Screech Owl wins honey beer gold medal

Screech Owl Brewing’s Buckwheat Honey Porter won a gold medal in the Stout and Porter category at the 2021 national Honey Beer Competition. That’s great news for West Virginia’s brewing industry and quite an honor for Screech Owl.

When I saw the email yesterday from Screech Owl’s co-founder Roger Johnson, I could tell he was very excited, and rightfully so. The email read: “Hey everyone. We won Gold Metal in the NATIONAL—Honey beer contest with our Buckwheat Honey Porter—BEST HONEY PORTER IN THE NATION.”

The Honey Beer Competition is no rinky-dink event. It attracts beer entries from many top-flight craft brewers across the nation. Brewers entered over 240 beers in this year’s competition, which is conducted by the National Honey Board of Longmont, Colorado, to help promote the honey industry. Gold, silver and bronze medals are awarded in 13 beer-style categories and also three medals in a Best of Show round. The largest category had 53 entires; the Stout/Porter category had 12.

Break of Jawn, a Belgian-style witbier can-conditioned on orange blossom honey, took home Best of Show honors this year. The beer was brewed by Long Island City, NY-based Fifth Hammer Brewing.

“This year’s competition had quite a few firsts, including our first Best of Show from the Belgian-style category,” said Catherine Barry, director of marketing for the National Honey Board. Second place overall went to Spicer St. Christmas Ale from Akron, Ohio’s Akronym Brewing. The herb and spice beer was made with clover honey, cinnamon and nutmeg.

Buckwheat Honey Porter • Production notes

Screech Owl’s Roger Johnson provided us some production notes on the Buckwheat Honey Porter.

Buckwheat Honey Porter is a rich, dark porter brewed with 2 row Pale Malt, loads of Crystal Malts, Chocolate and Maris Otter Malts, explained Roger. He uses Nugget and Willamette Hops and 60-plus pounds of pure Buckwheat Honey. The beer is brewed at lower temperatures and aged for at least 30 days. The carbonation is intentionally keep low, not quite the British carb levels, but lower than what we commonly see today in American Porters.

“The longer this beer ages the better it becomes,” says Roger. “Your first sensory delight will be the aroma of Buckwheat Honey, Chocolate and a slight hint of coffee. The malty taste of the dark crystal malt, biscuity Maris Otter,  chocolate malt and sweetness of the buckwheat honey combine  on your palate to offer a very big complex flavor.”

Best enjoyed at a 45 to 50 degrees serving temperature, Buckwheat Honey Porter is “almost a dessert beer” to be enjoyed warmer than most and sipped slowly. Roger says the beer is often described as being much like a liquid Buckwheat Cake. “Some have suggested we should serve it garnished with a sausage patty,” he says. It registers a fairly low 4.5% ABV.

The beer was first produced for the 2016 Preston County Buckwheat Festival, but since they were not allowed to serve it on the Buckwheat Festival fairgrounds, Screech Owl debuted it on-tap at the nearby Brew HA HA restaurant in Kingwood. Roger says that while it is a year-round beer, at times, especially mid-summer they have trouble obtaining the Buckwheat Honey. Screech Owl sells the beer in both cans and kegs. This same beer also won a bronze medal in the 2017 Honey Beer Competition.

The gold medal announcement is just the latest in a series of honors for Screech Owl Brewing. “We also just found out we were voted best Bar and Grill in Preston County, by our customers,” Roger said.

Buckwheat cultivation and bees

(From wikipedia) Despite the name, buckwheat is not closely related to wheat, as it is not a grass. Instead, buckwheat is a plant related to sorrel, knotweed, and rhubarb. When the buckwheat plant flowers, honeybees pollinate the blooms and then use the nectar to produce honey. Buckwheat honey comes from hives kept next to buckwheat fields. The honey produced during the buckwheat bloom is harvested and sold as buckwheat honey.

Buckwheat honey is dark in color and is said to be highly nutritious. It has a rich, earthy molasses-like taste. Some health information sources suggest the honey is high in antioxidants and makes a great all-natural sweetener for home use.

Buckwheat seeds are high in cabohydrates and can be ground into a flour. American, European, and Asian peoples use buckwheat in both culinary and beverage products. Buckwheat breads, soba noodles, and buckwheat pancakes are a few of the popular uses. Brewers use buckwheat grist to produce a gluten-free beer. Buckwheat tea made from roasted buckwheat seeds is common in northern Asian countries.

Buckwheat has been grown by Preston County, WV farmers for many years. The county celebrates this crop annually with its Buckwheat Festival in Kingwood. This year’s festival begins September 30, 2021 and ends on October 3, 2021.

More 2021 honey beer medalists from Appalachia

Some of the other Honey Beer Competition winners from Appalachia and our part of the country include:

Barrel-Aged Beer Category

GOLD
Cellar Cuvée 1
Jackie O’s Brewery
Athens, Ohio

General Lager Category

GOLD
Honey Sucker Pils
Roy-Pitz Brewing Company
Chambersburg, Pennsylvania

Fruit / Veg / Spice Beer Category

GOLD
Spicer St Christmas Ale
Akronym Brewing
Akron, Ohio

Historical Beer Category

GOLD
Arlington
East End Brewing Company
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Sour Beer Category

BRONZE
Many Hands
Wise Man Brewing
Winston-Salem, North Carolina

Wheat Beer Category

SILVER
Psychedelic Nightmare
North Country Brewing Company
Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania

A complete listing of all the 2021 winners can be found at this link.

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A visit to the brewery always makes a nice road trip. Many Screech Owl beers are also available at retail in four-packs of 16-oz. cans.

Screech Owl Brewing & Spent Grain Cafe
2323 Ralph Livengood Rd
Bruceton Mills (Cuzzart), WV 26525

Brewery Website Link
Screech Owl Brewing Profile Page on Brilliant Stream
WV Beer Roads Podcast with Screech Owl’s Jameson Johnson