Not everyone looks at the increased availability of alcoholic beverages quite the same way. Some people struggle with it. Alcohol is, after all, a socially acceptable, legal drug.
Not everyone looks at the increased availability of alcoholic beverages quite the same way. Some people struggle with it. Alcohol is, after all, a socially acceptable, legal drug.
Inside Appalchia guest host Liz McCormick sat down with two professionals from West Virginia University who run a program that helps students cope with alcohol. Cathy Yura is the Director of the West Virginia University Collegiate Recovery Program and Andrew Caryl, her co-worker, who is himself in recovery.
If you or someone you know is struggling with substance use disorder, including alcoholism, or if you have a question about recovery, here are some resources:
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration: 1-800-662-HELP
National Drug Rehab Hotline: (24/7 crisis intervention) 1-888-459-5511
Tickets have gone on sale for the Second Annual WV Craft Brew Festival in April intended to showcase West Virginia’s growing craft beer sector at the state fairgrounds outside Lewisburg.
State Fair CEO Kelly Collins says 65 state craft brews were featured at last year’s festival along with music and food.
Collins says the April 28 festival is a fundraiser for the Lewisburg Rotary and State Fair of WV Scholarship Funds.
General admission tickets cost $28.30 for eight beer samplings, the music and a mug.
The acres devoted to growing hops doubled in the U.S. in just the past five years and the trade group Hop Growers of America estimates that 95 percent of…
The acres devoted to growing hops doubled in the U.S. in just the past five years and the trade group Hop Growers of America estimates that 95 percent of that market belongs to farmers along the West Coast. But the craft beer craze is changing the direction for hop farms by generating demand for more locally sourced ingredients, and Ohio Valley farmers like Wes Cole want in on the action.
On a small incline behind Cole’s homestead in Hickory, Kentucky, sits a tenth of an acre plot of Mt. Hood hops, a variety that’s tolerant to the crop disease downy mildew.
“This spot is about as windy as it could be. If you don’t believe me, try folding up a tarp out here. It will make you lose your religion,” Cole said, as he explained why a cool, dry location is critical in hop production. The plants will grow vertically, often requiring 25 feet or more of support in thick twine for the bines, or flexible stems, to wrap themselves around as they produce the cone-shaped grains used for bittering beer.
Credit Nicole Erwin / Ohio Valley ReSource
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Ohio Valley ReSource
Farmer Wes Cole among his hops crop.
In the 1800s, Cole explained, hops were a prominent part of farming across the region. But the spread of crop disease in humid conditions forced most hop production out west, where growers continue to prosper commercially.
Cole likens crop diseases to biblical plagues. “You are going to fight it all the time of your life,” he said.
He knows his bible, and half-joked that his Southern Baptist church wouldn’t look favorably on his new venture with its ties to alcohol production. But finding a cash crop that he can grow with the autonomy that allows him choose organic methods is worth the penance.
“Tobacco is what got me into this because of the bad flavor that put in my mouth. Because I have grown a crop for another man all my life and made another man a ba-zillionaire and I’m living like a pauper,” Cole said.
Now he hopes hops will change that.
“I got into this because there ain’t no middle man. I’m making the money.” Cole said local breweries have a strong appetite for local hops. “They said, ‘You grow us any hop and we will use it. We want local hops, period.’ ”
So far three breweries have said they’ll buy his hops.
Credit Nicole Erwin / Ohio Valley ReSource
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Ohio Valley ReSource
Hops bines, or flexible stems, grow along twine or other structures.
‘Stick With The Cs’
Hop alliances in Ohio, West Virginia, and Kentucky say the region’s hop market is wide open. But securing a futures contract with a brewery decreases the risks farmers face in both the up-front costs to get started and the potential volatility of the market.
“We tell new growers to stick with the Cs,” said Scott Eidson with the Kentucky Hop Growers Alliance. “There’s three main varieties that start with C: Cascade, Chinook and Centennial. Out of those three, Cascade and Chinook grow extremely well in the state.”
The “super-human variety” Eidson said, is Chinook. “It can grow anywhere across the state.”
Eidson has been hop farming since 2009. He found that information on growing the plant in this region is scarce. When he would meet other farmers while looking to learn more conversations would develop, and those conversations became meetings, which eventually led to the creation of the Kentucky Hop Growers Alliance, which incorporated in 2015.
