How they do it at Mountaineer Brewfest

No one does it better than Mountaineer Brewfest (MBF). The 2024 edition did it again.

An incredible outpouring of folks from around the region filled the festival grounds all afternoon and evening last Saturday. A warm, but not-too-hot, August evening was just right for beer tasting along Wheeling’s Ohio River shore.

You couldn’t miss the smiles, laughter, and friendly conversation from attendees — it was everywhere, along with the crowd’s enjoyment of some of the state’s best craft beers. It was a sight to behold. The attendees loved it, the brewers loved it. I loved it. Kudos Wheeling.

Another excellent Wheeling brewfest

The Mountaineer Brewfest leadership team delivered another outstanding event. As this festival celebrated its 10th anniversary this year, thoughts returned to earlier festival times, and to how this fest has developed so powerfully through the years.

Festival president and founder Jeff Hayes says he is knocked out by how far they’ve come since 2014. “I never imagined what this festival has turned out to be,” he said. 

“I was just trying to bring craft beer to the Northern Panhandle,” Hayes adds with a smile.

How it all began

A decade ago, he had been noticing other states around the region doing craft beer festivals. “I saw we needed craft beer here in the Northern Panhandle. Ten years later, and looking over what we’ve accomplished in regards to what we’ve given back to the community and the charities, I’m astonished by it.”

But Hayes says he has had a lot of help. There’s been a flood of business sponsorships, support groups, and volunteers signing on to help. MBF has to be one of the best at obtaining community co-sponsors and volunteers. “Some of it’s done right here [at the festival],” Hayes said. “They’ll come up to us and say ‘How do I get involved?’ It’s grown that way, organically.”

Yourkovich and Circus, Saints & Sinners

One of Hayes’ key men is Jeff Yourkovich with the Circus, Saints, & Sinners service club. Yourkovich also serves on the Brewfest organizing committee. Circus, Saints & Sinners members play an important role in working the festival and in raising money for the event’s selected charity.

“The festival started out small, but over the years it’s grown,” Yourkovich says. “We’ve been able to raise over $213,000 for charity. Mountaineer Brewfest has wonderful beer, and overall, we have 200 volunteers working the festival — 50 of whom come from the Circus, Saints & Sinners.”

Not only does the festival do an impressive job attracting volunteers, but it also flexes its muscles when it comes to obtaining sponsorships from the business community. Hayes credits the Brewfest committee with bringing in sponsors. “It’s just word of mouth; it’s just networking.”

One of the big money producers for Circus, Saints & Sinners is their use of the tip jar. At all the beer stands they work, a tip jar asks patrons for a donation. At the fest’s end, the tips are added up and then this amount is doubled by a generous donation from the Bordas & Bordas law firm. The money all goes into the featured charity’s kitty.

Yourkovich gives us an example of their success in recruiting sponsors. “We have 18 beer tents for 18 breweries from across the state of West Virginia, and each one is sponsored by a local business. Overall, the festival has over 40 sponsors this year.”

“We take great pride in running this festival,” says Yourkovich, speaking on behalf of the entire Brewfest committee.

Wheeling homebrewers play vital role

Another of the groups that have been involved since the fest’s early days is the Wheeling Alers homebrewers club.

Hayes says members of Wheeling Alers have played a huge role in the festival’s success. “I knew I needed beer expertise on the festival committee, and from the first year, I’ve had Wheeling Ales on my committee.”

He says Alers members have also been involved since day one helping pour beer at the West Virginia brewery tents. This year they also managed a Friday evening brewers’ reception at which the brewers were fed and had some fun.

Wheeling Island Hotel shines

Another organization Hayes credits for the festival’s growth and success is Wheeling Island Hotel-Casino-Racetrack. As the festival’s lead sponsor, Wheeling Island hosts the Thursday evening beer and food pairing dinner, held annually the Thursday evening before the festival as a fundraising event.

The 2024 dinner featured beer from Short Story Brewing, Rivesville, WV. Wheeling Island’s executive chef John Greenwald and his team prepared the selection of foods to pair with the various Short Story brews. This year the menu included lobster, lamb, brisket, and chicken dishes.

“We had our largest turnout ever,” says Hayes, “with about 240 guests attending.”

Tap the Firkin auction

A special part of the pairing dinner program is the Firkin Auction, which is in its third year. Dinner attendees can bid on the honor of getting to tap the firkin that officially opens the Saturday beer festival.

Thursday’s auction generated a winning bid from Bill & Kitty Hawk of $5,600, which goes directly to the fest’s featured charity. This year that charity is Helping Heroes, a center for veteran resources located in Wheeling. Before tapping the firkin, the winning bidder announced that he decided to up his donation to an even $6,000. One has to be impressed by the charity that this beer festival elicits.

Helping Heroes works on many issues military veterans may face, including homelessness, helping veterans-in-need get back on their feet, and providing a variety of health services and other life services veterans might need. Helping Heroes is soon moving into a new building which will allow them the space to provide even more services. 

It shouldn’t be long before Jeff Hayes and the Mountaineer Brewfest committee announce their total donation to Helping Heroes. Last year’s featured charity, Family Services-Upper Ohio Valley, recieved checks totaling $40,000 from the festival. We are anxiously awaiting this year’s announcement.

Mountaineer Brewfest website link

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We’re sure that the Wheeling community is already looking forward to the fun and assistance this fest will continue to provide to its community. “Good work, guys” to everyone who pitches in to show the very best that the craft beer community has to offer.