Charleston Nano brings it for the New Year

Stopping into Charleston Nano Brewery on the second day of the New Year, I got excited by the upcoming line-up of beer, food, and activities. Proprietors Jennifer and Kenny Graley plan to greet this winter with some hot stuff designed to warm up the weather.

In its beer service, this is a brewery that focuses on it best offerings for the cold season and then produces more of them. Kenny Graley, who serves as head of brewing, finds success in both traditional styles and in fun, contemporary offerings.

Kenny tries to keep up to 15 regular beers on draft, and will augment that with two or three other one-off specialties. Best sellers include the:

• Rye To Die IPA, a malty different twist on IPA
• West Side IPA in the classic west-coast style
• 1788 Pils, a very well-made craft lager,
• Vanilla Espresso Stout flavor packed at 8.5% ABV, and
• a list of very popular candy and fruit-flavored tart beers.

Familiar, but then it’s different

You can stop in the Nano to find some things you won’t see everywhere else. For example, their Rye-To-Die IPA is a rye-heavy beer, not too hop centric, but made with a Saison yeast. Now that’s not your everyday IPA.

“It’s kind of a different phenolic, with some orange-like character,” Kenny says of his Rye-To-Die. “It’s not too bitter, and it even includes some hops from Michigan.”

Another winner is Nano’s Dunkel, a dark lager that is drinking so well. “It’s got all local malt in it,” he says, “but the yeast is a true German lager yeast.” Kenny gives it a long lagering development time, a period which certainly helps the beer’s flavors come together and maximizes its drinkability.

Fruits & spice, very nice

You won’t find another Charleston-area brewer making hay off sours like Nano does. Their candy-flavored brews have become a staple and a big hit.

“We’ve got the Sour Patch, the Nerds, and the Skittles on right now.” Kenny says. “It’s crazy how many people come back looking for a candy sour. I never thought it would sell like that.

“For the Sour Patch, I only do a little at a time. That candy is hard to work with.” But don’t worry, if it’s not there when you stop in, there’s a good chance it will be back on your next visit.

One more unusual beer is his Effen Spicy, a very picante habanero & chipotle beer. “That one surprises me,” Kenny explains. “It’s red ale, but man it’s got a kick to it. It goes pretty quick.”

Another winter specialty coming up is a Cranberry Orange Ale. It’s based on his light malt recipe that has proven popular over the past two years. Also coming soon, Kenny says we’ll also be seeing a new IPA based on some yet unnamed Yakima Valley hops. No shortage of flavors here, he promises.

Riverbend Malt beers coming

A development at the brewery that I personally love is Kenny’s addition of high-quality local malts from Riverbend Malt House of Asheville, NC. After all the horrific flood-related disaster that western North Carolina experienced this past fall, I was so happy to see Kenny beginning to brew with Riverbend’s products.

“I got 2,100 pounds of Riverbend malt,” Kenny explains. “I got the Czech Pilsner, Base Camp, and the Southern Select.”

“We’ll be doing a lot of our 1788 with the Czech Pils malt. With the Base Camp malt, we hope to turn out some new IPAs and Pale Ales. And with the Southern Select I want to try some new, to-be-announced beers. So lookout for those specials.”

Big changes in the brewing equipment

Since its beginning, Charleston Nano has brewed on a tiny, one-barrel system. Kenny now announces he is making the step-up to a 3.5-barrel brewing system. This development will more than triple his brewing capacity.

“I’m selling the one-barrel brewhouse and the control panel, along with some smaller fermentors and bright tanks,” he says.

Within the next couple of weeks the changeover should take place. This upsizing will definitely help Kenny manage his brewing schedule, which has become very challenging on the small-size equipment due to the popularity of his beers.

“Yeh, I won’t have to triple batch anymore,” he says with a smile. “It will make my day easier, and a lot less clean up.”

Kenny says he will keep his same brewery helpers, with assistant brewer Ritchie McGrew leading the way. He also gets help from his dedicated volunteers who assist with the keg washing and clean up.