Costly Crop
“Hops are very labor intensive and cost prohibitive,” Eidson warned. “So there is a lot of money to be made but that money is maybe five, 10 years down the road. It takes about three to five years to even break even.”
Eidson said a lot of farmers he meets are like Wes Cole — people looking to get away from tobacco. Cole is certain the bigger hops growers will make their way into the Ohio Valley and push him out at some point. But Eidson said the large producers are likely wary because basic information about the crop in the region is lacking.
A ReSource data search found very little information on hops in the region. A 2016 record shows 20 acres of hop varieties in Kentucky and 70 in Ohio. No information was available for West Virginia.
“So there’s limitations with the knowledge that we have, the skills that we have and the machinery that’s available,” Eidson said. And that raises concerns about just how well the crop might do here.
“We’re told hops don’t grow,” Eidson said.
The ideal hop growing conditions lie between the 35th and 55th latitude parallels, which covers the entire Ohio Valley, and most of the continental U.S. But there are many local variations in conditions.
“The climate, soil, and daylight hours are a bit more favorable in Ohio, and probably optimal in Michigan,” said Ohio Valley Hops spokesman Dave Volkman.
Volkman said Ohio growers have around 100 acres strung for harvest this year, “with about another 100 just put in,” he said. But most farms range from just one to four acres.
Eidson said the largest farm in Kentucky is currently 5 acres. However, Lexington-based West Sixth Brewery has purchased 120 acres with plans to grow hops and fruit trees. Co-owner Joe Kuosman said the farm is not for production purposes, but to educate the community on the beer making process.
Hops farms in the region are small but the investment costs are not.
As is the case with other industries with little local data to support the likelihood of success, hop farms have trouble persuading banks to offer loans.
“We lack multi-generational knowledge, although we’re learning a lot, fast,” said Volkman. Growers are concerned about the quality of hops and what sort of investment it takes to process the harvest.
“Most states have formed growers associations to collaborate, and a number of universities have research efforts,” Volkman said. “The processing infrastructure isn’t adequate yet in much of the Midwest.”
Credit HopAlong Farm in Howard, OH
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Hops are key to craft beers, but can be tricky for farmers.
The Kentucky Hop Growers Alliance and West Virginia State University are using grants to purchase equipment to ease some of the costs. West Virginia State University Extension Agent Brad Cochran said after a successful round of pilot hops projects, quality hops aren’t an issue. Neither is finding a place for the fresh batches. Most of those are used for “wet hopping” where brewers apply fresh hops flowers to a brew within days of harvest, a technique local breweries use in places lacking infrastructure to process hops.
“We sort of found out that processing is that next step. And so if we’re able to get these hops processed into a pelleted form that’s really going to open up a lot of additional markets,” Cochran said.
Drink Together, Grow Together
The pattern of co-op equipment shares, university support, and local hop alliances is in keeping with the spirit of craft beer, which reflects a sort of locavore renaissance. It’s something West Sixth Brewing’s Kuosman said he is seeing more of each day.
“And this is part of our story, right? As a local brewery we’re asking people to support the local brewery,” Kuosman said. “If we’re not supporting our local farmer then that story we’re trying to tell just isn’t isn’t real.”
Credit Nicole Erwin / Ohio Valley ReSource
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Ohio Valley ReSource
West Sixth Brewing of Lexington at a recent beer festival.
Kuosman left the corporate world to pursue his passion for brewing. He said he is amazed at the projects that have developed from collaborations associated with local brewing operations.
“Something that we’ve seen is that [breweries have] really helped to revitalize buildings and communities.” he said. “It’s not just a business, it’s not just a brewery or tap room–it’s become this community center where we do all these different activities from free yoga to the free running clubs,” Kuosman said. He recalled a Canadian visitor who likened his building to a YMCA, only with beer.
As with the local food movement, people want to know where their beer ingredients come from.
“They want to meet the person that’s growing that food and brewing that beer and really have their purchases going back to supporting their local community,” Kuosman said. “I think that is what it comes down to, in that it’s very old school, in that it is a relationship business.”
