Amani Brewing – discovering a real gem

April 11, 2023

As the West Virginia Beer Roads crew travels the state visiting our little home-grown breweries, we find some real gems. One of those gems is Amani Brewing, located just outside Martinsburg in the Eastern Panhandle, which we recently visited.

It was our first trip to this Berkeley County, WV, brewery and taproom since it opened for business a little over a year ago. Wowza! Were we ever impressed.

Listen to the Amani Podcast

Listen in as Erin and Charles interview Amani founder and brewer, Curt Kimbrell, to discover his keys to successful beer making. You’ll also hear about more things you can expect from this fast rising brewery.

WVBR • Episode 67 • 27 minutes

*Curt Kimbrell (at left) conducts a beer tasting with the WV Beer Roads hosts Erin McCoy and Charles Bockway.*

One year in — a Mighty AMANI

You never know what you’ll find when you stop into a particular brewery for the first time. But mark this down: Our first stop at Amani Brewing was stellar. It may be small, but it is mighty.

There is absolutely no doubt that Curt Kimbrell used his first year in business successfully perfecting his recipes and brewing techniques.

We discovered that Kimbrell produces some super-good, moderate-ABV, Juicy-Hazy IPAs. His best hazies compete favorably with the better ones in our region of the country — and I’d include standard-strength IPAs from places like Dancing Gnome, Aslin, Masthead, Short Story, and Braxton.

Curt’s hazy beers were so juicy and well-balanced, without any hint of harshness. The fruity hops expressed themselves eloquently without overpowering. And the beer goodness didn’t stop with hazy IPAs. Curt’s expertise also extended to other styles we sampled.

While Amani’s most popular beer — Hazy Day Maker IPA (6.8% ABV) — might have been the first standout we tried, their lovely Fireside Porter (6.6% ABV), crisp Mountaineer Pilsner (5.3% ABV), and berry-forward Embracing Risk sour (5.5% ABV) were all very well-made, demonstrating the brewer’s breadth of accomplishment.

The beers we tried at their taproom showed that Amani really flexes its muscle in the moderate alcohol-strength zone. In fact, you likely will not find a beer there over 7.5%

Some additional cool tidbits we picked up during the interview:

Amani plans to add an in-house kitchen operation, which will offer artistic food & beer pairings.
Amani is seriously considering opening a second taproom somewhere in West Virginia. (If you think your town would be the right place for them, let them know.)
Amani is adding a small, pilot brewing system to produce an ever-changing variety of small batch specialty and experimental brews for the taproom.

A beautiful WV setting

*The spacious Amani Brewing taproom has several inviting seating areas.*

Nestled in a suburban, semi-rural setting on several acres, there is no doubt this little brewery has the potential to make a very positive mark for West Virginia’s brewing image with folks in the surrounding regions of Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.

When visiting, you’ll normally find a food truck parked outside, and a large outdoor seating area in the field directly behind the main brewery building. So maybe plan a visit in a warm weather month to get the most enjoyment.

In this very beer-competitive part of the country, our hat is off to Curt Kimbrell and Amani Brewing. Since he has no plans anytime soon to put beer in distro to other parts the state, you’ll have to make the pilgrimage to Martinsburg in order to enjoy these tasty brews.