Jackie O’s Brewery enters West Virginia

One of Appalachia’s and America’s very best breweries will begin selling it’s beer in West Virginia. Jackie O’s Brewery of Athens, Ohio, signed on with Mountain State Beverage to handle its statewide West Virginia distribution, which is expected to begin in the next few weeks. The brewery received its final state approvals on Friday, Sept 2. WV beer fans have been waiting a long time for this.

“Mountain State Beverage is very honored to be able to finally bring Jackie O’s to West Virginia,” said company President Scott Parkes. “Jackie O’s not only makes great beer, but has created a very unique culture in Athens and the surrounding area, a culture that will resonate very well with the West Virginia craft enthusiasts. Being one of the few states that they have expanded into is a great testament to the craft beer community of West Virginia.”

Founded in 2007, Jackie O’s Brewery is named for owner Art Oestrike’s mother Jackie, who passed away in 2006. Oestrike says he is so ready to get things going in WV, something he has wanted to do for a long time. “We’re really excited to be launching West Virginia.”

With Athens sitting just 25 miles from the West Virginia border, the brewery has long been a pilgrimage destination for beer lovers in the Charleston-Huntington-Parkersburg region. In June 2021, Oestrike told Brilliant Stream’s West Virginia Beer Roads podcast hosts that he was working to get his beer into WV. He thanked West Virginians for all their support through the years and said he hoped to jump into the WV market once the COVID dust settled and he could be sure that his brewery could take care of the demand in the Ohio market.

Now that market dynamics have settled down to a more normal state, he said the time was right. “We look forward to bringing our products to the shelves in West Virginia,” Art said.

Strong in distribution

During its first eight years, Jackie O’s focused beer sales on its brewpub in Athens. About eight years ago after it built its production brewery and jumped into the statewide Ohio distribution market, Jackie O’s quickly became an Ohio brewery stalwart. Its popular distribution beers initially included Mystic Mama West Coast IPA, Razz Wheat Raspberry-flavored Wheat Ale, Chomolungma Brown Ale, and its highly-rated Dark Apparition Imperial Stout. More recently, Jackie O’s added to its distribution success with a popular series of hazy-juicy IPAs and the Who Cooks For You Pale Ale.

These flagship beers are currently in distribution across Ohio and are also sold in parts of Kentucky and Virginia. We should expect to see all of them in West Virginia, Oestrike confirmed. Over time, the state should also see a nice selection of Jackie O’s specialty and barrel-aged beers. Oestrike says he is quite optimistic about West Virginia’s market potential.

Strong in specialties

Jackie O’s is one of those rare breweries that has developed a devoted following among both general craft beer drinkers and snobby craft beer aficionados. Its barrel-aging and blending program is a strength that has taken many years to perfect — and is today producing one world-class beer after another. The brewery has found a home in the hearts of the nation’s most discerning craft beer fans who appreciate its big, rich barrel-aged Imperial Stouts and its traditional, barrel-fermented wild and sour ales. Inside that fan base, Jackie O’s is often mentioned in the “Best Breweries in America” conversation.

By operating both a small brewpub and a larger production brewery, Jackie O’s produces a lot of different beers. Of the nearly 1,300 beers the brewery has listed on Untappd, around 500 of them have a rating of 4.0 or higher out of 5 possible. Those kind of ratings are in the stratosphere for American brewers. It’s an incredible achievement.

Strong in brewing talent

The production brewery has an excellent head brewer in Seth Morton, who apprenticed under original Jackie O’s brewer, Brad Clark. (Clark left in 2019 to start up his own brewery in California.) Morton is assisted in brewery operations by the very capable Chris Raubenstraw in leading a team of experienced brewery workers. The diversely talented Liam McDonald, who serves as the brewpub brewer, also handles much of the brewery’s research and development for products that will later be made at the production brewery. Jackie O’s produced between 13,000 and 14,000 barrels of beer last year.

In addition to its production brewery and brew pub, the brewery also operates a Public House Restaurant in uptown Athens and a carryout beer outlet in Columbus. It is currently building a taproom in Columbus (Jackie O’s On Fourth), which should open later this fall. In total, Jackie O’s breweries and taprooms employ well over 100 people.

Always a West Virginia connection

There’s always a West Virginia connection. In this case it is Morgantown artist Bryn Perrott, who, since 2013, produces most of Jackie O’s beer can label art. This includes the woodcut and tattoo-inspired signature look of Jackie O’s core brand cans and also the incredibly lovable Appalachian creatures (including possums, porcupines, cicadas, snakes, peacocks, and more) on the limited-edition IPA series cans.

Mountain State Beverage

Founded in 2011, Johnson Brothers–Mountain State Beverage is a beer and wine distribution company providing statewide coverage in West Virginia. In beer, they represent over 300 unique craft brews. They carry over 2,000 different wine varieties from around the world. With over 100 team members, the organization is the largest statewide wine and beer distributor. Based in Summersville WV, the company is also one of the state’s leading brokers of distilled spirits representing a world class portfolio of brands.

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LINKS

Jackie O’s Brewery Website
West Virginia Beer Roads interview with Art and Seth from 2021