Summit Beer Station turns five

Summit Beer Station in Huntington, West Virginia is an innovator, an advocate, an educator, and an entertainer. It’s really hard to say in which role it has been the most significant actor.

As Summit turned five years old on October 17, beer fans from across the region gathered at the state’s premier craft beer bar to celebrate the accomplishments of Summit founder Jeff McKay.

“When it came into the market, the state had never seen anything quite like this,” says Josh Holland, market representative for Country Boy Brewing and a former local beer distributor rep who called on Summit. “It gave craft beer a voice. It gave people a place to come to for drinking the best craft beer in the market.”

Huntington resident Brett Doeffinger has been one of the many loyal customers attracted to Summit Beer Station. “Jeff opened in November 2013,” he says, “and I probably started drinking there in December. So I’ve pretty much been there since the beginning.”

Traveling around West Virginia for his work, Doeffinger gets the opportunity to compare Summit to bars in the state’s larger beer markets of Charleston and Morgantown. He sees clearly what makes Summit stand out from the crowd. “You get a top-notch beer selection, better than anywhere in the state — the rarest drafts, the rarest bottles. Jeff seems to be more in tune with the beers available in the state than most distributors.”

Charleston, West Virginia craft beer aficionado David Mincer is another Summit fan who has followed its development through the years. “The beauty of Summit Beer Station is that they push the envelope of what craft beer can be in West Virginia,” he says. “They’ll not only get the most adventurous kegs available from distributors in this state, but specifically push for additional particular beers to be brought here and made available for them to have on draft.

He sees clearly the difference that an advocate like McKay can make. He wishes the state had more of them. “Charleston doesn’t have a craft beer bar willing to take chances to put a beer on tap that is amazing but maybe not what the general public is going to have a taste for— sours and barrel aged stouts come to mind.” 

Ironton, Ohio resident Rick Phelps, who works for an Ohio beer distributor, certainly knows his beer and regularly gets into scores of retail accounts. He comes over to Huntington to visit Summit Beer Station because he feels it is the best craft beer bar in the Tri-State region. Even though the Kentucky and Ohio markets have more availability of craft brands than does West Virginia, Phelps believes Summit rises to the top because of its well-curated beer list.

“I think they are ahead of their time,” Phelps says. “Jeff has done a great job over the past five years to introduce different styles of beer into our area.”

From a beer distributor’s perspective, Jeff McKay is probably one of the toughest retailers to work with. Josh Holland remembers this well from his days as a distributor rep calling on McKay. “He is always pushing you to bring new stuff in. Pushing boundaries. Pushing the envelope.”

Distributors admit that it was McKay’s pushing that got them to speed up introduction of numerous brands and new offerings. Once they bring in a new beer or a new line, it not only goes to Summit, but gets distributed across the state. In that respect, McKay has played a role in accelerating West Virginia’s embrace of craft beer.

And it’s not just its great beer selection, but Summit Beer Center also excels when it comes to beer events. Hardly a week goes by without some kind of special beer event scheduled. Summit’s social media announces something new most every day.

“Jeff’s great at doing promotional events,” says Holland. “Some of County Boy’s best tap takeovers have been at Summit. Anytime I have a wild idea, Jeff’s pretty receptive.”

Sam Fonda is the co-owner and brewer at Weathered Ground Brewery. He was on hand at the anniversary event because he has also become an admirer of Summit Beer Station. “Not only do they serve a great selection of beer, local and imported,” he noted, “but they do it the right way. They serve it correctly. They pay close attention to every detail. This place is great, and we’re so happy they carry our beer.”

Fonda brewed one of the five special collaboration beers that McKay featured for his 5th anniversary. Each collaboration beer was brewed with McKay’s input and was made in Summit’s honor. Taking the effort to work with five breweries getting each to brew a collaboration beer is a perfect example of the extra mile McKay goes to provide special treats for his customers.

