West Virginia’s highest rated breweries and beers

As we approach the final month of 2018, let’s take a look at Untappd ratings to see how West Virginia breweries stack up against each other this year. Here are the highest rated breweries according to Untappd (total points out of 5 possible).

1.  Stumptown Ales  3.91
2.  Chestnut Brew Works  3.86
3.  Weathered Ground   3.82
4.  Short Story  3.82
5.  The Peddler  3.75

The general consensus around Untapped is that breweries rated at 3.75 and above are considered overall very good breweries by their customers. They are breweries producing at least a few exciting beers that have passionate followings. What is interesting to note here is that most of West Virginia’s highest regarded breweries are among the state’s newest ones. No WV brewery has yet to hit the 4.0 rating. U.S. breweries rated 4.0 and above are rare and revered. They represent the ones producing the most highly regarded beers of the day. 

The next tier of West Virginia breweries are among those Untappd users believe produce generally well-crafted. high quality products. Two of West Virginia’s largest breweries, Big Timber and Greenbrier Valley, can be found among those in the this tier. On average, Untappd brewery ratings in the 3.5s to 3.7s are considered solid breweries, brewing well-made beers in popular styles. They produce beer that most customers would gladly order again and enjoy. Breweries below 3.5 are generally considered more pedestrian, usually producing more middle-of-the-road beer. Breweries rated in the lower 3s and below may have issues with quality and consistency, or they may be producing beer styles unpopular with the current taste preferences of the craft beer community. Here are WV breweries 6 through 10.

6.  Greenbrier Valley  3.73
7.  Brew Keepers  3.72
8.  Big Timber  3.70 
9.  Parkersburg  3.69
10. Abolitionist  3.69 

Untappd not perfect

While the Untappd rating system can be critiqued and does have its quirks and biases, it is still the best crowd-sourced reporting we have to see which breweries are producing the most buzz and making the hot beers that craft beer fans are excited about today. It’s not a perfect system, but if I had to pick what I think are the best five breweries today in West Virginia, all of those in the top ten above would be in contention.

Untappd ratings tend to favor newer breweries that get hot right out of the gate. Ratings also seem to favor breweries that are adept at brewing the more popular beer styles of today, such as hazy IPAs and flavored imperial stouts. They tend to penalize breweries that brew a lot of less-popular, out-of-favor, or lightly-respected styles (e.g. saisons, English ales, pale lagers). A brewery making mostly standard, traditional styles of beer with moderate alcohol content, even though the beers may be excellent quality, these breweries will rarely be rated among the best.

Ratings numbers for breweries that have been around a few years, tend to change slowly. A brewery that starts out highly rated, tends to remain highly rated. A brewery that starts out mid-pack tends to remain mid-pack. To knock a Stumptown or Weathered Ground out of their top spots, it would probably take a hot, brand new brewery to do it.

When you are reviewing Untappd ratings, look for beers that have been released during the past 12 months and check their ratings compared to the brewery’s overall average rating. That will help you see if customers think a brewery’s beers are improving, declining, or staying about the same.

2018’s highest rated beer

Just for fun we looked at each West Virginia brewery’s highest rated beer for one that was sold sometime during 2018 and that had at least 50 ratings. Here are the top ten, eight of which scored above 4.0, meaning they were scored as excellent.

1,  BBA Struggle Street Imperial Stout, Weathered Ground  4.28
2.  Overcast New England IPA, Big Timber  4.23
3.  Over the Tip Top Breakfast Stout, Stumptown  4.11
4.  BBA Peregrin Porter, Bridge Brew Works  4.10
5.  Two for the Show Double IPA, Short Story  4.06
6.  Dank Williams, Sr. NEIPA, Chestnut Brew Works  4.05
7.  Dirty Beard Imperial Stout w/ Chocolate & Coffee, Abolitionist   4.05
8.  BBA Bear Fight Russian Imperial Stout, Bad Shepherd  4.04
9.  Highlander Coffee Stout, Brew Keepers  3.97
10. No Scrubs Imperial IPA, Morgantown  3.95

A big shout of congratulations is due to the brewers of these beers. They did an excellent job producing brews that were nationally competitive with the best in their styles.

Brilliant Stream plans to keep an eye on Untappd scores and report the highlights of the ratings from time to time.

The Untappd ratings used in this article were recorded on Thanksgiving Day 2018.