Rails & Ales 2024 delivers

In case you missed last Saturday’s Rails & Ales 2024 Festival in Huntington, we’ve got plenty of photos and West Virginia beer news for you.

First, we give a quick review of this year’s fest. Then, we preview beers hitting WV brewery taprooms and distribution in August and September. Lots of good ones.

Back to normal

It was another outstanding festival for southern West Virginia. Festival beer director, Jeff McKay, was very happy with the large turnout of craft beer fans from across the Tri-State region.

“There’s a sense of normalcy with this one,” McKay says while observing that people are again enjoying outdoor beer festivals.

It was evident by the large crowd in attendance that the region is fully back to embracing this festival after several years of COVID hangover, which has impacted beer festivals nationwide. This year’s attendance was also likely juiced by the inclusion of several new and popular breweries and their beer, plus some very good music entertainers.

McKay worked very hard over the past several years to upgrade his European beer offerings, and it showed. Participating beer distributors have also been adding top-quality U.S. regional breweries to their West Virginia books. Together, these things were reflected in the festival offerings this year.

Beers from new entries abound

Among the more than 200 different beers tapped on Saturday were many beauties from first-time brewery attendees, such as:

• Foreign brewers Drie Fonteinen, St. Bernardus, De Blaugies, De La Senne, De Ranke, and Pohjala;
• U.S. Regional brewers Aslin, Deschutes, Cinderlands, New Trail, Ommegang, and Urban Artifact;
• West Virginia brewers Fox Hops and Köerber.

This year’s edition of the Rails & Ales Festival was surely a stellar beer event.

Brewery news, upcoming releases

While at Rails & Ales 2024, West Virginia Beer Roads co-host, Erin McCoy, and I asked some of the brewers and brewery reps in attendance to tell us what they have upcoming in the next month and a half. Here’s what we found out.

Bad Shepherd Beer Company, Charleston

Head Brewer Ross Williams says his popular Prost Alle Oktoberfest Beer will be coming up for a September 1 release. He said he is excited about a new beer he made called Western Delicious, which is a not-quite-West-Coast IPA featuring extensive dry hopping with Summit and Eldorado. He also said that his popular IPAs, Cloud Machine and Electric Petting Zoo, are both on the way back to Bad Shepherd taps.

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Screech Owl Brewing, Cuzzart

Screech Owl Brewing, which takes great pains when it develops new recipes to brew, is introducing a Hefeweizen ale. It should be in distro soon. You can also expect to see the guys out at many beer festivals around the state in August and September.

Head brewer Roger Johnson reminds everyone that their Spent Grain Cafe features vegetables that they raised themselves on their farm. He says to come over and try something tasty while the vegetable season is in. Fresh corn, peppers, tomatoes, green beans, and more. The Spent Grain Cafe at the brewery is currently open on Fridays and Saturdays.

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Bridge Brew Works, Fayetteville

Some really big news comes from Bridge Brew Works. Nathan Herrold, co-owner/brewer, says BBW is releasing its first-ever Hazy IPA. They are likely one of the last breweries in America to give in to the haze craze.

Their Hazy IPA, called Julie’s Juicer, is on tap at the brewery taproom now and should soon begin appearing at other BBW outlets. Julie’s Juicer (6.3% ABV) comes across with a citrusy juiciness up front and finishes with just a touch of balancing bitterness.

Also, Nathan confirmed they are releasing BBW’s popular Oktoberfest beer the week before Labor Day. Their traditional Oktoberfestbier, made in the Marzen style, is a little more dry than many but still retains very nice maltiness and a smooth finish. It’s always one of the best in the state for its style. A pleasure to drink throughout the autumn season.

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High Ground Brewing, Terra Alta

Soon, brewery owner D.J. Wolfe says, the 2024 batch of Famous Monster Oktoberfest (Märzen style) will hit distro along with a new batch of their Aww Geez Tartshake IPA. They also love their darker beers for fall, so D.J. says we can expect Ludicrous Speed Schwartzbier back this year.

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The Peddler, Huntington

Jay Fox, head brewer at The Peddler, servers double duty at these Rails & Ales Festivals as a member of the festival management/ownership team. As a festival official, he presented the Best of the Fest awards to the winning brewers this year. As a brewer, he served up some great The Peddler brews at the brewery’s tent.

