For the column this week, I decided to pour into the craft brew industry a bit regarding the craft brew industry in general in West Virginia and the effects of proposed state taxation legislation on that industry.
To me, the craft brew industry in West Virginia has been an up-and-coming bright spot in the state that pairs well with our outdoor tourism field. West Virginia has some of the best skiing, whitewater rafting, hiking, biking, canoeing/kayaking, and hunting/fishing on the East Coast. Most of these outdoors enthusiasts prefer a locally made craft beer like Devil Anse IPA over Bud Light.
Don’t forget, White Sulphur Springs will soon have its own local brewery, Big Draft Brewing.
In that regard, I reached out to our very own Greenbrier Valley Brewing Company and Alex Durand, the director of sales and marketing for GVBC. Alex is big proponent of the craft brew industry in West Virginia but is worried about the future. My questions are in bold and Durand’s comments follow:
What is a brief history of the craft brew industry in WV?
In 2011 we had five breweries and that number has slowly grown to 29 in 2019.
I worked as a bar manager in Huntington, W.Va. around the infant stage of the West Virginia brewery industry and had a hard time finding the “local” that everyone wanted to support. Out of the restaurants’ 14 taps, 0 were local.
I asked around and put Bridge Brew (Fayette County brewery) on and had plans for Big Timber (Elkins brewery) since they just started to distribute. The oldest operating brewery at the time, Mountain State (Thomas brewery), was unheard of to me. Slowly I removed all “big beer” and replaced it with craft. It wasn’t all local, but we were getting somewhere. Blue Moon became Widmer Bros Hefe, Yuengling became Bridge Brew Long Point Lager, and New Castle became Big Timber Porter. I could not, however, remove PBR (Pabst Blue Ribbon) due to the clientele being hipsters and the removal of said beer would have resulted in them burning the place to the ground.
I hosted events that brought the few very busy local breweries to the restaurant and allowed them to talk about their passions and educate people on what craft was (several media outlets covered stories on these events).
How did GVBC get started, and what are operations and sales like today?
GVBC has been around for nearly six years. It was started by Will Laska and Dave Kucera. The company was bought by Bill Heckel in 2018 and I and Brian Reymiller (the original head brewer) were hired on. Bill expanded the production with new tanks and a more efficient canning line. Increasing canning production from three cans per minute to 36 cans was big. We are now capable of producing more than 10k barrels and have expanded to Maryland and Northern Virginia. Working with larger corporate buyers (Walmart, Kroger, Convenience stores) I was able to increase sales to nearly double during a pandemic. We had lost all draft sales during 2019 and needed to push canned product. With Walmart, we were able to take 32 placements of our product and expand it to 123. We are proudly sold in nearly ALL GoMart, Par Mar, Little General, Kroger, Sheetz, and all of the local mom and pop stores. We are the number one selling craft beer for most of our distributors, outselling Sierra Nevada and New Belgium.
What is your most popular beer?
Devil Anse. Hands down it’s the best beer.
In general, who are craft breweries marketing to, e.g., their target audience?
Tourists. People that come into WV towns and cities find the nearest watering holes (which we in the industry like to call beer visitor centers) and get a taste of culture, heritage, and those looking the play in our great state. After a day of hiking, skiing, or rafting it’s nice to wind down with a tasty brew.
The target demo would be anyone interested in listening to a new dialog about West Virginia.
What are all of the breweries now in WV?
See list below:
• Abolitionist Ale Works, Charles Town, taproom and restaurant
• Bad Shepherd Beer Company, Charleston, taproom and restaurant
• Bannings, Inc., Summersville, brewery
• Bavarian Brothers Brewing, Shepherdstown, taproom and restaurant
• Berkeley Springs Brewing, Berkeley Springs, taproom and restaurant
• Big Timber Brewing, Elkins, taproom
• Brew Keepers, Wheeling, brewery tasting room and growler sales
• Brewstel, Elkins, brewery taproom
• Bridge Brew Works, Fayetteville, brewery taproom
• Chestnut Brew Works, Morgantown, brewery taproom
• Dobra Zupas, Beckley, taproom and restaurant
• The Freefolk Brewery, Fayetteville, brewery and taproom
• Greenbrier Valley Brewing Co., Lewisburg, brewery taproom
• High Ground Brewing Co., Terra Alta, taproom, beer garden
• Morgantown Brewing Company, Morgantown, taproom and restaurant
• Mountain State Brewing Company, Morgantown, Thomas, Bridgeport; taproom in Thomas; restaurants in Morgantown and Bridgeport
• North End Tavern & Brewery, Parkersburg, est. 1899 – taproom and restaurant
• Old Spruce Brewing, Snowshoe, brewery taproom and restaurant
• Parkersburg Brewing Company, Parkersburg, taproom and restaurant
• Screech Owl Brewing, Bruceton Mills, taproom and restaurant
• Short Story Brewing, Rivesville, taproom and restaurant
• Sophisticated Hound Brewing Co., Princeton, taproom and restaurant
• Stumptown Ales, Davis, taproom, limited food menu
• The Peddler, Huntington, taproom and restaurant
• The Rambling Root, Fairmont, taproom and restaurant
• Weathered Ground Brewery, Cool Ridge, taproom and food trucks
• Wheeling Brewing Co., Wheeling, taproom and restaurant.
How does WV compare to other states, such as Virginia and North Carolina as it relates to our craft breweries regarding production and economic impact?
Please refer to graphs placed around this story.
Please discuss how new tax proposals in the WV Legislature (HB 2027) could affect the craft brew industry in WV.
With the proposed tax increase we will be in top three highest-taxed states. The tax bill will kill breweries, tourism, and small business. Our current tax on production of 4,000 Barrels of beer is $22,000, this tax will increase that to — if we stay the same with production — $117,000 a year. This will limit us and other breweries’ abilities to hire more employees and purchase new equipment. Other legislation which has been stalled after HB2027 is the omnibus bill HB2025. This would allow business to continue with some relaxed restrictions that were implemented during 2019 to help generate sales.
Of note, there are currently competing income tax bills in the state legislature, so it will be interesting to see how this plays out.
It is my hope that the craft brew industry in West Virginia continues to thrive.
