former head brewer Brian Reymiller would return if the right person took over the brewery.

Over the past year, as ownership changes were brewing, some other good things also occurred. One was developing the relationship with Sam Walker-Matthews, first as a consultant, then as general manager. Walker-Matthews brought a common-sense business approach to the operation needed to help set a new direction. Another positive influence was the steady professional guidance of Charleston attorney Chuck Johnson, who had been retained by the new management team. And mention also needs to be made of the hard work of current brewer Will Gundmudsson for his strong efforts over the past two years, at times navigating tricky waters. Kudos to him also for developing the tasty Cardinal Red Scottish Ale and resolving production issues that arose.

Heckel is the man

By this spring, it became pretty common knowledge that Elkins resident Bill Heckel was the person who was working to purchase the brewery. Heckel had been one of the minority owners at the brewery, so he knew all about its financial and management struggles. Heckel wanted to buy out, not only the majority owner, but also those who held minority interests in the brewery. It took a period of months for all those transactions to be completed and for Heckel to pay off the brewery’s creditors.

While the consolidation was in process, Heckel went ahead and committed to the purchase of much-needed equipment and supplies. Heckel also directed management to begin an expansion project that would greatly enlarge the brewery cold room space. A large order for new beer kegs was placed.

In early July, GVBC announced the completion of the sale and officially introduced its new owner. Bill Heckel is a friendly, unassuming guy who knew the business well and saw it struggling. He believes GVBC is a company with great product that just needs a little push to get it to the next level.

His path to ownership was driven by his desire to see this gem regain its sparkle. Don’t let his unassuming demeanor fool you, though; this man has a strong will and determination. One can honestly say, he’s hit the ground running.

Busting production bottlenecks

Heckel says their first big job is getting more beer produced.

“Right now, we can’t fill our orders,” he said, explaining why he moved so quickly to get the new equipment ordered.

“We just brought in five 90-barrel fermentors, a 90-barrel bright, a new glycol chiller, a canning line, a new 1,600 sq. ft. walk-in cooler, 1,300 new kegs, and a new 3.5-barrel small-batch brewing system,” Heckel said as he recounted a few of the larger investments he’s made since taking over.

His new Cask brand canning line will run at 40 cans-per-minute and require the same staffing as their old 8 cans-per-minute equipment. In total, the above enhancements will get rid of production bottlenecks and allow the brewery to greatly increase production.

“We want to get to where we can fill our orders in West Virginia and focus primarily on West Virginia first,” he said. “As we fill-in West Virginia, then we’ll move to Virginia and D.C.”

Of course, ramping up production doesn’t happen overnight. And all the excitement surrounding the changes at GVBC has already attracted additional orders from distributors. Heckel says, while they can’t fill them today, to just give them about six weeks to get sufficient beer on the street. Once the West Virginia pipeline is filled, GVBC is committed to keeping it full. That is certainly good news to craft beer fans and retailers across West Virginia.

Investing in people

Heckel also wanted to shore up the staffing. He well knows that if you desire to be a top line brewery, you must invest in your people. Among the first things he negotiated was the return of respected former head brewer Brian Reymiller to serve as brewery director. Reymiller had not left the area, but had been brewing nearby for Devils Backbone Brewing in Lexington, Virginia. On August 6, Reymiller was officially back at GVBC.

Reymiller’s experience with Devils Backbone only makes his resume stronger, especially in the production of quality craft lagers, kettle sours, and fruited/flavored beer. It’s heard that Brian is bringing with him some ideas for new brews, which is not surprising at all.

Heckel also added fellow Elkins resident Alex Durand to the staff. Alex was formerly an all-around brewery and cellar assistant at Big Timber Brewing Company and was an occasional brewer at Brewstel.

Blending these two in with existing staff produces the following line-up.

Owner/President: Bill Heckel
Executive Vice President/GM: Sam Walker-Matthews
Brewery Director: Brian Reymiller
Head Brewer: William Gudmundsson
Brewery Operations Manager: Gary Vermillion
Assistant Brewery Operations Manager: Alex Durand
Cellar Manager: Travis Canterbuy
Canning Line Manager: Julia Gudmundsson
Outside Sales Rep: Jeff Bray
Tap Room Manager: Christina McDaniel
Communications Manager: Tanya hazelwood
Brewery Staff: James McLendon, JW Groseclose, Evan Metz

New beer, packages coming

Along with the new equipment and personnel will come new GVBC products. Heckel says he wants the brewery to have six beers out in distribution at all times. At least three of these would be the flagships of Devil Anse IPA, Mothman Black IPA, and Wild Trail Pale Ale.  An additional flagship could be added. Others will be seasonal releases, which will rotate with the calendar. Some of these seasonals will likely be their current Zona’s Revenge Wit, FestiveAle Kölsch, and Cardinal Red Scottish Ale. Others will be totally new ones. The brewery was not ready to announce exactly what the next new beer will be.

Expect to see Zona’s Revenge Wit start being packaged in cans, but maybe not before next spring. Others beer expected to be canned are Cardinal Red Scottish Ale and the FestiveAle Kölsch.

In addition to their preprinted aluminum cans, Heckel says they will use shrink-wrap can labels to allow the brewery to produce smaller runs of seasonal and one-offs. Sounds like a lot of new beer is coming. This is exactly what the ears of any craft beer fan loves to hear.

promise partially realized

For those who didn’t follow Greenbrier Valley Brewing Company’s business development history or are new to the story, GVBC’s plight was not particularly unusual for a start-up business. There were some bumps in the road, some related to financing, some to missteps, and some to personalities.

When GVBC started up in 2014, it showed great promise. It was the state’s most advanced production facility, capable of making incredible beer. It had the state’s most broadly experienced professional brewer. You might have though it poised to take over the state.

One crack appeared a year or so in when a planned, beautiful taproom space build-out was canceled and, instead, a few taps and picnic tables were quickly thrown together inside the brewery’s production area. After hitting home runs with its Devil Anse IPA and with being the first in the state to can its beer, the brewery seemed to lose momentum — just when you thought it would speed up. The purchase of some desperately needed tanks and an automated canning line were postponed. The brewery began to appear chronically under-financed.

Rumors flew about personnel unrest. A bombshell hit two years ago when head brewer Brian Reymiller, who had developed all their popular flagship brews, abruptly departed. Brewing was then left in the hands of a lightly experienced crew. Some folks began to believe that the beer quality and consistency gained a bit of variation. The brewery was haunted by earlier, maybe not-so-smart decisions on distributor selection. Distributors would say trucks sent to the brewery to pick up loads of beer would return home with less than what they ordered. Out-of-stock conditions became more common. Retail distribution suffered. Distributors grumbled. All the while, West Virginia craft beer consumers loved the brand. Brewery founders Will Laska and David Kucera poured their heart and soul into the business, but GVBC seemed to struggle.

Conclusion

Hopefully, the rough waters and uncertainties are a thing of the past, and they can look forward to smooth sailing ahead. Brilliant Stream welcomes Bill Heckel and the new brewery organization and wishes them nothing but success.

Brewery website