Breweries in Development 2023
West Virginia Breweries in Development 2023
2022 turned out to be a good year for brewery openings in West Virginia with four getting up and running: Fife Street Brewing in Charleston, South Branch Brewing in Keyser, Charleston nano-Brewery in Charleston, and Clendenin Brewing in Clendenin.
For 2023, Brilliant Stream is tracking the following new brewery projects in West Virginia this year. We will update each as additional information becomes available.
2023 Active Brewery Project List
• Fox Hops Brewery, Elkins
• 14th Street West, Huntington
• Köerber Beer Company, Barboursville
• Stone Tower Joe Brewery, Fairmont
• Hard Right Brewing Company, Hinton
• Brash Brothers Brewing, Martinsburg CANCELLED
Fox Hops Brewery
This brewery, being built in Elkins, will be the town’s second. Developer Samantha Fox, who will also serve as head brewer, says she hopes to have the brewery licensed and in production in first quarter of 2024. It will open with a 3.5 barrel brewhouse and 14 barrels of fermentation space. The business will operate as a brewpub, selling all its beer onsite in its own pub. Samantha is a graduate of the (now-closed) brewing program at Bridge Valley Community and Technical College and apprenticed at Greenbrier Valley Brewing. She says, “Fox Hops Brewery is a dream, and I am so excited to begin brewing beer and sharing it with the great state of West Virginia.”
Projected Opening: February 2024
Fox Hops Brewery
25 Bowstring Lane
Elkins, WV
14th Street West Huntington Brewery
This early stage project spears to be going through some changes. The original concept, which was led by John Garcia, the owner of Lookout Brewing in Black Mountain, North Carolina, appears to be either on long-term hold or off the board for good. Recently (in late 2023), other parties with brewery development interests have visited the property and are considering purchasing a parcel on which to build out a brewery and taproom. This project was originally slowed by rulings from the WVABCA that Garcia would not qualify to open a taproom at the brewery because he already owns a brewery out-of-state. New legislation that went into effect in June 2023 should have solved that problem and paved the way for Garcia to move ahead with this project. However, the current national slowdown in craft beer industry growth may have reduced Garcia’s confidence in the project financially. See this article on the original Garcia project announcement.
Opening possible unknown.
Köerber Beer Company
A second Cabell County project is being developed by Jason Beter, who is the proprietor of a couple of popular area restaurants that feature craft beer. Beter announced that his brewery will open in downtown Barboursville. Work on the building interior is currently underway and final brewery equipment parts have been delivered..
Projected Opening: Early 2024
Köerber Beer Company
650 Brady Street
Barboursville, WV
Stone Tower Joe Brewery
In May 2022, the Fairmont Times newspaper reported that local coffee roaster and restaurant, Stone Tower Joe, will expand into a much larger Fairmont building that will eventually include a small brewery.
Business co-owner Peter Daniel says they purchased the former 84 Lumber Company building, which had been closed since December 2019, because they needed space to grow. Once they get their coffee production operation, restaurant and shop up and running, he plans to develop a craft brewery there, which he notes may not be open for a couple of years. The building sits on 4 acres along Country Club Road.
Over the years at its restaurants, Stone Tower Joe has sold craft beer along side its coffee. It also commonly provides coffee beans for use in making coffee-flavored beers to WV breweries, such as High Ground Brewing in Terra Alta. If things go as planned, before long, it will be making its own beer.
Stone Tower Joe Brewery,
1228 Country Club Road,
Fairmont, WV
Hard Right Brewing Company
Led by Pete Tilden, the project is in its early development stages, with a target opening date of 1st quarter 2025. Tilden plans to secure an existing building and redevelop it into a small brewery with taproom and light food fare.
Projected Opening: By Mid-2025
Hard Right Brewing Co., Hinton, WV
Brash Brothers Brewing
This project appears to have been removed from active status on 04/14/2023 when its corporate registration was cancelled. This was going to be a second Martinsburg area brewery. Earlier reported to be in early stage development. No new news on this project has been seen since 2021. It may be stalled or abandoned. The lead organizer seems to have been Rob Ciszek, who now works at Abolitionist Brew Works in Charles Town.
Possible Opening: Not likely