Best West Virginia Breweries 2018

Deciding which brewery deserves the West Virginia Brewery of the Year honor is a challenge, but a fun one. Nearly across the board, West Virginia breweries are making solid advancements both in facilities and beer quality. Today, we honor a few that did just a bit better than everyone else, and also honor the one whose performance stood above all the rest.

Selecting a brewery of the year is not just about who brewed the best or most popular beer. A great brewery is more than just a producer of tasty libation. A brewery is a small business, a member of the community, an employer, a manufacturer, a retailer. It’s both a place to hang out locally and a representative of West Virginia to the rest of the world. When selecting a brewery of the year, I take into consideration a broad range of factors.

To help come up with the selections, Brilliant Stream surveyed a group of knowledgeable craft beer enthusiasts from across the state. Getting outside your own circle, you learn a lot about what people find most important. With their input run though some broad factor screens, the following honors are bestowed.

Runners-Up

Though not the one selected as Brewery of the Year, three West Virginia breweries received a lot of support in our survey and are worthy of some special recognition. Each operated at a very high level in 2018 and are deserving of much love and admiration for their accomplishments.

Short Story Brewing, Rivesville

Among the state’s newer breweries, Short Story has impressed by coming a long way in a short time. Beginning with a brewer who had no commercial brewing experience, they have produced nothing but impressive beer over the past year and a half. Several of their beers were recognized as among the best of WV beer for 2018. A family-owned operation, they are deeply rooted in their community. As the most exciting new business to start up in Rivesville in years, Short Story bringing new life to its community.

Short Story is among the best marketed WV breweries, and does a great job distributing beer to bars and restaurants in north central WV. Their very cool, welcoming taproom added an excellent food service operation this year. Their fans love the amazing beers, great community outreach and local charitable fundraising efforts. Fairmont bar owner DJ Cassell calls them “a force to be reckoned with.” That sums it up pretty well.

“Short Story has brought a creative, exciting concept to the small town of Rivesville. In addition to making delicious beer, the brewery is crafting incredible food, a great atmosphere and a gathering space for the community. They have a fun concept and are continuing to grow and learn.” — survey respondent from Charleston

Big Timber Brewing, Elkins

These guys have been near the top of the mountain ever since they began operation in 2014. They are a super bunch of talented folks and their taproom has developed into a real Elkins community center.

They were among the first in WV to can their beer. Their statewide distribution is second to none. They support local agriculture and make a locally-hopped beer each fall. Their beer quality has always been solid, and this year we began to see them venture out more stylistically, for example brewing one of the state’s very best Juicy Hazy IPAs.

Big Timber’s production has grown to the point that they maxed out their original facility and have been working on moving to a much larger brewery space just up the street a couple of blocks. Their fans love Big Timber’s investment in the community by expanding their manufacturing in Elkins,

Craft enthusiasts love their involvement in the Brewers Guild, their 16 oz. cans and their statewide marketing prowess (you can get BTB cans at WVU games, at Wheeling Nailers games, and in Huntington’s Big Sandy Arena). As ambassadors for WV beer, they poured their beer at this year’s Great American Beer Festival in Denver.

Those who know them well truly appreciate the authentic brewery and taproom theme that is true to the family’s Elkins timber heritage. Ax for Big Timber.

“The primary reason Big Timber is worthy of brewery of the year is consistency. Everything they distribute is consistently good. They are not the most trendy, don’t have the most outlandish lineup of obscure styles, but, the dozen or so beers they routinely offer are dependably excellent examples of each style…. Their business plan is solid, and their financial status is sound. There will come a time when skill in the operation of a business will be much more essential to the success of craft breweries in West Virginia. When that time comes, I think Big Timber is positioned well to succeed.” — Rick Newsome, Elkins

Stumptown Ales, Davis

Stumptown Ales was the 2017 WV Brewery of the Year and continued a strong pace forward in 2018. As the first WV brewery to truly popularize the contemporary hop-forward IPA styles, they have developed an extremely passionate following in the beer community.

Beer enthusiast Jay Cipoletti of Charleston sums up this passion well when he wrote, “Based on beer alone, Stumptown was a clear #1…. In the end, it came down to the beer, and Stumptown is flat killing it.”

During 2018, Stumptown pretty much officially maxed out their brewing capacity at their current location. West Virginians seemingly cannot get enough of their beer. They have expanded their distribution and now regularly self-distribute to the Morgantown and Charleston markets, as well as other areas. Brilliant Stream named several of their beers—not just their IPAs—as among the best West Virginia beers in 2018. the They remain WV’s highest scoring brewery on Untapped. Their fans love the friendly, welcoming taproom, which is open 7 days a week, and love the coolness the brewery brings to the town of Davis.

“I’m a huge fan of hops, and therefore love IPA’s. Of all I’ve had from around the state, Stumptown brews my favorites and seems to do so with consistent taste and quality. I also love the folks that run the place and think they have quite an oasis in a pretty perfect part of our great state.” — a craft beer enthusiast and bar owner from Morgantown

West Virginia Brewery of the Year, 2018

Weathered Ground Brewery, Cool Ridge

This year, Weathered Ground seemed to score at the top in just about every category important to brewery success. They were the overwhelming favorite of Brilliant Stream and the craft beer community for 2018 West Virginia Brewery of the Year honors.

