2020 WV Brewery Honor Roll

It can surely be said that 2020 has been one heck of a challenging year to be in the beer business. Every brewery has had to adjust on the fly, more than once, in order to remain relevant and remain in business. All in all, West Virginia breweries responded remarkably well to the challenges. A most impressive feat. So instead of only selecting one Brewery of the Year for 2020, we felt it more appropriate to honor a group of WV breweries that stood most tall this year in the eyes of the Brilliant Stream community. So many strong performances there were.

We present the West Virginia Brewery Honor Roll for 2020.

The Top Tier

Analysis of our nominations clearly showed that a handful of West Virginia brewers were more universally appreciated for their accomplishments this year than were the rest. When it comes to the opinions of a cadre of the state’s most knowledgeable beer drinkers, four breweries stood out. It’s probably no surprise that these four breweries landed on top in 2020 — they are typically the brewers who are making the most creative, sought-out beers and doing a good job getting their beer out to key craft beer accounts around the state.

Weathered Ground  Brewery

No other WV brewery has a larger amount of passionate support. Overall, our nominating panel felt that Weathered Ground is making incredibly good beer, their taproom experience is world class, and their distribution has improved dramatically over last year. This brewery is innovative in beer styles and strongest in the inclusion of locally-sourced ingredients. In 2020, they upped their canned beer distribution tremendously making it regularly available in many parts of the state. A variety of talented local artists design their beer can labels. The way they managed their taproom beer sales and expanded their outdoor seating during the pandemic was exemplary.

West Virginia Radio beer commentator and Fayetteville resident Pat Strader summed it up saying, “I am continuously impressed with their beers — creativity, variety, consistency — and I think they did an incredible job navigating the pandemic.”

Charleston-based food writer Candace Nelson wrote that Weathered Ground Brewery “is consistently churning out A+ beers that are not your typical run-of-the-mill ales and lagers. They are creative, trying new things and playing an important role in their community.” Charleston chef and homebrewer Greg Bess added, “Weathered Ground also continues to produce new and wonderful beers that push the envelope. They are showing staying power in the midst of the pandemic and in my opinion will be around for many years to come.” 

“In my opinion, WGB is the best brewery in the state,” wrote Charleston homebrew club officer Chris Brown. “WGB is consistent with distribution, promotion, and releases. They’re always releasing a new brew and distributing it.” South Charleston craft beer enthusiast Matt Bradley commended WGB’s response to the pandemic. He likes that they “took precautions seriously and continue to do so.”

Charleston craft beer mega-fan Dave Mincer commends WGB’s efforts in IPAs, fruited kettle sours, and barrel-aged stouts during a tough market year. He wrote, “At a time when others are just trying to weather the storm, Weathered Ground has knocked it out of the park by expanding offerings and pushing them out into the market often.” Beckley craft beer fan Matt Day put it this way, “Weathered Ground has became a staple in the State of West Virginia.”

Big Timber Brewing

Bringing a greatly increased capacity into 2020 from their recent brewery expansion, Big Timber really took the bull by the horns. When draft beer sales tanked due to the shutdown of restaurants and bars, they dramatically upped their production of canned beer. Responding to the market’s shift more toward wanting something new and different, Big Timber brought out a plethora of new small batch beers, with most of them packaged in cans and draft. And not just any type beers, but extremely high quality beers. Our nominators judged their pastry stouts, specialty IPAs, and sours as pretty outstanding. “Cake Smash could easily be the Top Beer of WV in 2020,” wrote Beckley’s Matt Day.

As Charleston chef Gregg Bess noted, “Big Timber continually pushes the envelope with new offerings and promotes the business and showcases their employees despite being in the midst of the pandemic. Their products are always of the finest quality and always readily available.” K.R.A.Z.E. craft beer group president Lynette Stewart agreed with other’s high-end assessments saying, Big Timber is “producing really great IPAs and pastry stouts along with sours.”

