Bartenders of Brewers Row — Alex Bradley

“I should say that, while I think it’s cliche to say, ‘I like all beer,’ I really do enjoy all styles of beer.”

Growing up Alex

“I’m not originally from West Virginia,” Alex informs us. “I was born in Detroit. Elementary, middle school in Michigan, and then high school and college down south.” By down south he means Houston.

While in Texas, he spent some time studying engineering at the University of Houston and also developed an interest in the bar business.

“So back in Houston, when I was in college, my friends and I rented a pretty large house,” he explains. “The back of the house had previously been a commercial space and had a built-in bar. So we would stock it, and we would have parties as college students do. I just kind of took an interest in being behind the bar, making drinks and serving people at my own parties.”

And that was actually his start in bartending. His next stop was a real job.

“I would have been 19 at the time,” says Alex, “when I got a job as a bar back working at a place called St. Danes Bar and Grill in Houston.”

There, he worked for an old radio DJ named Chris Allen. Allen owned St. Danes and ended up buying a number of other Houston bars. He was quite the entrepreneur. Business was good and Alex thrived.

“So I worked for him for the better portion of six years before I ended up moving here [to West Virginia],” Alex explains.

Alex’s interest in the more technical side of beverage alcohol developed while at St. Danes, spurred on by a friend there named Woody.

“He’s one of the most distinct people that I remember,” says Alex. “He taught me a lot about bourbon. And that was right as I was beginning to bartend. So I learned a lot from him about how to take notes on style.”

Back then, things were also changing in the beer world.

“Craft beer had been taking off in Houston,” he explains. “That was back when St. Arnold’s was a big name in Houston beer, but it wasn’t known nationwide yet.”

Alex wasn’t alone in his love of the award-winning beers of St. Arnold’s Brewing. That brewery turned a lot of Texans into craft beer fans and is known as one of the top craft brewers in the South.

From that point forward his beverage interests slowly transitioned from liquor and mixed drinks to move toward an interest in craft beer. This was during the years of the 20-teens, when craft beer sales were rapidly expanding around the country.

The move to WV

In 2018, seeking new horizons, Alex made his way to West Virginia to explore the job market here. Soon, he landed a position at at Black Sheep Burritos as a server. It wasn’t long before he took over a bartending position, full-time, at Black Sheep’s sister business, the Bad Shepherd Beer Company. He’s been there ever since, though since 2022, he has moved to part-time so he can work also his day job at the West Virginia Division of Highways, where he works in engineering and right-of-way review.

One can’t help but believe that Alex’s technical education and career interest also play a role in his passion for craft beer. As a bartender, you can count on Alex to know some technical details behind every beer on tap. In this discipline, he communicates closely with Head Brewer Ross Williams.

“And there’s nothing that I wouldn’t try—or wouldn’t want to try,” he says of beer styles. “I should say that, while I think it’s cliche to say, ‘I like all beer,’ I really do enjoy all styles of beer.”

He also loves the home base he has found at Black Sheep/Bad Shepherd.

“Black Sheep has always been a gathering place, and I’ve made many connections, many friends here. I’ll bet half of the state has come through the doors of this building at one point or another. And I’ve had the opportunity to meet a lot of great people.”

“I mean, that’s probably true of most brew pubs,” he says. He enjoys the sense of community, at a place where people feel comfortable coming in and enjoying a beer.

“But getting to meet those people while you’re also being able to try a different beer pretty much every day. Yeah, it’s a really great perk to the job.”

A changing Charleston beer market

The Charleston craft beer market has developed greatly since Alex’s arrival in 2018. And it’s accelerated, especially with the development of Brewer’s Row. When he started bartending here, Bad Shepherd was the only craft beer taproom in the downtown area. Now, there are several, and also there’s Brewer’s Row, which is three of the taprooms working together on the same block. Alex thinks this growth greatly changed Charleston’s beer scene.

“So, I’ve thought a lot about that over the years. Certainly, now we’re a destination city, as opposed to just being a destination brewery for beer. People would come to check out our beer regardless. But now, instead of having a reason to come and go, they have a reason to come and stay. Because there’s several more breweries right down the street.

“I want to use the word, critical mass.”

He says that critical mass is a reason to come downtown and hang out for a while—as opposed to a quick come and go. He also sees Brewers Row as an important tourist attraction.

“We’re here on Summer’s Street, a street that used to pretty much be dead, absolutely. Now, in combination with the new Slack Plaza, we have a space that is not just three different brewery businesses, but is a community gathering space. I mean, the increase in activity on Summer Street has been tremendous over the past several years.

“Also, I’d say the city approving PODA (legal to-go cups) has been a great help. I think it creates a nice relaxing atmosphere where people can, as it says on the PODA cup, sip and stroll. So it encourages people to alternate between the businesses and try different things as well.”

