Taproom Managers of Brewer’s Row • Part 1: Kevin Madison

Intro to Three Part Series:

Brewer’s Row in downtown Charleston, West Virginia, has been a tremendous success in establishing the city as the top craft beer destination in the state. The Row consists of this brewery trio: Bad Shepherd Beer Co., Fife Street Brewing, and Short Story Brewing-Charleston.

Following nearly a decade having only one small brewpub downtown, these three local beer outlets have together transformed the city’s downtown craft beer landscape and accelerated Charleston’s craft beer status.

Yes, you need a good brewer to make good beer, and all three Brewer’s Row breweries have that covered. However, this three-part BrilliantStream series introduces the individual at each brewery who leads their taproom to a successful outcome. I’m talking about the taproom manager. 

The following article, which is first in the series, introduces one of these exceptional taproom managers.

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Kevin Madison
Bad Shepherd Beer Co./Black Sheep Burritos & Brews

Kevin Madison spent his younger years over in the state of Indiana. He’s a Hoosier who moved to West Virginia about 16 years ago. So now we claim him as a Mountaineer.

As a youngster in Indiana, Kevin says his first occupational interest was joining his uncles in their mortuary business. But as life would have it, when the opportunity arose for the teenage Kevin to work summers at his grandparents restaurant in rural Coxville, Indiana, he took it. 

Working with the grandparents at their Longhorn Tavern & Restaurant injected a big dose food service culture into his veins. It’s an injection from which he has yet to recover.

“Yeah, my grandparents started the whole restaurant vibe with me,” Kevin says.

After the Long Horn Tavern days, he spent some time as a corporate trainer for the Tumbleweed Tex Mex Grill operations, based in Louisville. While there, he assisted in opening up several new restaurants for the company. Prior to moving to West Virginia in 2012, Kevin also worked a couple of short stints at bars in Indiana.

Kevin says he got his real, true bar job experience when he went to work for the Broadway, which , which at the time, was a popular night spot in downtown Charleston. 

Joining Black Sheep

Then in 2014, Kevin joined the start-up of Black Sheep Burritos & Brews, Charleston location, where he still works today. He is currently Black Sheep’s longest term employee in Charleston.

In 2016, when Black Sheep took over the adjoining brewery business and renamed it Bad Shepherd Beer Company, Kevin became more involved in the brewery taproom side of the business. Then in 2018, he was promoted to general manager for the Black Sheep restaurant, which included responsibilities for the Bad Shepherd brewery taproom. 

Through the years, restaurant owners Pat Guthrie and Jess Bright put a lot of responsibility on Kevin’s shoulders and he has responded by leading Black Sheep’s growth and community involvement.

“Patrick and Jess, they are awesome people to work for—and that’s the key,” Kevin says. 

He explains that they give him a lot of freedom and have supported him in becoming more involved in the downtown business community. As evidence, Kevin is currently president of the Downtown Charleston Association. In that role, he helped create and lead events such as the annual Holly Jolly Brawley downtown Christmas celebration. It’s something that has been an extremely popular and successful seasonal event, drawing thousands of people over to the Brewer’s Row district each December.

Loves the taproom crowd

Kevin loves the differences in the crowd that a brewery taproom draws versus customers at your typical downtown restaurant or  bar.

“There’s a huge difference,” he says. “You’ve got your serious craft beer fans, and we’ve become like family. That’s the kind of relationships that you build in a brewery taproom versus some run of the mill place.”

Kevin’s Keys to Success:  “You always have to be creative. You always have to think ahead. You talk to people; you hear what they want. And you try to make that happen.”  

At any bar with a good vibe, like you find at the Bad Shepherd taproom, it’s evident that care has been taken to maintain a high quality service staff that creates a positive environment for the customers. It seems this taproom has excelled at that. Kevin likes to brag on the quality and longevity of his service staff in an industry today that often experiences tough staffing issues.  

“I am proud to say that in the past 18 months we’ve had zero turnover,” Kevin reports. “And that says a lot.”

Bad Shepherd’s best sellers

Kevin has a great vantage point to see the overall beer sales and is impressed that The Loud IPA has been the taproom’s best seller for years. (That’s truly the sign of a well-made beer, isn’t it.) Beyond the popular IPAs, Kevin is impressed with the consistent sales generated by their Krista Dawn Blonde  Ale, the Maibock seasonal, and their Sour Holler fruited sour beer series.

When off duty, you may find Kevin around the taproom bar enjoying a favorite brew. “I tend to go to the IPA side of the spectrum,” he says. He’s definitely a beer fan, and his go-to Bad Shepherd brews are The Loud and Electric Petting Zoo IPAs. 

But never call him a beer snob. “Sometimes,  on my days off work at home, I have no problem opening up a Bud Light,” he adds.

On Charleston’s growing craft beer culture

Kevin says, every day, he sees the vibrant craft beer culture here in Charleston.

“There’s breweries closing all across the country, but here locally, it’s still growing,” Kevin brings our attention to the brand new Ursus Brew Works that recently started up about two blocks away from Bad Shepherd, and has already added its participation to the city’s brewery events.

“We all recently had the Serpents & Stouts brewery pub crawl [for St. Patrick’s Day season], and it was amazing.” 

He has this to say about new breweries opening in Charleston: “The more the merrier. Let’s have some more brewers moving to Charleston. It makes it more of a destination.”

“Back in the day, we (Bad  Shepherd) were the lone dog, now when people are traveling, they look up breweries in Charleston. So if you’re a craft beer lover, you’re going to stop because now we have four breweries downtown within a couple of blocks.”

Thoughts on PODA

He says all the events promoted on Brewer’s Row are an integral part of Bad Shepherds’ success. This success also includes PODA — the Public outdoor Designated Area — that allows patrons to receive their drink in a special PODA cup and then take it out the door and down the sidewalk to other downtown PODA bars, retailers, or to outdoor public event at Slack Plaza (city park).

“PODA is huge for the city,” Kevin says. “Some people were apprehensive at first, but it’s been huge.”

Having input

Another thing Kevin loves about working with the Bad Shepherd brewery is having a say in what gets produced.

“If I go to [head brewer] Ross Williams and say, ‘Hey bud, what do you think about this?’ He’ll often say ‘Yeah man, I think it would be great.’ We have that kind of input.” 

Kevin says if he gets a beer suggestion from a customer, he’ll pass it on to the brewer.

“We take the input, what people say, and we’re able to produce a product, and sell a product that they want. It’s cool.”  

“I love this company. We’re all family.”

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Black Sheep Burritos/Bad Shepherd Beer Co.

702 Quarrier Street, Charleston, WV

Black Sheep Burritos & Brews Website
Bad Shepherd Beer Co. Facebook Page

[Series Part 2 Heather Dunkin ]
[Series Part 3 John Query ]