The Summit anniversary collaboration beers were:

• Summ It All Up, by Weathered Ground Brewery, Cool Ridge, WV. A bourbon barrel-aged imperial stout with cinnamon, WV maple syrup, and vanilla. 
• Cobalt Blue, by The Peddler, Huntington, WV. A Blueberry milkshake IPA dry hopped with Ekuanot and Loral.
• Wild Summit Saison, by Abolitionist Ale Works, Charles Town, WV. A WV wild yeast-fermented saison with strawberry and basil. 
• Sosotris: Summit Anniversary Blend, by Bad Shepherd Beer Company, Charleston, WV. A blended wine barrel-aged golden sour ale with rosemary.
• Apricot Gose, by Goodwood Brewing, Louisville, KY (Unfortunately this beer was not available on the event night due to it not yet getting state ABCA approval. It will hopefully be available soon.)

Employees are the face of the business

You can’t have a great beer bar without outstanding employees. In this regard, Summit has it covered. All of McKay’s staff get their Cicerone Server certifications. Most have been with the business for years. With their training and experience they do a great job directing both craft beer novices and experienced craft beer geeks to something they’ll like. They definitely add a positive note to the Summit experience.

Mandee Cunningham, of Huntington, has tended bar at Summit for around four years. She enjoys her work. “It’s not really like a work environment,” she says. “It’s like a friend environment, which is really nice and fun to do.”

What’s it like working for Jeff? “He’s a pretty great boss. He backs you up when you need him to back you up. We’re all friends so that makes it super easy and super nice.”

Summit’s excellence has not gone unnoticed in the bigger craft beer world. When it comes time for national publications and beer websites to rate the top craft beer bars, Summit Beer Station gets the nod for West Virginia. Cunningham says it’s not uncommon for people from out of town, who are visiting or working in the area, to stop in specifically because they found Summit highly rated on various craft beer websites.

Loyal customer Doeffinger says he has grown to trust McKay’s opinions on beer. “His expertise is definitely cutting-edge in this state. I can ask him for a rundown of his menu, and I’m going to know what to drink based on what he thinks about things. Developing a friendship with him has definitely been to my benefit, being a beer lover.”

Doeffinger says five years ago the craft beer market was markedly different than it is now. “We all went through our phase of chasing whales and of standing in lines.” But now he feels you can get great beer pretty much everywhere, including West Virginia. “So I would rather come down here and spend my extra funds with Jeff at this bar than anywhere else.”

We couldn’t agree more with Doeffinger’s assertion. 

The Summit Beer Station experience

So let’s recap the Summit experience: 

• Great beer selection – Check
• Well-curated beer list – Check
• Beer from the best WV breweries – Check
• The most Belgians in WV – Check
• Knowledgeable beer servers – Check
• 26 beers on draft – Check
• Current beer list on video board – Check
• Current draft list on Untappd – Check
• Regular beer line cleaning – Check
• Numerous high-end beers in bottles – Check
• Proper craft beer glassware – Check
• Bottles & cans sold for carryout – Check
• Growlers filled – Check
• Regular discounts and beer specials – Check
• Weekly beer education tastings – Check
• Lots of tap takeovers and other brand promos – Check
• Downtown revitalization activist – Check
• Great looking branded Summit merchandise – Check
• Premium whiskies and wines – Check 
• Coffee on Nitro – Check
• Loyal customers – Check

What McKay has to say

Following is just a brief part of a conversation we had with Summit owner Jeff McKay on his anniversary evening.

Q. Looking back to the early days of Summit, what were you thinking?
A. My thoughts almost immediately after starting was that we needed a bigger location. So I guess this is it. I don’t know that we fully realized what the business can be, but we’re slowly getting it where I would like it. There are a few other things I’d like to implement, and with that would mean a bigger space.

Q. What are you most proud of?  
A. I’d say it was exposing people to Belgian beers. I’m such a Belgian beer homer. It was one of those things where I was just going to keep pushing it until people started drinking it. We’ve heavily invested in Belgian beer and it’s been our mode of operation since day one. Typically, half of our draft list is Belgian or European. It’s worked so far, so hopefully that doesn’t change.

Q. What have been some of your challenges?
A. Honestly, distribution was the biggest challenge. Trying to find beer that I was satisfied with. It was a struggle to find decent beer to serve when we first started, but now I struggle just to keep up with everything. 

Summit Facebook page 
Summit current draft list on Untappd