No B.S. Just good beer

Berkeley Springs Brewing Company (BSBC) has been one of the state’s more innovative craft brewers for years now. In its endeavor to connect with customers, owners Karl and Denise Wagenbrenner have explored many avenues, tried different concepts, and introduced several non-traditional beverages to their mix. In that journey, they have expanded the envelope of products that a small brewer can offer.

Some of those expanded product categories they have offered include:

• Kombucha
• Tea flavored beers
• Hop-infused Berkeley Springs water
• Root beer & ginger beer NA sodas

Finding profitability, though, has not been easy. Often, it’s been a struggle, as it has been for many small breweries nationwide. While you may look at a small brewery and see only glamor and a place to have fun, the business side of commercial brewing on a small scale in a small town is a tough row to hoe.

“I stand in the pub sometimes when we are quiet and there is no one around and I do smile,” Karl Wagenbrenner told me. “We have become a destination to visit in Berkeley Springs, and my wife and I are very proud of the progress we have made in our local community. The progress that her and I have made since 2015 to the present has been very hard fought.

“Every day is a struggle to survive and progress to the next day, the next beer, the next idea to keep us relevant in the industry.”

Heartwarming accomplishments

Owning and operating his brewery in the rapidly changing world of craft beer, even with all the struggles, is not without a sense of accomplishment, however.

“Our pub has become a meeting place for families and friends from all over the world and every walk of life,” Karl says. “Our business provides a means of living for up to 12 people and growing. And we are proud of the accomplishment.”

Small brewers also provide much satisfaction to their customers. We love them, but we customers don’t see the whole picture. We customers see the fun side and think what a great time it must be to operate a small brewpub. But that’s not the whole story.

Getting real

In the real world, small brewery operation is often a challenge. Brewery operators have to learn many lessons and overcome many obstacles in order to climb from start-up to success.

“One thing we have learned is that growth, although it is a great thing, comes at a price,” Karl says. “Mind, body, and money. It will not come overnight. The obstacles to small craft brewers like us, that start in any small, rural town in America are the same.

“We did not have a lot of money when we started and convincing a small town bank with small town politics and the exploitive nature of the people that run the town were and still are a huge obstacle. I wish I had a dollar given to me back in 2013, 14, 15 for every person that said to me, ‘Why do you want to start a brewery when there is Budweiser?’

“You can imagine that keeping a positive mindset in that environment was tough and at times, even now, we still feel as if we are carrying full 1/2-barrel kegs on our backs uphill every day.”

Looking back on almost 10 years in business

“When my wife and I started this, we had visions of strong organic growth,” Karl says. “The craft beer industry was growing astoundingly when we took the plunge, but we did not know what we did not know. The cards were stacked against us.”

Karl got his start in the beer business, first, by operating a homebrew supply shop. There, he received encouragement that helped propel him forward in the industry.

“Making good beer on a homebrew scale and having people asking to buy our beer was a huge boost to the confidence, and that alone gave me the incentive to go forward. I had just medically retired from a career as an industrial electrician and was enjoying teaching my hobby to others in our homebrew shop.”

He says he was naive and headstrong, injured but still ambitious, scared, and desperate to do something more with his working life. So he and Denise got the resources together to open Berkeley Springs Brewing Company.

The distribution challenge

After beginning to brew a sufficient amount of beer to have enough for distribution, Karl learned that working with beer distributors was a whole new challenge in itself.

“They hold ALL the cards,” Karl says of beer distributors. “There is no accountability and no way to hold them to the promises they make.”

Karl says he feels that the very nature of West Virginia’s beer distribution law is “one-sided to favor the distributor, and it gives them power to sit on you and effectively squash your dreams of growth and prosperity.”

While the WV state law does allow small brewers to self-distribute their beers, bypassing the beer distributor, Karl says that model is no easier.

“Staffing, equipment, sales, and delivery, etc. take tons of resources. Wow, what a learning curve we had.”

Karl’s experience with beer distributors is not dissimilar to the experience of other tiny craft brewers in West Virginia. A small brewer wants to get their beer into distribution, but they find the economics of the industry often means that using a beer distributor does not guarantee that your beer will get much distribution.

Sure, a little brewer can self-distribute, but neither path is easy. Distribution remains one of the toughest hurdles for small craft brewers.

An important economic engine

As Karl told me, BSBC is now up to 12 employees. That is an accomplishment. Beyond producing beer, they operate a beautiful taproom/restaurant. Small brewery operations are important economic engines in small towns and rural areas.

