Best Beer Bets 8-14-20

Following are our best bets for beer drinking pleasure this weekend in West Virginia.

Abolitionist/Bad Shepherd

Abolitionist Ale Works and Bad Shepherd Beer Company just released their collaboration specialty fruit beer: Dubbel Figures. It is a novel American riff on a Belgian-style Dubbel but with lots of figs added. It is brewed with a grain bill including a large portion of expensive Special B malt, which is known for its dark caramel taste with notes of brown sugar, raisin, and chocolate. To this, they added 40 pounds of fig paste in the boil. According to the brewers, the resulting beer “has a chocolate-covered fig flavor throughout.” The addition of the sweet figs helped the beer ferment out at 8.8% ABV, while a good bit stronger than normal Belgian dubbels, it should appeal to the contemporary American beer palate where more alcohol is viewed as better.

Pouring now at the Abolitionist taproom in Charles Town and at Black Sheep Burrito locations in Charleston and Huntington. All in all, a unique beer for West Virginia brewers. Give it a try and see what you think.

Stumptown Ales

In honor of this week’s 5th anniversary of Stumptown Ales, why not look for the latest beer in their SmoothEez series. Manberries Sour starts with their house Berliner Weisse and then is loaded up with mango and strawberries. The result is a sweeter, lightly tart, 5.0% ABV beer, where the addition of loads fruit make it drink thick and extra juicy. These SmoothEez beers also include lactose, which is added to give them a smoother, creamier texture. All draft. Widely available in distribution. Yummy, yummy. (Untappd 4.05)

Morgantown Brewing

We were extremely impressed last summer with Golden Boi Kölsch-style ale at Morgantown Brewing. We are tickled to see it is pouring again at the brewery. You will find a very fresh batch of Golden Boi on tap and in cans at the taproom on University Avenue. The brewers say that this latest batch “turned out particularly crisp.” That’s just the way we like our Kölsch — nice and crispy. Unfiltered and brewed with 100% real German malt, hops, and yeast. Available exclusively at the brewery taproom. (Untappd 3.6)

Short Story Brewing

It’s so exciting to see all the brand new Short Story canned beers hitting the market. So, this weekend is the time to seek out Short Story Brewing’s latest IPA in its canned beer lineup. Nonsense Words IPA is loaded with six different hop varietals (including the less common Motueka and Nelson Sauvin, along with Mosaic, Citra, Simcoe, and Galaxy) to achieve just the right notes of juicy goodness. Hazy and 7% ABV. The brewery first released this recipe back in the winter and it caused quite a positive reaction (Untappd 4.16). Available at the brewery taproom. This brewery is three years old now, and the beers seem better than ever. 

Weathered Ground Brewery

Great news at Weathered Ground Brewery. The pizza oven is back up and running. We can’t think of a better way to enjoy your pizza than with a pint of their delicious Cool Ridge Lager, and a fresh batch is on tap this weekend. Cool Ridge Lager is a classic pale lager, crisp and refreshing.It’s loaded with real Weyermann Pilsner Malt and European noble and American hops. It tends to be the best selling beer at Weathered Ground’s taproom. (Untappd 3.56). “It’s a great beer flavored beer.”