In the coming months, it will be fun to see and taste beers brewed on the new system. I can’t wait to try them. I bet it will inspire a few new offerings, too.

Comedy nights move to the top

Small batch beer brewing is not the only attraction at Charleston Nano.

At the top the activity list are their continuing comedy nights — and even a new 2025 twist on them for the first one. If you’re familiar with the Battle of the Bands format, Jennifer, who manages the taproom, explains that Charleston Nano will bring you a battle of comedians.

On this Saturday night, January 4th, eight comedians will compete for the championship at the Comedian Roast Battle.

A group of judges will help select the winner. And Jennifer adds, “Whoever is the worst comedian will get tomatoes.” As the event poster says: “Winner takes home a cash prize. Losers get a tomato crushed on their head.” $10 cover charge; it should be fun.

Next up, on Friday, January 17, is the great sounding Comedy & Magic Night. Magician Joey Stepp brings the magic, while Brew Ha-Ha’s Bo Vance supplies the guest comedian. $15 cover charge.

Comedy a hit

Jennifer says these comedy shows have been drawing full-house crowds, so you’ll definitely want to arrive early and have a beer. Be sure and watch the brewery Facebook page for announcements of future comedy events.

Charleston Nano works with comedy show organizer Bo Vance, who brings in a superb line up of funny men and women. The shows take place in the brewery’s event room, which is separate from the bar. While the shows go on, the brewery’s main bar room remains open for non-comedy-club guests.

In the future, expect comedy shows to recur every few weeks.

Paint Nights continue

Jennifer says she loves the vibe that the brewery paint classes bring. “Those are usually once a month, and they usually happen on Saturday nights in the event room.”

For a small fee patrons get all the painting supplies needed as the instructor guides them through producing their masterpiece to take home. Paint Nights seem to attract a broader patron diversity from those normally attending the bar. They always turn out to be fun neighborhood events.

Winter Food Service

While many of the local food trucks have stopped for the winter, Jennifer will try to keep an occasional one parking next to the brewery. But for food service, the brewery will continue with its excellent pepperoni rolls made by local baker Rory Perry. If anything, Rory’s pepperoni rolls have gotten better than ever. They melt in your mouth, releasing that spicy, rich burst of flavor that you crave in West Virginia’s signature dinner pastry.

On evenings, you can often order one of Charleston Nano’s flatbread pizza sandwiches, along with their beer cheese, pretzels, or other munchies.

Jennifer reminds folks that the brewery also produces a tasty non-alcoholic root beer. Right now, they have a special spearmint-flavored version to go along with the regular root beer. With the root beer comes their luscious Root Beer Floats made with their neighbor’s Dancing Dog vanilla ice cream.

You can also try an alcoholic version of the ice cream float made with Vanilla Espresso Stout — I did, and its was a super good dessert.

Merch restocked

Following the busy Christmas gift giving season, the brewery now has its merchandise restocked and ready for sales.

“We got some new hoodies and some new long-sleeved and short-sleeved shirts,” Jennifer says. “Our hoodies run about $45, our long-sleeved shirts are $30, and our short-sleeved are around $20.”

The shirts and hoodies feature a new logo treatment. It’s an attractive use of a smaller brewery logo on the front left breast area, and on the back is a sharp illustration of a beer fermentor tank.

Perfect for a winter visit

Charleston Nano may be small, but it is large in activity and friendliness. It’s also possibly the best local brewery for bar-side conversation with other patrons. Unpretentious. A very easy-going place. I’ve had a lot of fun chance-meeting locals there, plus finding many folks from out-of-the-area who hop off the nearby Charleston I-64/77 exit just to check out the Nano.

A relaxing place to enjoy the brewer’s art and much more. If you haven’t been there, you’ll want to give it a try.

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Charleston Nano Brewery is located at 320 Washington Street West in Charleston, West Virginia’s Elk City District. Open evenings Thursday thru Saturday and also on Saturday and Sunday afternoons.

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