Amani Brewing sets January opening in Martinsburg
January 19, 2022
Amani Brewing — the most recent addition to our West Virginia family of brewers — will open to the public in Martinsburg on January 28. It already has its final state permits, and brewing is well underway. Learn all about it on the West Virginia Beer Roads podcast.
Curt Kimbrell is the founder and brewer for Amani Brewing. Like so many other West Virginia brewers, he got the brewing bug starting as a homebrewer. Then, he learned the ropes of commercial brewing by hanging around with Garrett Chambers, who is a founder/partner in Cushwa Brewing in close-by Williamsport, MD. Kimbrell already had a great piece of property, and once he made the decision to move ahead, nothing could stop him.
Amani’s opening breaks a decade-long dry spell for Martinsburg breweries. The last brewery there (Mountaineer Brewing) closed in 2011.
Amani’s taproom will initially offer eight house-made beers and seat 80 people with a maximum occupancy of 120. Outside parking can handle 150 vehicles. The brewhouse is based around a 3-vessel, 5-barrel all-electric brewing system. It has five 5-bbl. fermentors and one 10-bbl fermentor.
Kimbrell says, “We brew what we like to drink,” but he also tries to be inclusive to all important segments of the market. Amani will open with eight beers on tap: three hazy IPAs, a regular IPA, one sessionable pale ale, a porter, pilsner, and fruited sour. The Armani line-up will feature moderate strength beers between 4.5% and 6.6% ABV.
As a nod to the American light beer drinker, his Mountaineer Pilsner is a low bitterness, easy drinking (5.3% ABV) lager designed to introduce the uninitiated to craft beer, while still delivering flavors that craft drinkers will appreciate. He also expects his Embracing Risk Fruited Sour to be popular with with many who do not normally drink beer.
His Wander Series Pale Ale will feature a different hop or hop blend each time it is brewed. He hopes this beer will help educate his customers on the varying aromas and favors that come from hops. It’s a very sessionable pale ale at 4.6% ABV. For the winter months, Kimbrell says his Fireside Porter will complement the season well.
At the opening, folks will also be able to pick up a limited amount of beers in single 16-oz cans. No distribution is planned for the foreseeable future.
WV Beer Roads on Youtube
Watch our 17-minute WV Beer Roads video interview with Curt Kimbrell to hear many details about the business and its goals in the market. The interview is also formatted as an audio podcast with a link below.
Our Amani Brewing Podcast Link
FYI: Amani Brewing is named for Curt Kimbrell’s daughter Paris Amani Kimbrell, who provided many of the photos for this article.
Amani Brewing
654 Ropp Dr.
Martinsburg, WV 25403
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