Bartenders of Brewers Row — Tristin Lusk

In the downtown Charleston beer scene, few things are better than finding a Lusk at dusk.

Dropping into Fife Street Brewing’s taproom any evening Tristin Lusk is on duty is special. If you are not familiar with the brewery’s beers, she’s the one you want to see at the bar. Tristin embodies pretty much all that’s good in a beer bartender.

A big part of Tristin’s job at Fife is to engage with the customer. “It’s most of my job, honestly,” she says. “It’s making people comfortable. If they want to open up, then, that’s what I’m here for. More importantly, let’s talk about beer.”

The first thing you’ll notice about Tristin is that she’s always conversant. Not a pretentious or snobby bone in her body. She’ll greet you, converse, and assess your needs. If you’re new to craft beer, you’ll hear her recommending things like Fife’s Charleston Beer (Golden Ale). It’s an easy-drinking style for anyone just starting off with craft beer. 

And these days, gaining popularity among her recommendations is the Straight Kölsch, Homie!  Formerly a more seasonal offering, this Kölsch-style beer is rapidly finding a passionate year-round audience. She says the beer has developed into a big seller for them.

And for those who are not as keen on a beer-flavored-beer, she leans toward offering the Passion Fruit Sour. She says it’s such an easy-drinking, perfect summertime beer.  “Most people would say it’s crushable and delicious.”

Her venues prior to Fife

Raised in the Van area of Boone County in southern West Virginia, Tristin didn’t grow up around craft beer. After high school her family moved to Charleston and Tristin soon joined the hospitality industry. Working as a server at a restaurant in Kanawha City called Boomers, gave her a start in the trade.

Her next big stop was at Hooters in 2015, where she worked a server for several years. At Hooters, the bigger trade was in alcohol rather than the dinner special.

“I really enjoyed our customers there.” she says. “I figured out I was pretty good at talking to people. I enjoyed the connections you make serving people in a restaurant.

“Working at Hooters helped me get out of my shell,” she admitted.

She learned early on that she enjoys the activity of guiding customers to drinks and beers they’ll like.  Her interest in bartending developed from her desire to go further in the service industry, to advance her skill set.  

“I felt like I wanted to do more in the service industry.” Though the years, she learned the bar operation process and a bit of mixology too.

The craft beer side of her career came later, starting with her days at Pies & Pints Pizzeria. In 2017, she started out as a hostess at Pies, then moved on to server, and stayed there five years. Pies & Pints was a craft beer place, really the first popular one in downtown Charleston.

In those days at Pies, she enjoyed the family atmosphere among the staff. “Everybody was real close. Most of my best friends, I met at Pies & Pints.” 

There, she also worked with her current brewery taproom boss, John Query. 

At Pies, she learned so much about craft beer, and she credits the fellow employees there. Chad Brown, was her mentor, about whom she says, “knows everything about beer.” She also soaked up knowledge from bar manager Jess Godbey and Query. They’d often sit down after shift and talk about beer. Working at Pies with these guys opened her mind to starting a career in the beer industry.  

Sliding over to Fife Street

Soon, she followed Query to join Fife Street Brewing and was there for the grand opening in May 2022.

She says the staff at Fife wanted the place to be fun, where everybody truly worked together to make it happen. That vibe continues today.

“It felt like a really good energy here,” she says.

While at Pies & Pints, she had definitely fallen in love with beer. “But working for a brewery was definitely on my list,” she said of her career track.

What she loves about Fife Street Brewing: “It’s definitely the community here. I love seeing new guests come into the brewery and being surprised to see all styles of beer. I really enjoy picking people’s taste buds and leading them to a style they’ll enjoy.”

She conducts a friendly, yet focused conversation with Fife Street newbies. “I kind of open the door by saying we have some beers that they’d probably find familiar,” as she also tries to see if there are other flavor profiles that they might enjoy.  

If she detects a craft-beer experienced palate, she’ll say something like, “Let’s try a funky style or something on the darker side.” Or maybe she’ll recommend a beer with a little higher A.B.V. “Sometimes that’s fun for people to try.”

She finds a number of differences working in Fife’s brewery taproom versus a standard restaurant: “I like that we’re a little bit more open here. You can come in and enjoy yourself, relax. You don’t have to be seated at a table. It’s a little bit more laid back. We want you to feel very comfortable here.” 

She feels that Fife’s style of having customers place their orders at the bar gives customers more space to talk about the beers, the food, and the rest of the operations. 

As Fife Street beers have developed more and more of a following, more people come in knowing what they want, but many are also often willing to try something new. The brewery’s growing reputation also brings questions about obtaining Fife beers elsewhere.

“People are calling here, very frequently, asking if we distribute a couple of towns away,” Tristin says. “People are even calling from out of state looking for our beer.”

Brewers Row moves Charleston’s hospitality center

With the development of Brewers Row in downtown Charleston came changes to the local beer culture. A decade ago, few would have predicted that Summers Street would become a craft beer hot spot.

“We’re turning this place around, I think, opening a brewery like this,” she explains. She says many customers are shocked at how nice people are here.

She thinks Brewers Row has had a “super positive” impact on downtown Charleston. 

Speaking of the other Brewers Row breweries:  “I love to tell people to go to Bad Shepherd and Short Story after they visit here.” Tristin says.

The city’s year-round street promotions get people out of their homes and give them a reason to have some fun. Seasonal holiday bar crawls and beer passports programs are examples that help get the crowd stirring among the three Brewers Row outlets. 

Over the years, tastes in beer do change—individually and across the society. And for a brewery taproom bartender, you’ve got to know your stuff. It helps to have a fairly broad experience in beer styles you personally appreciate.

In Tristin’s earlier years, her first favorite craft beer was Yuengling Lager. “That got me into good lager, like the Helles Lager, and other German-style lagers,” she explains. “Then I got into sours. I feel like everybody has their experience with sours, but I’m an IPA drinker now.”

Immersing in the beer

Tristin credits Fife Street’s head brewer, Gil Peterson, with developing the excellent beers and the kind of tap list that keeps customers coming back again and again.

“We have a great variety of different beers, some full time, some seasonal, and then some guest favorites that return, like the Kanawha Kettle Sour series.”

She called out Fife’s Summers Street Wheat as being the best Hefeweizen-style beer she has ever had. “It’s out of this world.”  

Among the higher ABV beer styles, she thinks Gil’s bourbon barrel Imperial Stouts stand out, as does his Weiz And Shine Weizenbock. She says Gil’s most impressive strength is his exquisite palate. “He can point out the littlest ingredient in our beers.”

Beyond Fife beers, she says the Weinstephaner Helles Lager remains one of her favorites. Another is the Pivate Italian Pilsner from Short Story Brewing. She says the folks at Fife feel a strong camaraderie among the local breweries.

“I’m proud of where I work, so I do hope people are proud to come in here and say maybe this is their favorite spot to come in downtown Charleston.”

Tristin Style

I truly try to greet people as much as I would want to be greeted. Try not to hover too much.

I just kind of feel the energy. If someone is on their phone, I’ll lay back and give them hand motions—Do you need another beer?—things like that.

Stop in and see Tristin, most evenings, at the Fife Street Brewing taproom bar.
180 Summers Street, Charleston, WV. Free evening parking in the neighboring parking garage.

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The Bartenders of Brewers Row is a three part series about bartenders at brewery taprooms in Charleston, West Virginia.

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