Weathered Ground at 4; a brewery with a message

Weathered Ground Brewery in Cool Ridge is now four years old. Four years in brewery years is definitely enough time to tell whether or not a brewery has what it takes to make good beer and to sell its good beer. Weathered Ground scores on both those counts. The brewery held its anniversary party on July 31.

The overall message coming out of Weathered Ground is that, business-wise, things have gone even better than they expected. But there’s a reason for that. It’s called good business management and good brewing.

Fond of the Fondas

Aryn Fonda handles the overall business management side of things and her husband Sam leads the brewing. You have to give most of the credit for the brewery’s success to these two conscientious, cordial, and committed owners. The team of 15 employees they have built also share in the credit for how well things are going. Many of Weathered Ground’s employees are long-term. Take for instance head brewer Anthony Meador who has been with the place since it began. Others like Bobby Bowling, Matt Word, and bartenders Mandy Carrico, Joy Myers, Zach Lilly and Ashley Linzy have a long history there too. Devon Coffey has been their kitchen manager ever since the brewery began doing its own food. Weathered Ground just doesn’t have much employee turnover. People like working there. This consistency shows in the quality of their product and service.

It takes more than committed owners

A business that is a fun place to work and one that treats its employees with respect and fairness is a business you want to support. A brewery that does this and that also makes superior beer is a brewery I want to support.

Many of my my craft beer loving friends in southern West Virginia follow Weathered Ground releases religiously. If there’s a new beer out, they want to try it. I’ve not observed any other West Virginia brewery with a more passionate following. Weathered Ground seems to have attracted the beer drinker’s attention in our state. And that’s good for the overall local beer market. That buzz spreads from person to person, and it then gets them trying all the other small breweries too.

Retailers love Weathered Ground too

Weathered Ground seems to also have fans among the state’s beer retailers and bars. I couldn’t begin to count the number of times (but it’s a lot) that leading craft beer retailers Fruth Pharmacy and Drug Emporium have publicized their new Weathered Ground beer arrivals on their social media. Other brands don’t get nearly as much attention. Beer bars are fans too. I found The Pallet Bar craft beer bar co-owner Ben Burton at the Weathered Ground anniversary party. He says what stands out about that brewery is its ability to make so many different beer styes at such a high quality level: “For our customers it’s great to have many different styles available for them to drink, whether it’s an IPA, a sour, or a stout.” He says Weathered Ground delivers. As a retailer, he also likes that Weathered Ground adapts well to what the market wants. New styles: no problem; they have them. And he says they also make killer traditional styles, such as the recent English Mild and Porter series. “They’re really hitting the entire market,” he said.

Check out our podcast

Check out our new short 6-minute video that lets the Weathered Ground leaders tell you a few factors behind their success. They also send a message to our state policy makers and leadership about the importance of small breweries to our state’s future. Or, you can listen to the 18-minute audio podcast to hear the more complete story.

West Virgina Beer Roads Audio Podcast

Watch our Youtube video

LINKS

Weathered Ground Brewery website