Jay says he’s quite pleased with his new Ye Olde Scupperneck Bohemian-style Pilsner that he just recently released. He also says to expect some new IPAs coming soon to the brewery taps.

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New Trail Brewing, Williamsport, PA

Since its entry into the WV market earlier this year, New Trail Brewing seems to have hit the West Virginia market with a big explosion. Selling well-made, popular craft beer styles, with one—their Crisp Lager—priced so competitively that craft beer bars have quickly learned it is a strong profit center.

Tori Boling, New Trail’s regional sales rep, says the brewery will be introducing its fall seasonal Crisp Amber Lager (4.8% ABV), which is a richer flavored version of the regular Crisp Lager. It is designed to be perfect for autumn drinking.

She also says to watch for new entries in their IPA rotator series and also in other styles. While their fruited sours will close out their summer run, they will be replaced soon with New Trail’s pumpkin beer called Zombies Are People Too. You should start seeing it the 2nd or 3rd week of September.

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Cinderlands Beer Co., Pittsburgh

Matt Antram, who manages sales for Cinderlands Beer Company out of Pittsburgh, says that while they’ve only been selling beer in WV for about four months, things are going very well. He says sales are strong for their IPAs (Squish and Full Squish) and their Cindi’s Hard Mountain Tee.

In early September, they will release Danville Train Festbier (6% ABV). Also arriving in September will be Star Crumb Pumpkin Pie, which is a Tartshake IPA brewed with over 100 pounds per barrel of pumpkin puree, with nutmeg, cinnamon, and other spices.

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Rhinegeist Brewery, Cincinnati

Rhinegest Brewery’s territory manager, Ali Wyrostek, says the Cincinnati brewery focuses on hop-forward beers and fruited beers which are selling well in WV. Coming up soon, she says to be on the lookout for Franz Oktoberfest Beer and the Tart Cherry Bubbles Fruited Beer in the West Virginia market.

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Country Boy Brewing, Lexington, KY

Josh Holland, Country Boy Brewing’s sales rep, told us that prospects for sales of their recently introduced Coconut Hefeweizen are great. It’s a fruited-up German-style wheat ale with added coconut, pineapple, and lime. Also coming up soon, look for their Oktoberfest Lager, which he said strikes a middle ground between the paler Festbier style and the traditional darker Marzen style.

Josh says also be on the lookout for Country Boy’s new Country Light, which is a rebranding of their former Premium Lager line. At 3.9% ABV and 95 calories, it hopes to meet the growing demand for craft-brewed, lower-alcohol beer.

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Berkeley Springs Brewing, Berkeley Springs

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Karl Wagenbrenner, Berkeley Springs Brewing owner/brewer, says they’ll soon be picking up a big batch of apple juice to add to this year’s Apple Butter Ale. The beer will be released in time for the local Apple Butter Festival in October. This fall, Karl says they are bringing back their Dark Knight Dark Lager (Munich Dunkel style). They also have a new 9% Belgian Tripel on tap that they have been working on for a while.

An exciting new NA product, which Berkeley Springs Brewing has perfected over the past couple of years, may soon see distribution outside the brewpub. Berkeley Springs Spa Water is a non-alcoholic hop-water beverage made with pure Berkeley Springs spring water flavored with hop oil and a splash of lime. They hope the initial release of Spa Water in cans can soon be followed by two other hop-water flavors.

The initial Spa Water has a very light citrus flavor and is so refreshing.  Karl says it’s also a great mixer for gin cocktails. Any bars, restaurants, or taprooms wishing to carry Spa Water should contact North Central Distributors.

Big Timber Brewing, Elkins

Big Timber’s representative, Wayne Border, announced that a new Italian Pilsner will be hitting the market fairly soon. You’ll find it has a higher level of carbonation and also some new-age hops that offer a bit of white wine character to the beer’s taste. Wayne says a new batch of their uber-popular Strawberry Lemonade Seltzer should also be out in the distribution market quite soon.

Big Timber is likely our only West Virginia brewery that makes both styles of Oktoberfest beer each year. Wayne says we can expect both their ForestFest Oktoberfest (Marzen-style) and their pale Festbier to be released in the next week or so.

Another returning favorite is their O.G. Orange-Guava beer. And for upcoming football season, Wayne says the WVU-sports-themed Country Roads Trust Lager is widely distributed across the state and will also be available this fall in new nine-beer carrier packs.

