The pest feeds on a wide range of crops and plants, highlighting grapes and hops – which experts say could potentially impact the production of Mountain State alcoholic beverages.
An invasive insect now found in eight eastern West Virginia counties could affect the state’s wine and beer industries, according to experts.
The state Department of Agriculture says Taylor County has been added to the list of counties finding Spotted Lanternfly in their midst. The other counties include Hancock, Brooke, Mineral, Hampshire, Morgan, Berkeley, and Jefferson.
The Spotted Lanternfly is an invasive plant hopper that is native to China and arrived in North America hidden on goods imported from Asia. The pest’s main source of food is the non-native “Tree of Heaven,” but it feeds on a wide range of crops and plants, highlighting grapes and hops – which experts say could potentially impact the production of Mountain State alcoholic beverages.
“The WVDA is working closely with federal agencies to identify and treat areas where spotted Lanternfly is found,” West Virginia Commissioner of Agriculture Kent Leonhardt said. “However, with no known native predators, Spotted Lanternfly will continue to spread across our state, impacting agriculture industries and private property. We hope a more robust federal effort to contain and slow the spread of these insects will be initiated soon.”
The Agriculture Department says it has had some success in treating infested areas with insecticide.
Spotted Lanternfly can travel short distances on their own, but their main mode of movement is hitchhiking. Those who travel to an area with Spotted Lanternfly populations are asked to carefully inspect their vehicles, trailers, boats, ATVs, and any other surfaces for hitchhikers before they head home.
For more information on Spotted Lanternfly, click here. To report a spotted lanternfly sighting, send a photo, your location, and contact information to bugbusters@wvda.us or call 304-558-2212.
Randy Yohe spoke with ABCA Commissioner Fred Wooton about the marketing, tourism and product enhancement initiatives that are key aspects of a forward-thinking mission statement.
Distributing beer, wine and spirits, along with enforcing and controlling the sales and consumption of alcoholic beverages are not the only priorities of West Virginia’s Alcohol Beverage Control Administration (ABCA).
Randy Yohe spoke with ABCA Commissioner Fred Wooton about the marketing, tourism and product enhancement initiatives that are key aspects of a forward-thinking mission statement.
This story has been lightly edited for clarity.
Yohe: When you were appointed to lead the Alcohol Beverage Control Commission in 2017, you helped get the Resort Bill passed. What new opportunities did that bring to West Virginia businesses?
Wooton: We had a large ski resort in West Virginia that basically had 20 different alcohol venues on the mountain there. Before the resort bill passed, they would buy 20 different sets of licenses. Now we can cover the entire mountain, up to 20 venues under one license. It just streamlines the process to apply for a license and to renew those licenses. Now they renew one as opposed to doing 20 in the past.
Yohe: Also in 2017, your annual report said you wanted to ensure the agency is meeting consumer demands and current industry trends. First of all, how are those determined?
Wooton: In West Virginia, we operate 182 privately owned retail liquor stores. My job is to make sure that we have the newest, latest products here to supply to the stores. I receive information from our suppliers, also our retail liquor store owners. They may hear about a product and they may call us up and say, “Hey, can you get XYZ product in the warehouse for us?” We run a bailment warehouse system and it’s about managing space. I want to put products in that warehouse that will sell. The stuff that does not sell there, we want to delist that product and move it out so we can bring the new innovations into the warehouse.
Yohe: High-end bourbon has become a national trend. You mentioned in a recent interim legislative committee hearing that West Virginia was not high on the national bourbon allocation list.
Wooton: That’s because of the size of our state. There are 1.8 million people here. They base those allocations on the size of the population of the state. What I would like to do in my role as the commissioner of ABCA is to meet with the suppliers and plead our case that we need more allocated products in the state of West Virginia. And so far, it’s been pretty successful.
Yohe: You talked about the promotional activities by your team to enhance the bourbon experience in the Mountain State. People like that Kentucky bourbon, and I know you sent some people to Kentucky and did something with barrels.
Wooton: Before I became commissioner, no ABCA commissioner had ever done this. We traveled down to Kentucky and we did private barrel selection picks. We actually taste a few products down there, and we make our selection and we bring those products back to West Virginia. Our suppliers put some type of a connotation – Blended for West Virginia, West Virginia Private Select, things like that. Those promotions have been great when we put that West Virginia connotation on those bourbons, they sell before they come into the state.