But craft beer palates also change frequently, and that can create a volatile market for farmers who are working with plants that can often take up to two years to establish themselves.
“A certain variety is very popular this year and something new comes out next year and that old variety just isn’t as popular anymore,” Kuosman said, so there will always be some risk.
A Special Breed
This is why proprietary varieties like Michigan’s Warrior Hops do so well. The variety is owned by the state hop alliance, so it can control the supply.
But developing a proprietary variety takes a lot of work. Ohio Valley Hops’ Dave Volkmann said a few growers are experimenting with breeding, “but that’s a long, complicated and expensive process.”
He said hundred or thousands of crosses may yield only a few usable varieties, raising questions about whether it is worth the effort.
“While proprietary hops capture the imagination, great beer is brewed every day with open-source hops,” he said.
Credit Nicole Erwin / Ohio Valley ReSource
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Ohio Valley ReSource
Farmer/artist Wes Cole’s painting of tobacco plants.
Kentucky Hop Growers Alliance sees proprietary hops varieties as an opportunity for future stability, Eidson said. The group has even joked about what the first variety would be named: “Kentucky Gold,” or “Bluegrass Hop,” or some variation in between.
Whatever happens with the hop industry, farmer Wes Cole figures it will be better than his old tobacco growing days.
“Like I said, I’m done growing something for somebody else. I’m tired of fighting skin cancer and copperheads for a crop that another man is going to make fortune off of.”
Hops farming, he said, offers hope. “It’s like my liberation project.”
A new guide to West Virginia’s growing craft beer industry was released Monday by the state Division of Tourism.
The West Virginia Craft Beer Guide gives travelers an inside look at brews, breweries and craft beer events across the state. It’ll soon be available at eight Welcome Centers and can be requested online.
The pocket guide is divided into regional trails and craft beer events. To be included in the guide a location must be open to the public. The guide also includes a section where travelers are able to collect Craft Beer badges through the GoToWV mobile phone app.
The guide will also be available at craft beer festivals like Rails and Ales in Huntington on August 13th, Brew Skies at Timberline Four Seasons resort on August 19th and 20th and Mountaineer Brewfest in Wheeling on August 20th.
The West Virginia Division of Tourism also produces a fall foliage travel guide, a wine and spirits guide, and a guide for scenic drives.
Craft beer lovers in West Virginia have had plenty to get excited about as of late. From new breweries to new legislation, a lot has been happening for the industry in the state.
West Virginia also just wrapped up its first ever craft beer week. Highlighted by festivals, tastings, tap takeovers and other special events, the 8-day celebration comes just months after a new law went into effect that helps propel the industry forward.
Governor Tomblin noted that craft beer was “one of the fastest-growing niche markets in the state” when he declared August 15 – 22 West Virginia Craft Beer Week.
Such an impact was certainly evident last Saturday, as thousands of beer lovers found their way to Wheeling’s Mountaineer Brewfest and Huntington’s Rails & Ales Festival. Offering more than 150 beers from across the country, the Rails & Ales Festival spotlighted larger breweries from across the country but also gave West Virginia beer makers a chance to shine.
Credit West Virginia Public Broadcasting
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With Dorba Zupas of Beckley serving as newcomer on the scene, brewmaster Steve Redden said the Rails & Ales Festival was a bit of a coming out party for the brewery.
“We’re just debuting our beer out here. This is the first time anyone’s been able to drink it, even myself. We just kegged it this week. What came out of this tap that you’re looking at is exactly the first time I’ve tried it, too,” said Redden standing behind his taps at the festival.
“I’ve brewed it before—home brew—but this is the first time we’ve been able to large scale brew it because we just had our ABCA license pushed through a few weeks ago.”
Not Just for the Brewers: Other Businesses Spotlight Local Beers
Although West Virginia Craft Beer Week was certainly a boon for brewers and brewpubs at the festivals held around the state, restaurants and bars also took part in the celebration. Highlighting West Virginia brewers by hosting tap takeovers and tastings, locally-owned spots had their own chance to cash in on the burgeoning industry.
Credit Dave Mistich / West Virginia Public Broadcasting
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West Virginia Public Broadcasting
More Breweries, More Expansion
West Virginia’s craft brewery count has nearly tripled in recent years, up from six in 2010 to 14 today. Just this year, Dobra Zupas, Berkeley Springs Brewing and Stumptown Ales from Davis have come on line.