Weathered Ground Brewery was last year’s WV Best New Brewery, and I figured they would be a load to handle when it came to competing for 2018 Brewery of the Year. I was right. Out of the 40 craft beer enthusiasts selected to participate in the survey, Weathered Ground was the number one choice of 22 of them. No other brewery received more than 7 first place selections. Weathered Ground was voted number 1 or 2 on 31 of the 40 ballots. The margin of victory was surprising. They received solid support from the southern and northern parts of the state, even though their distribution is fairly limited..

Brilliant Stream’s recent report on West Virginia craft beer enthusiasts’ favorite beers had Weathered Ground stamped all over it — in about every style category. What we didn’t tell you in that report was that Weathered Ground’s Haggard IPA (scored #1) , More Haggard Than Haggard Double IPA, Struggle Street Imperial Stout, Barrel-aged Struggle Street, Stop and Smell the Citrus IPA, and Barrel-aged Ada Imperial Stout were 6 of the 9 most often mentioned “best beers” by our panel.

Weathered Ground brewers seem to do more styles well than about any other WV brewer. Everything from basic lager to the big, barrel-aged stouts and juicy IPAs, the craft beer community loves their beer.

We asked our craft beer enthusiasts about their favorite WV brewery taproom during 2018, and it was no contest. People love Weathered Ground’s beautiful, spacious, bright, and clean facility. The taproom’s open floor plan has plenty of room to mingle and offers a great view of the brewing operation. The covered porch and big back yard are super places to have a brew during warm weather. The farm and mountain views are lovely. The parking lot is huge.

“The space is excellent for all scenarios — sunshine, rain, snow, warm, cold, etc. Big crowds, small groups, anything in between,” wrote one survey respondent.  

It would be hard to find a WV brewery that has more going on at the brewery: local bands, fundraisers, weddings, local small business showcases, and other events. With all this busy activity, you’ll still find efficient, friendly service.

Weathered Ground also finished in first place on our survey as the best marketed West Virginia brewery during 2018.

Like most other WV breweries, it is a family-owned and operated endeavor. And those family members are committed to helping build their lovely rural corner of West Virginia. Weathered Ground has already established itself as the leading year-round tourist attraction in southern Raleigh County. It’s convenient location near an exit on I-77 helps. Aryn and Sam Fonda, and all their employees, exude a warm and friendly demeanor that is so welcoming. They’re simply good folk.

Here are a few of the comments we received in support of Weathered Ground Brewery being selected as West Virginia Brewery of the Year, 2018.

“I believe one of the bigger factors is what they have contributed to their local community and the West Virginia beer community as a whole. Weathered Ground has unequivocally created an unmatched positive impact on their local community and the West Virginia Beer Scene, all while pumping out some of the best beer in the state.” — Matt Day, Beckley

“I have been delighted to see that not only is Weathered Ground brewing beers that hold up nationally for their respective styles, but that they are available regularly here in Charleston. They care greatly about their small community and represent much of the farm to table approach that my favorite U.S. breweries uphold. The brewers welcome you with open arms and don’t shy away from having a beer with you themselves.” — Matt Bradley, Charleston.

“Weathered Ground is ever evolving and pushing the envelope with their beers. Their involvement with Sierra Nevada [Brewing Company] in brewing Resilience IPA for fire relief in California sealed the deal for me. There is no brewery in WV more deserving of this award in 2018.” — Rusty Hollen, Clarksburg

“Weathered Ground brews popular styles like hazy IPA and barrel-aged stouts that are very well done, but they don’t just cater to the trendy styles. They show versatility and willingness to experiment by brewing beers such as Rad Roots, a beer brewed with radishes and aged in bourbon barrels that previously held local cider.” — Chad Lasure, Dunbar

“Well, to start off they are creating a great variety of high quality beers. They are always trying something new and have great results. They are active in their community with hosting local music and featuring local artists. They have also hosted fundraisers for different organizations and are just a great group of people.” — DJ Cassell, Fairmont

“Every beer they have put out has been super solid. I only visited once but it’s got an awesome space. Their graphics are great, the brewers are friendly and there’s a cute dog that hangs out there. Random things. But all important.” — Ashely Skeen, Huntington

“Weathered Ground completely embraces the feel of what you expect of a top of the line craft brewery. The setting and their beers totally blow you away. In and out of state I have never been more I impressed with my first impression of a brewery.” — a brewer and craft beer enthusiast from the Ohio Valley area

“Weathered Ground for only being open a little more than a year has raised the bar for what West Virginia beer is. With their beer, in fact, I’ve noticed that the moniker for ‘great WV beer’ changed to just ‘great beer’ and I think that says it all. We are making world class beer right in our backyard.” — Matt Mullins, Beckley

For all these reasons and more, we are pleased to name Weathered Ground Brewery as West Virginia Brewery of the Year, 2018.

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Brilliant Stream wishes to thank our panel of craft beer enthusiasts, homebrewers, bar owners, bartenders, beer buyers, and beer retailers who contributed to helping us highlight the very best in West Virginia breweries and beer in 2018.