Country Roads Beer Co. opens this weekend

Country Roads Beer Co. opens its doors to the public this Saturday (August 10) in White Sulphur Springs, WV. It is a much-anticipated rebirth of a brewery in the downtown district of that city. 

---

---

A meaningful return

Back in 2021, when brewer Frankie Weinberg left Greenbrier Valley Brewing, who would have guessed that three years later he would have a triumphant return to Greenbrier County. This return is a homecoming of sorts for both Frankie and his partner, Sophia Hibbs, who has family not far away in Daniels, WV. 

You see, the couple had most recently been living and working in the metro Atlanta area when this new opportunity arose. Frankie was brewing for small brewers in that region and had even done a stint with large brewer, Sweetwater Brewing, since leaving West Virginia. 

The opportunity that arose was to restart the former Big Draft Brewing operation in White Sulphur Springs, a brewery which had been sitting idle for the better part of a year. The building owner offered a good deal to Weinberg and Hibbs if they would restart brewing in the town. 

Weinberg figured he had been brewing for others long enough, and he was ready to take on brewing at his own place. Hibbs, who has a background in business design consulting, figured her skills in problem-solving and organizational solutions could be put to use too. 

So they took the plunge.

Happy to be back

The name Country Roads Beer Co. is a perfect choice for a West Virginia brewery.

“We’re very happy to come back to West Virginia to open our brewery here instead of trying to do it somewhere else,” Frankie said. 

Along those lines, Sophia added: “The city wanted nothing more than for the brewery to come back. So for us wanting a brewery, and the city wanting a brewery back, the vision was just in alignment.”

After agreeing to terms with the building owner, the couple got to work. They brought on Executive Chef Steven Anderson to set up and run the kitchen and design their food menu. They tapped Scott Epperson to manage the taproom. With Hibbs overseeing, they had the main taproom bar redone and completed other interior renovations and decoration upgrades inside and outside. 

The brewing set-up

While things were busy in the kitchen and taproom, Weinberg got busy in the brewhouse.

Weinberg inherited the brewing equipment from the former Big Draft Brewing. After a lot of cleaning and a bit of re-engineering he got the system going.

Weinberg brews on a two-vessel, 10-barrel system, including a single-infusion mash tun and a steam-driven kettle. Fermentation is handled in two 20-barrel and four 10-barrel unitank fermentors. He also has one 20-bbl brite tank.

Opening Beers On Tap

He figured it would be good to open with four beers — each with its own unique touch.

Appalachian Wildflower Blonde
A lightly hopped blonde ale made with honey malt and Appalachian wildflower honey

Mountain Mama Blackberry Gose
A tart wheat beer with coriander, salt, and blackberry puree.

Backyard Brawl IPA
A tropically-flavored hazy, West Coast IPA 

Mountaineer Bourbon Ale
A sweet-style ale with bourbon-candied pecans

In the coming weeks these four beers will soon be augmented by several more, including a popular-taste Lager.

Cocktails too

Beyond their craft beer, the taproom will feature signature craft cocktails. They have two designed for opening weekend:

• Country Roads Cherry Cooler (Pisco Grape Liquor, WV cherry syrup, & soda water) and
• Matcha Waiting For (Matcha, chocolate liqueur, Smooth Ambler Contradiction Rye, & coconut water).

Expect more specialty cocktails coming very soon.

Beer-infused cuisine

With Chef Anderson leading the way, we should expect some tasty cuisine.

Sophia said, “We really wanted the beer to drive the food, not the food to drive the beer. She explains that many of the food items will include house-brewed beers among their ingredients.  She called their style “gourmet bar food.”

At the Grand Opening, food service will primarily be a list of shareable items and salads. Pretty much everything will be served on sharable platters.

Opening weekend food will include things like lettuce wraps, wings, sliders, truffle fries and more. Expect a larger menu coming soon.

Brewery Hours

Grand Opening Saturday: 12 noon to 10 pm 
Sunday, Wed, and Thur: 12 noon to 8 pm
Monday and Tuesday: Closed

Live entertainment set

For the Grand Opening Celebration this Saturday they are offering a lineup of live entertainment.

12:00 PM: Kyle Tipton Music 
2:30 PM: Cory Harris (@corymichaelharrismusic) 
5:00 PM: Thomas Taylor Band 

---

Let’s all welcome Frankie and Sophia and their Country Roads Beer Co. to the West Virginia brewing community.