But it’s not just the number of breweries that are growing. Existing companies are being forced to expand operations to keep up with an increase in demand.
Mountain State Brewing Company started off with a seven barrel brew house ten years ago and eventually had to increase operations. Owner Brian Arnett said things have gotten so busy the company is expanding once again, with construction underway that will triple the size of their facility in Thomas in Tucker County.
“Now we have 30 barrel fermenters which we double up and then fill 60-barrel bright tanks. We brew around the clock. Current production, since we stated canning, has doubled since May. This is August and we’re holding the trend. We have orders for twice as many cans as we can produce,” explained Arnett.
A West Virginia-Focused Finish
With so much excitement in the air over the boom of the industry, Mountain State hosted the Brew Skies Festival this weekend at Timberline Four Seasons Resort, in essence capping off the state’s first ever celebration of craft beer.
Credit Dave Mistich / West Virginia Public Broadcasting
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West Virginia Public Broadcasting
Tyler Childers & the Foodstamps performs at the Brew Skies Festival on Saturday, August 22 at the Timberline Four Seasons Resort.
Chestnut Brew Works owner and brewmaster Bill Rittenour said the festival’s West Virginia focus is the driving force behind its success.
“I think most people that come up to the stand have had Chestnut, but some haven’t. So, you get to promote the brand a little bit. But, I think what it’s more about is promoting the state in general—whether it’s beer or music or whatever. I just think it’s great,” said Rittenour.
The state Division of Tourism has increasingly pushed to highlight West Virginia Craft beer, hoping to position West Virginia in a similar fashion as other craft beer hotspots like Colorado and North Carolina.
West Virginia’s first ever Craft Beer Week may not kick off until Saturday, but those interested in the state’s burgeoning industry already have a reason…
West Virginia’s first ever Craft Beer Week may not kick off until Saturday, but those interested in the state’s burgeoning industry already have a reason to celebrate.
West Virginia University has announced a craft beer certificate program aimed to help beer lovers expand their knowledge of the brewing process and understand the business.
Program coordinator Sherrilynn Kuehn said the program came about for a variety of reasons.
“There’s a lot of interest in craft beer now. It’s been in legislation. It’s growing in popularity. We’re always looking for programming that is new and hot topic right now and of interest to our audience,” said Kuehn.
"Not all craft beers are created equal."-WVU Craft Beer Instructor Bryce Capodieci
Longtime Morgantown home brewers Bryce Capodieci and Brett Clark will serve as instructors for program. Tuesday evening courses will focus on the history of brewing and the process, evaluating varieties and formulating recipes, as well as the business side of the industry.
“These three courses are only the beginning. We have plans to offer other courses and seminars that focus more on specific topics,” said Capodieci.
“We are the only institution in West Virginia offering these courses. It is exciting to see careers open in West Virginia that involve the craft beer industry,” he added.
Among other important aspects of craft beer, Capodieci emphasized the importance of tasting and distinguishing off-flavors in beer, noting that “not all craft beers are created equal.”
“It is very important to learn the proper techniques in tasting and evaluating craft beer,” he explained.
“First, by understanding the components of each beer, you can then fully appreciate the aroma; flavor, appearance and mouth feel in each beer. Second, with a little bit of knowledge and practice, you can determine off-flavors in those beers. Many people think that because a beer is craft beer, it has to be good.”
Credit West Virginia University Continuing and Professional Education
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Introduction to Craft Beer (September 15 to October 20, 2015):
Beer Styles and History
Brewing Ingredients
Brewing Process
Brewing Methods and Mashing Techniques
Serving Beer
Advanced Craft Beer Appreciation (November 3 to December 15, 2015):
Sensory Beer Evaluation per BJCP Style Guidelines
Off-Flavors
Draft Systems
Recipe Formulation
Going Professional (January 12 to February 16, 2016):
Components of a Brewery
Federal and State Requirements
Design Your Brewery
Quality Control and Safety
Raw Materials
Business Plan/Financial Projections
The three-course program launches September 15. Registration is limited to 20 students per course. Students must be 21 years old to register.