Yohe: And then you did something with area codes?
Wooton: We got three barrels of Maker’s Mark, we hand-numbered each of the bottles. West Virginia has two area codes, 304 and 681. And so when we hand-numbered those bottles, if you were the lucky person that purchased bottle 304 or 681, we awarded you the empty barrel. It was great.
Yohe: You also called the Pappy Van Winkle bourbon brand a unicorn. For the unenlightened, explain that term.
Wooton: Years ago, the name wasn’t as prevalent as it is today. You could find it on the bottom shelf at Walgreens. Now, it’s a phenomenon. It’s like finding a unicorn in finding a bottle of that stuff. It comes in a three bottle case. Last year, I think we received 52 cases of it. So we only received 156 bottles for the entire state. Trying to distribute 156 bottles is a real challenge. If I listened to my brokers and suppliers, they said send it to the five biggest stores in the state. That’s not my way to adequately and fairly distribute that product here. I told those lawmakers I want to send that product from Moundsville to Mullins, Huntington to Hedgesville so everyone in the state gets a shot at buying that rare, allocated bourbon.
Yohe: How’s the craft beer industry faring in West Virginia?
Wooton: It’s booming. We’ve got some great brewers here in downtown Charleston – Short Story, Fife Street. Our craft brewers statewide are outstanding. This year, there were some changes in legislation that actually allowed them to have a second point of manufacture. So if your business is doing great in Reedsville, you could open another brewery in another part of the state.
Yohe: Aren’t some of our beers here in West Virginia starting to take off regionally and nationwide?
Wooton: Absolutely. Our resident brewers have developed some distribution networks to move that beer out to our surrounding states.
Yohe: On the other hand, it’s also good to get a variety and to let that consumer see a variety. I see that Rhinegeist from Cincinnati recently came into West Virginia. That’s an example of a popular beer. So we can go both ways. We can export, we can import, right?
Wooton: Exactly right. It’s a win-win for West Virginia brewers and for our citizens to get to try beers from out of state.
Yohe: At ABCA, you’ve got a dual purpose. You have to make sure that there’s control and safety and public protection, especially with our youth. On the other hand, you’re working with a marketing and tourism governor that wants to see the best of those marketing and tourism efforts in almost all of his agencies, right?
Wooton: That’s absolutely right. Between Gov. Jim Justice and Tourism Secretary Chelsea Ruby, they’ve been a great partner to work with. We’ve run several large bills in the state legislature the past year. They’ve all been new innovations, new opportunities for our licensees in the state. I see things in a positive light. I think things are going great.
The Senate passed 20 bills Monday on a variety of issues ranging from alcohol consumption to high school sports.
The Senate passed 20 bills Monday on a variety of issues ranging from alcohol consumption to high school sports.
Senate Judiciary Chair Sen. Charles Trump, R-Morgan, said on the floor that Senate Bill 534 was intended as technical cleanup for a bill the Senate passed last year relating to beer, cider, wine, and liquor license requirements.
After changes in committee, and the addition of three floor amendments, the bill would expand how and where alcoholic beverages can be sold and enjoyed responsibly.
“It authorizes municipalities to establish private outdoor designated areas that are zoned for alcohol consumption in that area for alcohol drinks sold for by qualified permit holders, who are class A licensees,” Trump said. “The bill allows a product I’ve not heard of before, but I’m eager to learn about beer slushies. Maybe members of this body are familiar with the product? I don’t know. But the bill will permit that. It would be currently unpermitted under our present law.”
Trump stated that the changes would serve to promote tourism in the state. The bill had its detractors, but ultimately passed on a vote of 25 to 8.
Senate Bill 667 would require periodic performance audits by the legislative auditor of the West Virginia Secondary Schools Activities Commission, the main governing body of high school sports, cheerleading, and marching bands in the state.
There was a brief debate over the legality of such a bill.
Sen. Mike Woelfel, D-Cabell, stood to oppose the bill and raised concerns that the proposed oversight would not stand up to legal scrutiny.
“The Supreme Court of Appeals held that the WVSSAC is not a state agency. In fact, they went on to say it’s not even what’s called in the law public body,” Woelfel said. “So respectfully, I believe it’s an unconstitutional attempt by us to have an audit of an autonomous group. And that’s what the Supreme Court of West Virginia described the SSAC as.”
