McKay opens Apex beer retail shop

With last month’s opening of Apex Beverage in Huntington, craft beer publican Jeff McKay also became the region’s most selective craft beer retailer.

For the past 10 years, McKay’s Summit Beer Station, at 321 9th Avenue, has been the go-to place for better craft beer selection and service. His commitment to learning the ins and outs of better beers from Europe and U.S. craft brewers is unsurpassed in the region.

Now, he’s taken that knowledge and used it in opening the region’s premier craft beer bottle shop: Apex Beverage Company.

Filling the Apex shelves

Since he officially opened the first of August, McKay has been meticulously stocking up his shelves with the types of beer he wants. (He also sells some wines and local cider.) This turns out to be a long process as McKay waits on the distributors to get more of his desired brands.

“We’re trying to procure more off the beaten path items,” McKay explains.

That interest especially applies to better European breweries.

Scanning the shelves, one sees that McKay invests heavily in European beer. “Some of these breweries have been making beer longer than the U.S. has existed,” he notes.

He thinks his interest in the older European breweries and bar culture stems from his background as a sociologist.

“I’m interested in cultures,” he says. “I’m interested in the importance that these beers have had on their respective areas. There’s a story to tell. And I think that’s why I invest so heavily in it.”

Even though Apex’s Belgian beer section is already likely the best in the state, he calls his pursuit of Belgian beers “a work in progress.” He is now awaiting a new supplier to soon enter the state, who will bring in loads of top Belgian craft brands never before available here.

Just like he’s done for years at Summit Beer Station, McKay carefully selects each beer that he places on Apex shelves. No beer will get into the store unless its quality competes for best in category.

He also limits his offerings to independent craft breweries. As more craft brewers are taken over by large non-craft brewers and by non-beer corporations and private equity funds, this selectivity plays an important part in his business philosophy.

While he’s not yet as choosy at Apex as he is at Summit, he still only brings in beers that he knows and likes. And even among products that qualify as independent craft beer, McKay only sells those he believes to be among the best of the breed available to him.

“If we’re going to call this a craft beer store, I want people to have the assurance that what they’re buying really is craft beer,” McKay says.

Apex may be the only West Virginia beer retailer to religiously follow that approach.

Getting what he needs

While other beer retailers commonly buy whatever beers their distributors happen to be pushing, McKay pushes the other way. He works closely with beer distributors to get them to order and procure the beers that he wants, ones that are top representatives of their style categories.

Without McKay’s work through the years prodding distributors, the Huntington market (and likely other parts of West Virginia) would have much less a selection of top-end, beautiful imported beers.

McKay says that he has definitely seen an improvement in beer distributors’ interest in the craft beer market. He says there are now wholesalers in the state who truly see the value in selling those low-volume, high-end, exceptional beers.

“It’s not really as difficult to get good beers as it was maybe 5 or 6 years ago,” he notes. “We already have probably 200 SKUs (different unique items in the store).”

And as distributors obtain more of the beers he wants, he expects that count to go up to 300.

Speaking of American beers, McKay says he really doesn’t have any interest in run-of-the-mill, generic craft breweries, even small ones, unless they produce very special beers. Beyond the ones that make high quality beer, he prefers craft brewers who have a special history or a recognized significance in the craft brewing industry. It’s clear that he especially loves beers and breweries with a story.

He also puts a special emphasis on supporting the better breweries from his local region. “We’ve got a good collection of West Virginia breweries, along with beers from Jackie O’s, Rhinegeist, and others,” he says.

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Keeping on top of his craft

McKay excels at his vocation by seeking knowledge that’s not easy to come by. To stay at the top of his art, he invests a lot of time and money into learning about high-end beer. That includes annual trips to Belgium or Germany to explore and learn with the brewery masters there. He also works closely with our West Virginia, Ohio, and Kentucky craft brewers to discover their best products and then moves to obtain them.

It’s not that the Huntington region doesn’t have other credible craft beer retailers. You’ll find plenty of popular craft labels at the Huntington area’s better liquor stores — even some good beers in Kroger. Ashland, KY, also has a couple of nice beverage specialty shops that carry a wide variety of craft. Leo’s Carryout in South Point, Ohio, is a long-standing craft beer source.

But none of these other retailers curate their selection quite as carefully as McKay does. Neither do many other beer retailers have McKay’s depth of knowledge of what’s in the bottle and how it compares to others in the style category.

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Huntington craft beer market growing

For the past decade, Jeff McKay has been a leader in developing Huntington’s positive craft beer culture. Yet McKay says there are newer aspects of Huntington’s beer market that he loves, but can’t take credit for.

“I wish I had an explanation for this, but our customer base is getting younger. It wasn’t always this way. On a Friday or Saturday night at Summit, I sometimes feel I’m old enough to be everybody’s dad.”

McKay also says he’s seeing more folks in his businesses who come from out of state — and not just those coming over from the Huntington metro areas of Kentucky and Ohio.

“What I’ve noticed locally is that when I ID people, I’m seeing they’re from Florida, they’re from Colorado, they’re from California — and they have moved here for a variety of reasons. With them comes the beer culture they were accustomed to living around.”

He sees both of these as positive trends that he hopes will continue.

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New PODA brings new opportunity

As the new Huntington PODA (Private Outdoor Designated Area) builds momentum, McKay plans to add a bar license to Apex’s retail permit. This will allow Apex fully participate in this new social outlet.

PODA: Recently enacted state legislation now allows cities to define a district within which people may move among participating businesses while carrying with them a beer, wine, or cocktail they purchased in a special PODA cup. Huntington is the state’s first municipality to authorize a PODA. Retailers, bars, and restaurants who want to participate pay an annual $100 state fee for their permit. The PODA is similar to the DORA permits that have been used in Ohio cities for the past couple of years. (Check out this feature on the PODA from WSAZ-TV.)

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Apex Beverage is located street-level in the Progress Building at 418 8th St., directly across the street from the Cabell County Court House.

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LINKS

Apex Beverage Co. Facebook page
Link to a recent West Virginia Beer Roads podcast with Jeff McKay