Ben Burton, owner of The Pallet craft beer bar, explained it this way, “They continue to change with their market and customers. A lot of new offerings this year that were really well made. Nice to see the styles that customers want being made by them.” 

BTB’s can label art was stellar. They invested heavily in a large solar panel installation to power the brewery. Another strong suit for Big Timber was the perception that they took seriously their role in protecting public health in the operation of their taproom.

Stumptown Ales

There is no shortage of love for Stumptown Ales among the Brilliant Stream community, and 2020 saw Stumptown up its game. People love how Stumptown persevered even as key team members were hit with the COVID virus.

Folks in the Charleston area were most impressed by the brewery committing to supply eight taps at The Pitch, a new craft beer bar near Charleston, and even producing a new Kolsch in their honor. The Pitch’s owner Steve Frame commented, “Even with the insanity of 2020, they were able to still turn out consistently great beer and add a few surprises in as well. Jon and Cindy went out of their way to take care of the customers needs.”

Our panelists love the consistent high quality of Stumptown’s brews. Charleston’s Dave Mincer spoke for many when he said, “Stumptown has kept doing what it does so well — make incredible IPAs like Multiple Hopgasms, Holy Citra and the other variants in the Holy series, Six Legged Frog and Big Boy Pants that can compete with anything that we get from the national market.” He also talked about the importance of Stumptown adding one key product series that has brought in many new fans: Smooth-Eez. “These fruit puree sours have all been fantastic and are a welcome addition to the state of the beers of West Virginia,” he said.

Parkersburg homebrew club leader, Jeff Adkins, wrote that Stumptown is “established, solid, superior quality.” That sums up state craft beer fans’ feelings pretty well.

High Ground Brewing

As we have previously seen in the comparison of overall WV beer ratings this year, High Ground Brewing is the hottest newer brewery in the state. Even though they are located in way up in northern WV, they received many Honor Roll nominations from southern WV beer fans. This year saw them release a long line of superior brews, and they made a significant investment in a canning line so they could get those brews distributed out around the state. High Ground added online beer ordering this year and their outdoor seating space at the Terra Alta taproom is highly rated.

Pat Strader wrote, “For a young brewery to produce with such consistency and quality is pretty incredible. They hustle, support local artists and have been very impressive.” Teays Valley’s Pallet Bar owner Ben Burton loved the energy High Ground puts into its business. “They work hard at distributing their beer all over the state. Their new canning line allows more folks to enjoy their beers.”

Charleston homebrew club president Jedidiah Walkup was another one who was very impressed with their beer quality. He wrote: “Their brews are consistently high quality and unique. They released some really creative brews (like the Tartshake series) and their tap room already had safe options as much of it is outside.” One of our panelists from Fairmont commented: “Beer is always fresh and crisp. Staff is friendly, beer has a smooth finish. Lots of variety of beers and outside seating. Dog-friendly too.”

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Brewers of Special Merit

The next tier of breweries while not getting the total adoration of the Top Tier, are still breweries of accomplishment and significance for a variety of reasons. Each of these brewers stood out in 2020 in a most positive way and deserves recognition for their efforts. We are happy to include them on the West Virginia Brewery Honor Roll, 2020.

Bad Shepherd Beer Company

On the Honor Roll ballot, Bad Shepherd was just a couple ticks away from scoring in the top group. That is strong evidence that this brewery had a great 2020. WV Beer Roads co-host Erin McCoy felt that BSBC really stepped up their game in one area that was so important during this COVID year: canning. They added new equipment and made a big commitment to producing plenty of cans to increase distribution to bars and retailers. Erin also made the point that their “flagship beers are consistent, and they had lots of new options.” Matt Day was also in the BSBC camp and liked their progress in canning and distro. Jed Walkup said not to overlook that they also bottled a number of good, typically high-gravity beers during the year.