Sen. Ryan Weld, R-Brooke, one of the bill’s co-sponsors, spoke in favor.
“What I think we’re trying to get here, with this piece of legislation, Mr. President, is a look under the hood of the agency that is responsible for all the activities in the state that our kids who attend high school partake in, any sports, whether they’re in the band,” he said. “An organization that has millions in assets.”
Senate Bill 737 was the second bill introduced Monday to deal with compensation for Emergency Medical Service workers.
Senate Finance Chair Sen. Eric Tarr, R-Putnam, said the bill would create a special revenue account, the Emergency Medical Services Salary Enhancement Fund, to supplement the salaries of EMS workers across the state.
“The rules are to provide a mechanism for distribution of the funds to the county with the parameters of distribution to counties demonstrating the most need, counties who have a special levy, counties who have reached the maximum rate on a regular Levy and counties that suffer from competition from border states,” he said.
All three bills, along with 13 others, now go to the House of Delegates for its consideration.
Nearing Completion
The Senate also took up four bills originating in the House.
House Bill 2062 completed legislative action. If signed by Gov. Jim Justice, the bill would modify e-bike regulations to more closely conform to federal law and allow certain e-bikes to be operated on public lands. The bill also states that users of e-bikes would have the same rights and privileges as regular bicycles.
House Bill 3340, which modifies the state’s Tax Increment Financing system, also completed legislative action and is awaiting the governor’s signature.
The other two bills were amended on the Senate floor and will complete legislative action if the House concurs on the Senate’s amendments. House Bill 3307 would establish the West Virginia-Ireland Trade Commission, and House Bill 3428 transitions the West Virginia Business Ready Sites Program from a pilot to a permanent status.
West Virginia craft brewers are against one part of Gov. Jim Justice’s income tax repeal plan that would raise the beer barrel tax by 431%.
Every state has a version of this tax, but if the governor’s plan is passed by the legislature, West Virginia would have the second-highest beer barrel tax in the nation behind Alaska.
“We’re one of the industries in West Virginia that people can be proud of,” said Aaron Rote, president of the West Virginia Craft Brewers Guild, “We’re growing, we’re putting people to work. And so it’s worth considering how something like this can really throw a wrench in that.”
Rote said the pandemic hurt craft breweries, but he feels lucky — none have closed.
“This is just not the way that we thought we would be rewarded for the effort,” he said. “The timing is just, it’s just terrible.”
The governor’s plan would increase the beer barrel tax from $5.50 to $29.25 on thousands of barrels a year at each brewery.
He likes the idea of no income tax, but says the state economy isn’t ready, and it shouldn’t come at the cost of stopping a growing industry.
The number of craft breweries in the state has nearly doubled since it was 15 breweries back in 2016.
Rote also said, if the tax increase is enacted, that craft beer prices would have to go up, and it would be harder to attract new customers and new breweries to the state.
The plan is currently under consideration in the legislature.
Several breweries across the state are hosting events as part of West Virginia Craft Beer Week, which kicked off this past weekend, June 15-16. Some in the craft beer industry are celebrating new regulations that the state legislature passed earlier this spring.
This week — to coincide with West Virginia Day — breweries and restaurants across the state are celebrating the state’s steadily growing craft beer industry.
In 2016, there were 15 breweries in the state. That number has nearly doubled in just three years, despite regulatory challenges and the state’s dispersed population.
Even though West Virginia doesn’t have big cities to draw crowds, brewers have found a small but loyal customer base here, said West Virginia Brewers Guild President Aaron Rote.
“There’s a lot of cultural centers like Fayetteville, Thomas, Davis, Morgantown, and I really think the breweries you see in those areas really tie into their local culture really well,” Rote said.
Some craft brewers brand their beers with names and logos that reference local folklore — like Zona’s Revenge, made by Greenbrier Valley Brewing in Lewisburg. That witbier is named after Zona Heaster who was murdered in the late 19th century and ultimately became the basis for a popular ghost story in the area.
There’s also Big Timber Brewing Company in Elkins, and Stumptown Ales in Davis, which both feature imagery that celebrate timber, a major economic driver in the region.
Across West Virginia, many craft breweries are closely tied with their local, host communities. The regional nature of the state’s craft brewers required event planners for the first state-wide craft beer week to think creatively.