One big factor Alex has observed over the recent past is the city’s bigger involvement in programing the park at Slack Plaza.

“The city really got involved more. I mean, Slack Plaza—it’s always been a park. That wasn’t new. It’s just that they started programming it more.”

He also thinks that free evening and weekend parking in the Summers Street city parking garage has helped, not only with the after-work crowd, but also with getting conventioneers and visitors to come to Summers Street.

The city’s support for the Brewers Row district and Slack Plaza programming has grown out of a post-COVID desire to get business back to the downtown core. And it’s definitely working.

“Wow, you can come up here about any night of a week and find business now,” Alex says, “and it just seems like a lot more business than there was 10 years ago. And certainly more on the weekends.”

The growing foot traffic supports what he was saying earlier about becoming a destination city as opposed to just a being destination brewery.

“And now we also have, with Ursus, we have a fourth brewery close by. It’s not here on Brewer’s Row, but still within easy walking distance for anyone that would be coming for beer.”

Alex is nothing if not a promoter of Bad Shepherd’s beer quality, which he believes has always been top notch.

“Certainly, I mean [head brewer Ross Williams] Ross does a great job. I think having all of the breweries together here has created some healthy competition and also a bit of camaraderie amongst the brewers. That’s important, and we’ve seen an increase in the quality of beer at all the breweries over time.

“Each of the breweries have a certain styles that they do very well. In my opinion, Short Story is very good with IPAs and dark beers. And then, you know, with Fife, they tend to have great wheat beers and a lot of lighter beers. Here, Ross has been brewing a variety of IPAs for years, as well as Pilsners and Belgians and Alt beers. Yeah, he’s developed a nice variety here over time for sure.”

What they’re drinking

It’s no secret around his bar that Alex is a fan of flavorful, darker beer styles. Alex admits his love for darker beers came from his youth in Texas, when the young guys would get together for a few Shiner Bocks.

Those Shiner Bocks helped him develop a taste for the maltier and more colorful end of the beer spectrum. For him it just wasn’t all about the pale, yellow fizzy stuff.

“Yeah, that translated to my taste as an adult,” he says. “One of my favorite beers that Ross ever brewed here—one that still sticks in my mind—we had a Belgian Double, a barrel-aged Belgian Double beer. And we served it in a sifter. That barrel-aged flavor still kind of sits in my mind.”

Nationally, the talk of the craft beer market is that today’s younger generations are not purchasing beer as much as the older generations did at that age. Alex says he’s definitely seen that younger people are drinking more seltzers and mixed beverages. Or just drinking less.

“We’ve begun carrying NA beer here,” he says. “We have a couple different options, and I’ve certainly seen an increase in people wanting non-alcoholic beers. Quite a significant increase, actually, I would say.”

What’s the attraction

It’s widely observed that sitting at the bar in craft brewery taprooms, you can count on often sitting next to someone from out of town—someone who is visiting or just passing through the town. This seems very true at Bad Shepherd.

“Oh, absolutely,” Alex says. “People from out of town. Easily, I’d say at least a third of our business is probably people from out of town.”

If that seems amazing to you, it’s just evidence of the strong magnetic draw that craft beer breweries still have in today’s hospitality market.

“That’s amazing, isn’t it? Alex remarks.

He then describes a recent interaction he had with a guest who had arrived in Charleston from Asheville, NC.

“And this guy’s like, ‘Y’all have it really lucky here.’ And I’m like, what do you mean? He’s like, ‘We’re from Asheville. This is so much better than Asheville.”

“I’ve been to Asheville,” Alex replies to him. “I enjoyed it. It’s a big destination.”

And the man replies, “You have all these breweries and all these amenities right here, but you don’t have the burden of being an overpriced tourist destination.”

Alex took that as a big compliment to the City of Charleston—and it definitely caused him to reflect.

“I think what he was saying, what ultimately he made me think is, we have more here than we realize. Maybe that’s it.

“Maybe I don’t appreciate some of the offerings that we have in Charleston as much as I should. Not to say that I don’t, because I certainly do, but it just got me thinking that we do have a lot here to offer that I should not take for granted.”

In that moment, a strong feeling of appreciation poured out—it’s a feeling that you find in most, if not all, bartenders and staff on Brewers Row. Downtown Charleston has come a long way in a few short years. It has much to offer tourists, residents, and taproom employees alike.

“The people here have kept me here for eight and a half years,” Alex states. “I enjoy coming to work. I enjoy coming to my second job, I should say.”

We think you’ll enjoy sitting at the bar when Alex is on shift, any of three evenings each week.

Bad Shepherd Beer Company
702 Quarrier Street
Charleston, WV

Bartenders of Brewers Row
is a three-part series honoring the folks who keep the suds pouring at brewery taprooms in downtown Charleston, WV. The Alex Bradley feature is the third in the series. 
Link to Part One–Tristin Lusk
Link to Part Two – Tyler James