Charleston’s Dave Mincer wrote some glowing comments with his nomination of the brewery. “While our other WV breweries seem focused on offerings meant to sway non-craft beer lovers toward beer with fruited sours and soft, pillowy New England IPAs, Bad Shepherd has focused on what it does that others just don’t — barrel aged beer and experimentation with adjuncts. The barrel aged sours, particularly the golden sours like Biere De Jouette, are fantastic. The stouts have been very nice lately too with coconut, coffee, vanilla, chili peppers, and even stroopwafels entering the mix.”

Short Story Brewing

While much of Short Story Brewing’s attention during the year focused on their new taproom in Deep Creek Lake, Maryland, one thing they did excel in was releasing beer after beer, that on average, were as good as anybody’s in the state. They have absolutely mastered the hazy IPA style, releasing more hop variants than about anyone. Their beers have continued to improve year after year to the point that, in beer quality, they are competing for the top spot in the state. During the year, the brewery purchased canning equipment and began having regular can releases at the Rivesville taproom. In 2020, Short Story also made a significant investment to build a large open air seating area at the Rivesville taproom.

Candace Nelson gives Short Story a lot of props for building their business in an off-the-beaten-path location and turning it into a destination. “They’ve also been creative during the time of COVID by expanding their offerings,” she wrote. Our Elkins panelist wanted to make sure Short Story’s excellent lagers got mentioned. “If Short Story only brewed Argonaut, their superb Munich Helles, that would be enough for me.”

Chestnut Brew Works

When the state emergency rules began to allow home delivery of beer, Chestnut was one of the first to implement it. In her nomination, Erin McCoy wrote, “Chestnut Brew Works started packaging their products and even began delivering in their area to get their product to their customers. They set up an online shop for orders that works well.” The brewery continued its run of making a wide variety of new releases and maintained its strong position in the top echelon of WV breweries for beer quality. Its very popular flagship, Halleck Pale Ale, remained a very potent competitor during the year. Its beer can labels, which are definitely some of the best are produced by a local Morgantown artist.

Morgantown Brewing

Morgantown Brewing is another business that was closed about as much as it was open this year due to government mandated shutdowns. Instead of taking a break, the owners pushed boldly ahead making and canning a series of cutting edge, exotic and crazy beer styles. Candace Nelson wrote, “Morgantown Brewing Company has continued to put out some of the most unique and creative beers the Mountain State has seen.” The brewery invested in upping its canning operation and did weekly can releases that really made a difference to their bottom line. They were also among the WV breweries that used a local artist to design their beer can labels.

Screech Owl Brewing

Screech Owl had a battle keeping their taproom open through the pandemic this year because they always played it safe and closed the taproom any time there were any health concerns. That didn’t mean they weren’t brewing and innovating though. As nominator Amy Sidwell noted, “When COVID-19 affected Screech Owl’s restaurant operations, the Johnsons successfully pivoted. They made significant investments in their facilities, including the purchase of a new canning machine.” The canning equipment allowed them to significantly increase distribution of their beers in northcentral WV. Their spent grain breads and other food in their pub is some of the best around. Jeff Adkins summed it up saying, “Getting larger, great beer. Roger is the best.”  

The Rambling Root

The Rambling Root is probably the smallest brewery to make the Honor Roll. Nominators noted their cool atmosphere, great beer, fun staff, trivia night, and eclectic beer selection. Former winery owner Amy Sidwell of Morgantown noted, “Rambling Root’s social media posts are always upbeat and engaging. Even though the pandemic created challenges, they continued to innovate with locally-sourced ingredients when available.” The brewery provides a comfortable and fun craft beer beachhead in its area, including expanded outdoor seating.

The Freefolk Brewery

Another one of the state’s newer brewers to make the Honor Roll, Freefolk impressed nominators with its growth on several fronts. They expanded their packaging and their distribution and gained traction in markets way beyond their Fayetteville home base. Many new Freefolk beer styles and packages hit the market in 2020. One standout was a new bottled beer series featuring endangered species. And their little taproom is a joy to visit with all the art on the walls and high quality foods prepared by a rotating cast of local chefs. Beer bar owner Steve Frame honored them saying, “Consistent beer. Consistent service. Great team to work with.”

