12 WV beers that defined the decade

As 2019 comes to an end, I selected a dozen West Virginia beers that I believe defined the past decade in West Virginia craft beer. The story they tell is the story of development from a nascent craft beer market to today’s much more diverse and vibrant one.

The decade of the Twenty Tens has been the most eventful one yet for craft brewery development in our state. We saw our brewery count rise from 5 at the start of 2010 to 28 in 2019. So many things changed in the beer market here during the decade that it is hard to even remember them all.

So let’s let the beers do the talking. Here is my list of West Virginia beers that hit important touch points in our craft beer progress, 2010-2019.

WV beers that the defined the decade

Cold Trail Ale

Cold Trail Blonde Ale
Mountain State Brewing, Thomas
Introduced in 2005

Even though a holdover from the previous decade, Cold Trail Ale defined “local WV beer” at the beginning of this decade better than any other West Virginia beer. This blonde ale quickly ascended to the top spot in sales for its brewery. For the better part of this decade, it was the one WV beer you were most likely to find in distribution in far flung corners of the state. Cold Trail Ale and the other Mountain State flagships were the brews that helped thousands of West Virginia beer drinkers develop a taste for West Virginia made beer.

Long Point Lager

Long Point Lager
Bridge Brew Works, Fayetteville
Introduced in 2011

An instant hit when released early in the decade, it quickly became Bridge Brew’s top seller. Gaining wide distribution, it established Bridge Brew Works as a brewery to be reckoned with well beyond Fayette County. Jumping into a craft beer market that was, at the time, totally dominated by ales, it showed that a small, local WV craft brewery could produce an attractive, tasty lager that definitely had a place in the market. It’s still going strong today, as craft lagers are experiencing a well-deserved renaissance.

Moxxee Coffee Stout

Moxxee Coffee Stout
Bridge Brew Works, Fayetteville
Introduced in 2012

This was the first WV beer that really hit the target in the flavored beer category. Moxxee Coffee Stout sent shockwaves through the local beer community as people had no idea that a WV brewery could produce a beer so masterfully blended to produce a beverage that tasted better than either of its base ingredients — stout and coffee. A true watermark beer that has led the way for some more recent standout breakfast stouts, such as Stumptown’s Over the Tip Top, Short Story’s Woke Up Like This, and Weathered Ground’s Struggle Street.

Halleck

Halleck Pale Ale
Chestnut Brew Works, Morgantown
Introduced in 2013

Developed in a little one-barrel brewhouse, Halleck quickly caught on and grew to become Morgantown’s most popular pale ale. Along the way it fueled and financed the growth of Chestnut Brew Works, which today is one of the brightest stars in our beer universe. Halleck’s contemporary hoppy taste was timed just right to catch local beer fans’ growing love affair with hops. It has not looked back. The beer set a high bar for all WV hoppy pale ales and IPAs that would follow. Beautifully styled, it is still Chestnut’s top seller.

Big Timber Porter

Porter
Big Timber Brewing, Elkins
Introduced in May, 2014

This is the beer that established Big Timber as a highly respected craft brewery and launched it into a leadership position among WV brewers. More than any other Big Timber beer, Porter got WV beer fans talking about the brewery. As an American-style Porter, it still holds up to the national competition. This is one solid beer. Big Timber Porter gained very wide WV distribution, something that it has not relinquished. Its success in retail opened the door for other WV beers to have similar success with distribution.

Bourbon Barrel Porter

Bourbon Barrel Porter
Big Timber Brewing, Elkins
Introduced October, 2014

Bourbon Barrel Porter was not the first barrel-aged beer in West Virginia, but it was the first to broadly catch the beer drinkers’ imagination about the great depth of flavor a WV-brewed whiskey barrel-aged beer could have. The market excitement it created for bourbon barrels has not slowed. Today, quite a few WV breweries produce good bourbon barrel-aged imperial stouts and porters. It’s a style here to stay.

Devil Anse

Devil Anse IPA
Greenbrier Valley Brewing, Maxwelton
Introduced in May, 2015

Prior to Devil Anse’s release, West Virginia-made IPAs were okay, but just kind of plain. Devil Anse showed the world that West Virginia could compete in the beer style category that was rapidly evolving and ascending to become the nation’s favorite. It was the state’s first true contemporary IPA to catch on—one that masterfully brought out great dry hop flavors balanced with a nice malt backbone. Its use of distinctive hop varieties (initially Galaxy) helped Devil Anse rapidly become GVBC’s most popular beer. While it has gone through ingredient changes since its introduction, it still holds its own with others in the standard IPA category.

Holy Citra

Holy Citra Double IPA
Stumptown Ales, Davis.
Introduced in December, 2015

If there was one beer that showed the world that tiny West Virginia breweries could make delicious, nationally-competitive extra juicy/low bitterness-style Double IPAs, it was Holy Citra. Still a fan favorite, it is the main beer that cemented Stumptown’s reputation as the master IPA brewer in the state. With Stumptown as inspiration, several other WV breweries now have in their portfolios those big, luscious, juicy beers flavored with the newer contemporary hop varieties.

Cell Block 304

Cell Block 304 Brown Ale
Parkersburg Brewing, Parkersburg
Introduced in 2016

This ale will always be revered as the first West Virginia brewed craft beer to medal at a top-flight national/international beer competition. Cell Block 304 made a huge accomplishment for West Virginia when it took home a gold medal at the prestigious World Beer Cup in 2018. One of the original flagships of Parkersburg Brewing, this beer’s gold medal clearly showed that, yes, a little brewery in WV can successfully compete at the highest levels. Cell Block 304 is a richly-flavored American-style Brown Ale that is definitely a winner.

Iapetus

Iapetus Gose
Bridge Brew Works, Fayetteville
Introduced in June, 2016

Iapetus Gose was the first kettle sour by a WV brewer to be introduced into distribution. At the time of its introduction, the gose style was just beginning to trend nationally. Iapetus hit the right note at the right time. Bridge Brew’s success with Iapetus led other West Virginia brewers to try their hand at the quick sour approach. Now, Berliner Weisse and Gose variants are getting pretty common on WV taps, and some very good ones are being produced and distributed by WV breweries.

West Funkin’ Virginia

West Funkin’ Virginia
Abolitionist Ale Works, Charles Town
Introduced in June, 2017

This ale proved beyond a doubt that a West Virginia brewery could produce a high quality beer fermented with a strain of wild West Virginia yeast and also a dose of brettanomyces and then aged in wood. Abolitionist blazed a trail for other local brewers to experiment with funky and sour beers using brett, wild yeasts, and wood. Now, several other brewers are making tasty funky brews and traditional wood-aged sours. Their ability to produce tastes and aromas not found in “clean” beer styles has greatly expanded our local beer flavor universe.

DDH Stop And Smell The Citrus

Double-Dry-Hopped Stop And Smell The Citrus NEIPA
Weathered Ground Brewery, Cool Ridge
Introduced in September, 2019

Coming out at the tail end of the decade, this uber-enhanced New England style IPA established as factd that West Virginia breweries are ready to take on the next decade in trendy beer styles, wherever it goes. DDH Stop & Smell is the highest-rated hazy-juicy IPA ever made in WV, and is definitely in league with the best of the breed. It shows that our little breweries are capable and well-positioned to bring us many more great brews in the 2020s.

Thanks for the beer

I hope you’ve enjoyed this trip though the decade in WV beer. If you have a West Virginia beer that helped make your decade, add it to the comments below and let me know what it meant to you.