They employ people. They provide wages and fulfilling work to many individuals. They provide tax revenue to their communities and state.

I asked Karl about one of his hires that seems to be a good one. Ryne Gade has been working as a brewer at BSBC for several years now. I’ve enjoyed talking with Ryne out at beer festivals around the state.

Here’s what Karl had to say about his experience with Ryne.

“We hired Ryne Gade through the job placement with Bridge Valley Community College and their online brewing program. He has a degree in forensic science and has been a homebrewer with his father for many years, so he came to us with some knowledge and experience.

But Ryne had never worked in a commercial brewery, and he first had to be trained on all the processes that Karl had developed.

Once Ryne learned the key brewery operations, Karl says Ryne helped refine some of the brewery processes making things more efficient. Ryne also developed their Standard Operating Procedures detailing the way the brewery is run. 

Karl says Ryne’s contributions have been helpful to him, allowing him more time to focus on other needed matters, such as brewery maintenance, system modifications, new product development, and more.

“As a business owner, I have worn all the hats but have learned that good beer takes focus. If the brewer is distracted with all the other things in the business, he cannot focus on the product as well as he should.

“Having that brewer has helped me to be able to compartmentalize the work-life balance. I am able to take time off now, and without that, this business may not have survived.”

Survival includes the owner’s survival

When Karl talks about survival, he’s not just talking about the brewery’s survival, but his own. He tells us his personal story.

“And as they say everything can be good in moderation. Moderation to a brewer is key to longevity in the business.”

“An owner that brews as well is also a taster. He tastes constantly. Everyday imbibing of alcohol and yes, it is very enjoyable. But for me, it had a way of compounding the frustration of the business side of things as well as personal interactions with peers and colleagues in the industry. In essence, I saw it hurting what I had created.

“The amount of alcohol that I was ingesting on a daily basis was becoming a burden and as a lifelong beer drinker from my teens to the present of 52 years of age that amount would have been staggering to the everyday beer drinker. 

“I had to quit. Back in September of last year, it all came to a crashing halt.”

Karl was diagnosed with several serious health issues and was hospitalized. He heard the message well and made changes in his life that are now paying off.

“Any business owner will tell you the stress of owning the business is far more than just being an employee, and it all took its toll.

“Without the team that my wife and I have built, we would have gone under numerous times, but it was starkly revealed to me just how perilous my alcohol consumption was becoming and the effect that it had on everything in my life.”

Karl now likes to say, “Alcohol is my livelihood; it doesn’t have to take my life. I am now healthier than I have been in years and am more focused in my business.”

Focus on the future

With Karl now taking better care of his health, he can also better focus on the brewery’s future. He believes that current beverage trends present them with opportunities.

“Change is inevitable, and if a brewer isn’t open-minded enough, he may drown in his own beer. Current trends in the beverage wants and needs of the public drive us and present us with an opportunity to develop new beverages.

“Our license and the guidelines provided by WVABCA and TTB allow us to use a wide range of ingredients that are considered to be Malt Based. This gives us the ability to develop malt-based beverages. These can be marketed as Beer Alternative beverages, as in RTD, non-alcoholic (NA), and direct-to-consumer beverages. Root beer, soda, ginger beer, hop waters, and sparkling hard teas are just the beginning as we see it.

“We have developed a line that includes all of these and more, and we hope to be able to further develop them into a distribution model that includes multiple states and a co-packer in a contract brewing capacity. 

“Recent legislation now allows us to hold a license in all three of the alcohol production capacities (beer-wine-spirits). We intend to capitalize on this as well to help us reach our goal of creating a business that will outlast us and our involvement and provide us with fair retirement and provide for the people that helped us build it for generations to come.”

Visiting BSBC

If you get a chance, you’ll want to visit their Bath Water Brewpub in the Coolfont Resort area just outside Berkeley Springs, WV. They feature house-made barbecue to go with their tasty brews. Delicious.

They keep about 20 of their beers on tap, plus offer several non-alcoholic sodas and hopped waters. Indoor/Outdoor seating, beer, wine, cocktails, and dog friendly.

It’s a beautiful place in a lovely wooded environment. BSBC is a getaway from the hustle and bustle of urban life.

A good idea might be to book one of their two Airbnb suites that sit atop the brewery. Then you can enjoy all the beauty, beer, and relaxation the area has to offer.

Berkeley Springs Brewing Company
110 Michigan Ln.
Berkeley Springs, WV

More Info at: https://www.facebook.com/bathwaterbrewpub