Greenbrier Valley Brewing

As possibly the state’s largest selling brewery, Greenbrier Valley continues to impress during the pandemic year. They have done a great job keeping Devil Anse IPA relevant and in very wide distribution. They sell a ton of it and it makes a very positive impression for West Virginia beer when customers in Virginia and Maryland give it a try. To encourage business during the height of the pandemic, GVBC offered $5 growler fills for several months at its taproom. Charleston homebrew club officer Chris Brown put it succinctly when he wrote, “I’ve never had a bad beer from GVB. Always a go-to for top quality brews in our state.”

Abolitionist Ale Works

Because we see so little of their beer outside of the state’s Eastern Panhandle, Abolitionist is at disadvantage in polls like this Honor Roll. We mostly have to judge them on the rare beer of theirs we are lucky enough to try. Nonetheless, this is a creative brewery that deserves accolades for what they do well. And that is make among the best wild ales and farmhouse styles, fruited beers, and adjunct stouts. Pat Strader explained it by writing, “Their creative, and varying selections are such a pleasant surprise, and I give them credit for embracing the funk!” They sourced art for their new can labels from WV artists. Abolitionist also tackled online sales and home deliveries this year.

Parkersburg Brewing

Parkersburg Brewing was another WV brewery that let no grass grow under its feet during the pandemic year. They made big moves to expand their product line, becoming the first WV brewery to introduce and distribute a line of hard seltzers in cans. They also got involved internationally when they perfected and reintroduced an uncommon product — a Braggot, which is a beer and mead combination — that is creating interest with some folks in Ireland. Their World Beer Cup gold medal winner, Cell Block 304, continues to set the standard for American Brown Ales. And they even offered their brewpub space as a wedding venue — sure makes it easy to hold the after-wedding toasts.

Berkeley Springs Brewing

The folks at Berkeley Springs Brewing redoubled their commitment to the small batch and experimental, as they developed and introduced over 40 new products during the year at their Morgan County taproom. That’s pretty amazing. A bunch of these were an extensive line of unique gluten-free tea beers and kombucha that contained a variety of teas as flavoring ingredients. By moving boldly into the lower-alcohol and gluten-free areas of the market, Berkeley Springs is showing the state that small breweries need not be limited to just the IPA-Kettle Sour end of the market. It’s a big and evolving market out there, and this brewery is bravely committed to exploring some of its niches.

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Honor Roll Nominators and Judging Criteria

Along with our own writers, Brilliant Stream reached out to about 20 West Virginians whose palates and beer knowledge we respect. We asked them to nominate up to three breweries that best exemplified a positive West Virginia spirit, accomplishment, and resiliency over the past year. Since we are headquartered in the Charleston area, the group was a bit southern WV centric, although it had good representation from northern WV also. Our panel of nominators contained a mix of well-experienced craft beer lovers, craft beer bar owners, homebrewers, beer bloggers, and foodies. Men and women, from a wide range of ages were included. All are well-versed in West Virginia breweries and West Virginia beer.

In making their nominations, they considered factors including:

• creativity in response to the pandemic business climate
• innovations in sales and distribution
• expanded product offerings
• expanded production capacity
• beer quality
• the brewery’s role in protecting public health

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FROM THE EDITOR: Thank you to our nomination panelists, who all put much care and thought into making their nominations. And an even bigger thank you to our WV brewers, each and every one, for making 2020 a much more bearable year than it otherwise would have been. To West Virginia’s craft beer drinkers, thank you for your support of local beer.

LINKS

2019 WV Brewery of the Year
2019 New Brewery of the Year
2018 WV Brewery of the Year

Top Tier: Weathered Ground website
Top Tier: Big Timber website
Top Tier: Stumptown Ales website
Top Tier: High Ground website