Some breweries will be releasing special beers, some will give tours, and others are featured in tap takeovers, events in which a restaurant only serves a specific brewery’s beer for a night.
Summer Kickoff
This week’s events are also helping to kick off the summer season, said Kevin Ayers, the owner of the Wheeling-based brewery Brew Keepers.
“Think of it like the Memorial Day of craft beer,” he said. “Memorial Day kicks off the summer, even though it isn’t summer yet. Summertime is the most popular time to drink.”
Ayers said a lot of breweries in the state are located in towns with tourist destinations or are near entrances to the state, and that’s no accident. He said craft breweries could play a role in boosting tourism.
“The more things we can bring into this state to do the more people are going to stop, and they’re going to hunt craft breweries down,” Ayers said.
Rote, with the West Virginia Brewers Guild, said to cap West Virginia Craft Beer Week, beer drinkers across the state are encouraged to participate in a “beer toast” on Friday, June 21 at 5:00 p.m.
“Whether you’re at a restaurant or you’re on your back porch drinking a beer at 5 o’clock there’ll be kind of like a beer toast,” he said.
Regulatory Changes
According to Rote, craft beer fans in West Virginia do have something to toast about this year. Earlier this spring, the Legislature passed Senate Bill 529, which increased the cap on alcohol by volume — from 12 to 15 percent. The new law also removes a limit on growler sales.
Rote said he’s hoping these new regulations will help lead to even more growth in the craft beer industry.
“This is just a nice way to cheers maybe a nice turning point for us,” he said.
While both Ayers and Rote both say they feel like West Virginia craft beer started a little behind the curve, they both believe the state is catching up, with no signs of slowing down yet.
To learn more about West Virginia Craft Beer Week or to find a local event, go to wvcbw.com and click on their events tab.
Peanut butter stouts, guava sours, hazy double IPAs, pomegranate ales – these are just a few experimental beers to come out of the craft beer craze in recent years.
According to the National Brewer’s Association, this expanding industry started in the 1990s but didn’t gain momentum until 2010, making it relatively new. Today there are more than 7,000 commercial breweries in the country.
In West Virginia, that growth came even later. In the state there are 30 craft breweries, but in 2011 there were just five.
All the craft breweries started with a home brewer – someone who experiments in brewing at home, and usually it’s a person who genuinely loves the science and craft behind beer.
Homebrewers in West Virginia have been experimenting with beer for decades, and they have been collaborating in community-organized home brew clubs.
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A beer on tap at restaurant and bar El Gran Sabor in Elkins. Beer comes to be through six stages – milling, mashing, lautering, boiling, fermenting and conditioning.
There are 13 clubs in the state, one of which is in Elkins. It formed in 2009, and they call themselves the ‘Appalachian Brew Club.’
“When you’re around other brewers, you pick up learning how to brew in a really short time. It’s a super-fast starter for people,” Jack Tribble, Appalachian Brew Club co-founder, says.
He has been brewing since the 90s. He and several other members like to get together at one another’s homes to brew.
On this day, they have met up to brew a New England IPA.
DIY Beer
In the kitchen, the stove is covered in giant, stainless steel pots, and the counters are filled with different yeast strains and a variety of grains. There is an oversized Gatorade cooler nearby for pouring beer into, which allows the liquid to steep in the grains.
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Scott Biola lifting the grains out of the wort. After this step the liquid will be transferred to the giant pot on the stove.
The room is filled with a distinct, yet polarizing smell. Jack gives his thoughts on the aromas.
“I think it has a sweet cereal smell that has a grainy backbone to it. It smells great,” he says.
But longtime club member Rick Newsome says it is an acquired scent.
“Brewers love the smell. Walk into a big brewery and they’re brewing a porter and it smells heavenly. Unless you’re my wife,” Newsome says.
While the club brews, they sample other regional beers.
A lot of people enjoy beer, but these guys love beer. For Rick Gauge, it is like a creative science.
“It’s a great bunch of people to hang out with and talk about beer and they, like me, nerd out about the specifics and the details and not just oh this tastes good, but why? What hops are used and what’s the malt bill like?” Gauge says.
There are six stages in the brewing process – milling, mashing, lautering, boiling, fermenting and conditioning.
The Elkins club is at the end of the mashing stage, where the enzymes from the grains are converting to sugar. At this point, it is not quite beer, but a sugary liquid called Wort.
