WV brewery production levels growing

INCLUDES UPDATED NUMBERS FOR SCREECH OWL BREWING AND OTHERS

Spirits are up across the board at West Virginia breweries this spring as the beer market returns to a more normal state. Brewery production levels are growing in 2021 and will hopefully make up for the losses of 2020.

The best we can tell, all our larger West Virginia brewers suffered production declines last year. While 2020 was a difficult year for brewers overall, West Virginia’s largest breweries hung in and continued their dominance in terms of market share. The good news is that all brewers report significant recovery in terms of market activity, especially in draft beer, which is the bread and butter of brewpubs and brewery taprooms. 

With so many West Virgina brewers increasing or adding to can production capacity last year, this has also placed them in a much better position to grow.

The biggest stay big

The overall decline in draft beer sales in 2020—and the beer can shortage for some—stopped an otherwise strongly unticking sales pattern of the past few years. Even so, the top three WV brewers each produced between 3,400 and 4,400 barrels of beer in 2020. Big Timber Brewing secured the top spot, with Greenbrier Valley Brewing and Mountain State Brewing right behind. It was an impressive year for them, considering the pandemic market, which they all navigated quite well. Now, they are poised to show production and sales growth for 2021 — that is, if they can get the cans they need.

Next in line are some WV brewers with momentum who, while many suffered declines in 2020, are poised to move up significantly this year. Weathered Ground, which is operating at full capacity, should easily top 1,000 barrels in production for 2021 after just missing that mark in 2020. Screech Owl Brewing nearly hit 700 barrels in the pandemic year and expects to hit 1,100 barrels in 2021 as its canned product gets out into wider distribution. Others we estimate will recover market and exceed the 800-barrel production level in 2021 are Chestnut Brew Works, Bridge Brew Works, Stumptown Ales, High Ground, Bad Shepherd, and Short Story Brewing. Right below them is one that, with a little luck, should exceed the 600 barrel level this year: Brew Keepers. Look for Bad Shepherd and High Ground to hit 1,000 barrels for the first time this year.

Short Story’s Aaron Rote provides a comment that is pretty typical among WV brewers about the positive outlook for sales and production. “We currently have 60 barrels of fermentor capacity, and we operate at capacity,” he said. Breweries with consistently high quality products and strong followings are definitely poised for superior growth this year. 

Up and comers

One other WV brewpubs to watch: The Peddler does extremely well in its on-premise draft sales and as it achieves wider distro, it should get a sales bump. It would be great to see it hit 500 barrels of production in 2021. Another one that should jump into this category is The Freefolk Brewery, which should now benefit from the widened distribution its achieved during 2020. It along with Bridge Brew Works will also be helped by the increased Fayetteville tourist business expected from the New River Gorge getting National Park status.

Among the smaller WV brewers, a few stand out with potential to see sizable sales and production growth this year. Morgantown Brewing’s purchase of a new canning line and its strong brewpub sales position it well to at least hit 400 barrels in 2021. If Sophisticated Hound Brewing’s new canned product catches on in distro, it should also see a sizable production jump and get to challenge to join the 400-barrel club. If Abolitionist Ale Works increases its commitment to canned beer and to distributing it, we could see this brewery approach the 400-barrel mark. 

As far as we can tell, the rest of West Virgina’s brewers produce less than 400 barrels each in annual production. A barrel of beer equals 31 gallons. 

All production numbers are Brilliant Stream estimates researched from a variety of sources.