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Sierra Nevada Brewing, Mills River, NC

Scott Hite, Distributor Sales Manager for Sierra Nevada, gave us some details on their anxiously awaited Oktoberfest collaboration beer. This year, they have collaborated with German brewer Guttman, a family-owned brewery founded in the 1700s. This year, the beer will be the lighter Festbier style.

In their hazy IPA rotator series, they just released Cool Little Thing. It features cryo hops. And coming in late September will be another hazy IPA release. For fall, their small-batch Narwhal Imperial Stout will return this year.

Hite says a new Trail Pass non-alcoholic IPA variety pack will be released on September 2.

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Abolitionist Ale Works, Charles Town

Sour and wild ale specialist Abolitionist Beer Works has been shortening its taplist over recent months and focusing more on popular clean beer styles. Brewer Mike Vance told us he’s trying to keep beers like The Mountain Premium American Pilsner and his Czeched Out Pils always available.

He hasn’t abandoned the small-batch wild and sours, however. He says he’s been focusing mostly on tasty West Funkin Virginia variants and the Harper’s Berry Fruited Sour Ale.

Mike was very pleased to have his beer, Dirty Beard Tequila Barrel Imperial Stout, selected at Rails & Ales as Best of the Fest 2024.

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Short Story Brewing, Rivesville

Short Story Brewing’s assistant brewer Erin Kreiter tells us that their Oktoberfest will be out in a few weeks. Next month, they’ll also have a new collaboration beer released in a style that they have never done before. Should be fun. Room To Roam Hazy IPA and Hunt and Peck Brown Ale are returning in September.

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Stumptown Ales, Davis

Stumptown Ales’ Cindy Robeson says they will bring back the excellent Over the Tip Top Breakfast Stout this fall. Those chocolate and coffee flavors are so good. Their current Blueberry Strawberry SmoothEEZ will be replaced soon with a Citrus one.

Cindy says the brewery is now filling/offering 32-oz. Crowler cans at its taprooms. They will continue to fill glass growlers, but will no longer have new glass for sale.

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Fox Hops Brewery, Elkins

Samantha Fox of Fox Hops Brewery tells us she has several new beers being released soon. These include a Double IPA and a new Sour upcoming at the taproom. And, the taproom will also be adding lunch service within the next couple of weeks.

With Samantha just opening her brewery back in the spring, it was wonderful to see her Sami’s Saison beer win 2nd place in the Best of the Fest Beer Awards at Rails & Ales 2024.

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Weathered Ground Brewery, Cool Ridge

Weathered Ground’s director of brewing operations, Sam Fonda, tells us their Oktoberfest beer—AJ’s Festbier— is coming back the last week of August. Their tasty Kolsch-style beer, Eine Kleine Beer Musik is also returning in the next couple of weeks.

Sam says he’s releasing another fresh hop ale this year made with all local hops. It will be a Double IPA this time and should be interesting.

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Jackie O’s Brewery, Athens, OH

Laura Winch, sales and logistics at Jackie O’s Brewery, says to watch for Kinda Fuzzy Fruited Wheat Beer, which is next up on the seasonal rotation to hit the West Virginia market (early-mid Sept.). Kinda Fuzzy (5.5% ABV) is a delicious beer brewed with added peaches and apricots. Also on the way this September are 4-packs of Double Mystic Mama IPA, which packs a punch at 9% ABV.

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Charleston Nano Brewery, Charleston

Kenny Graley, owner/brewer at Charleston Nano-Brewery, says he has six different new candy sours coming up. Think flavors of Jolly Rancher, Skittles, etc. in an easy-drinking Wheat Beer base. In September he’ll be releasing his lagers: Oktoberfest and a new German-style Dunkel. Following those, expect a new batch of his Effin’ Spicy Ale, which is flavored with habanero and chipotle peppers.

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Köerber Beer Company, Barboursville

Köerber Beer Company owner, Jason Beter, says they have several new beers coming out. First is Bruce the Gambler West Coast IPA, which is brewed in honor of two friends who are going through serious health issues. Next will be their Fall Fest Bier, which is named after the Barboursville Fall Fest coming up the third week of September. And Köerber just began brewing an authentic German-style Pilsner that could hit taps by the end of September.

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Links: Rails & Ales Festival website

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Rails & Ales Festival 2024