A dark brown beer day ends brightly

West Virginia’s largest homebrew competition concluded this past Saturday with some exceptional brown brews taking home the medals. The annual Coal Country Brewers’ Cup focuses on stouts and porters of all shades and types.

Earning first place in the Porter category was the English Porter from Ty Bayliss of the Kanawha Valley Homebrew Club (KVHC). First place in Stout went to Matt Holden of the Appalachian Brew Club (Elkins) for his Irish Stout.

In the competition’s catch-all, anything goes Specialty category for dark beers laden with adjuncts, fruits, spices, alcohol, etc., first place went to KVHC’s Chris Butler for his whiskey barrel-aged Irish Stout with Irish cream syrup.

The competition’s judges also awarded the Best of Show award to Chris Butler’s specialty stout. And the attendees at the competition event voted the People’s Choice Award to the peanut butter imperial stout entered by Christian Robinson of KVHC.

A total of 38 entries were judged by a group of certified homebrew judges to determine the best beers of each category. First, Second, and Third places were awarded in each category.

Additionally, the Coal Country Brewers’ Cup trophy was awarded to the homebrew club whose entries scored the highest overall. This year the Cup went to the Kanawha Valley Homebrew Club.

Already looking forward to next year

“It was a spectacular turnout with entries from all over the state.” stated Greg Bess, KVHC’s secretary. “Appalachian Brew Club from Elkins did a phenomenal job hosting this year. The whole event ran smoothly, and I know everyone had a blast! Looking forward to next years event already and keeping the Cup again in our home town.”

Clubs represented this year included:

• Kanawha Valley Homebrew Club 
• Appalachian Brew Club 
• Fairmont Homebrew Club
• M.A.S.H – Morgantown

The list of all the medalists.

Porter Category – 10 Entries

• 1) Ty Bayliss – English Porter – KVHC 
• 2) Jonathan Richie – American Porter – Fairmont
• 3) Tammy and Clint Hamrick – Pre-Prohibition Porter – ABC

Stout Category – 12 Entries

• 1) Matt Hollen – Irish Stout – ABC
• 2) Steve Straley – Extra Foreign Stout – ABC
• 3) Bruce Barkley – Oatmeal Stout – MASH

Specialty Porter and Stout Category – 16 Entries

• 1) Chris Butler – BA Irish Stout with Irish cream syrup – KVHBC
• 2) Christian Robinson – Imperial Stout with Peanut butter – KVHC
• 3) Ray LaMora – Imperial Stout with vanilla and bourbon – ABC

Cup Club Competition

• 1) KVHBC
• 2) ABC
• 3) Fairmont

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Brilliant Stream sends our congratulations to all who competed, judged, and attended Coal Country Brewers’ Cup 2025. And a special thank you goes to Black Sheep Burritos and Brews-Charleston and Charleston Nano Brewery who provided the space for the judging activities.
* Thanks to Erin McCoy for the photos included in this article.