They are trying to get the Wort to an exact temperature. Too hot or too cold and the beer changes type.
“How geeky do you want to be?,” Newsome says. “There are two enzymes that convert those starches into sugars – alpha amylase and beta amylase. Beta works in a range from 140 to 150 degrees. Alpha works from 150-160.”
In simpler terms, he is saying in order to convert the yeast to sugar the liquid needs to be between 140 and 160 degrees Fahrenheit.
As a club, they get together several times a year to brew, but they meet up once a month just to talk beer. Clinton Hamrick, one of the members, says home brewers tend to be on the cutting edge of new styles.
“The home brewers I think are a little more on the leading edge of what’s going to be popular this summer or the following year,” Clinton says.
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Tammy and Clinton Hamrick enjoy a beer on the bar crawl. The Appalachian Brew Club members all say Tammy can “out-brew them all.”
It is a lifestyle. They even plan their vacations around beer, calling them “beercations.”
“We go with brewers and meet brewers over there and have a really good time, and all of a sudden they are pulling out stuff from the backs of their refrigerators and we have a really good time,” Jack says.
They also brew beers for competitions.
Homebrew Competitions
Homebrewers recently competed in a competition in Morgantown, called the Coal Cup Homebrewer’s Competition, which featured stouts and porters from regional homebrewers.
Inside the hotel conference room where the competition was held, judges quietly sip beers. They are voting on several categories – most boozy, coolest growler and weirdest flavor. In another room, memebers of the public gather to taste beers for the people’s choice competition.
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A beer entered in the People’s Choice at the Coal Cup Homebrewer’s competition. Some of the categories included most boozy, coolest growler and weirdest flavor.
Jason Croston, a homebrewer in the Morgantown club, is competing with a Christmas porter and Bourbon barrel porter. He says brewing beer is something that has been passed down in his family..
“My dad actually grew grapevines on the side of our house and used to make wine. And one of my grandfathers was a brewer way back. It’s in our family history and it’s in our blood,” he says.
There are two types of homebrewers – those who want to pursue opening a brewery and those who do not. Jason is the former. He hopes to open his own brewery one day, and even has a name picked out.
“I grew up in the backwaters in Cheat Lake, hence the name of my brewery when I do open –‘Backwaters Brewing,” Jason says.
But not all homebrewers want to take that path. Chris Eberlin from Cumberland, Maryland says brewers can lose their freedom with regulation. He gave an example of his friend who makes experimental beers.
“He’ll just grab roots off the ground and throw them in and maybe some bark off a tree, and sometimes you get duds and sometimes you get really good flavors,” Chris says. “The big challenge with commercial beer is you have to appease a big group of people. As a home brewer, I have the ability to go crazy because I’ve only brewed one to five gallons of beer. So I can make something horrendous and dump it and it’s only a little bit of time and money I wasted. But as a commercial brewer that could be the difference between life or death.”
All the home brewers spend the day tasting each other’s beers, waiting to hear how they placed in the competition.
Overall, the Appalachian Brew Club place second in the Coal Cup competition.
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From left to right, Lindsey and Chris Eberlin and Tammy and Clinton Hamrick. They were competing with their beers at the Coal Cup Homebrewer’s competition.
The Bar Crawl
Back in Elkins, the brewers club members go on a bar crawl to taste some of the local beers on tap. On this day, they start at a local restaurant and bar El Gran Sabor.
Clinton Hamrick tastes a new beer on tap.
“It tastes like figs, little bit of raisin, woody, sweet, slight caramel – it’s good,” he says.
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The Appalachian Brew Club members during their bar crawl in Elkins. They like to try all kinds of beers to keep their palates up to date.
Whether it is making their own beer, trying other beer or taking part in competitions, home brewers simply love beer. Unlike commercial brewers, these guys are not in it for the money. They cannot legally sell you a beer, but they will try to excite your palate.
“I genuinely believe there is a beer out there for everyone,” Rick Gauge says. “People who say they don’t like beer, I make it my personal mission to find them a beer they like. Beer can taste like anything. The people that say they don’t like beer just haven’t tried the right one.”
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Rick Newsome has brewed beer on and off since the 90s. Today’s burgeoning craft beer industry had yet to take off in the 90s.
This story is part of an Inside Appalachia episode exploring the alcohol culture and industry in Appalachia.
