New Vera Hop IPA Hits WV Market

Juicy hop fans are in for a treat now as a beer made with the new Vera hop hits bars in the southern West Virginia market. Vera Good IPA from Weathered Ground Brewery (WGB) is now available at select accounts in the region.

The Vera hop

The new Vera hop, developed under a United States Department of Agriculture program, promises a big tropical-citrus signature that is perfectly in line with what the juicy-hazy IPA customers are seeking today. Because the hop is a public hop and not a proprietary one, it should start becoming more widely available following this fall’s hop harvest out West. So we should be seeing more small and independent WV brewers making beer with it before long.

Sam Fonda, director of brewing operations for WGB, says Vera should be quite pronounced in fresh fruitiness, and the texture should be creamy and viscous, as the yeast and hops are stuck in suspension.

Weathered Ground was earlier able to secure a small, preliminary supply of the hop in order to make its first big batch of Vera Good IPA. WGB was assisted in this procurement by Alexa Long, the local Hollingbery Hops representative, who lives in Fayetteville, WV.

Initial on-premise accounts offering Vera Good IPA this week include, in the Charleston area, Lola’s, The Pallet, T&M Meats, and The Wine Shop at Capital Market. In the Huntington region, those getting it include Summit Beer Station, Oscars’s Breakfast Burgers and Brews, Backyard Pizza, and 1861 Public House.

Another account expected to come on line soon with Vera Good is Pies & Pints Charleston.

More new beers

The crew at Weathered Ground has been especially busy this fall making some new specialties while keeping up with their flagships. Along with Vera Good IPA, a new pawpaw sour, called Holler Nectar, is being released to the market this week. And then there’s also Red IPA — a beer that WGB just brought back after a year in hiatus. And wait there’s more… Also released this week is a Blonde Ale, for which they partnered with Concord University in Athens, WV. It will be served first at the school’s homecoming this weekend. A can label for it is coming soon, so you may see some cans of it out in the market before long.