MORGANTOWN — The West Virginia Black Bears let craft beer connoisseurs run the bases and grab a beer at the Monongalia County Ballpark Saturday. This year, the baseball team partnered with the United Way to host the Home Run and Hops Craft Beer Festival and Mac and Cheese Cookoff.
Whether someone is an IPA aficionado or a pumpkin-beer lover, there was something for everyone to enjoy Saturday. Beers were available from many different breweries, including Short Story Brewing from Parkersburg, as well as hometown brewers from Chestnut Brew Works and Mountain State Brewing Company.
Attendees could vote on their favorite beer and mac and cheese and trophies were awarded for the best of each. Vendors included Iron Horse, Sodexo and Table9.
Jackie Riggleman, business manager for the WV Black Bears, said that both the beer festival and the mac and cheese cook off have been going on for a few years, and the United Way thought it would be a good idea to marry the two ideas.
“It’s been a really great partnership between us and them,” she said.
Riggleman said while looking for distributors, the Black Bears make connections throughout the state.
“We have them from all over. I know one of the favorites that’s always here is Parkersburg Brewing. A lot of them are basically from about hour outside of Morgantown,” she said.
It’s all about the love of bringing community events to the public during the off season of baseball. This allows people to come to the stadium for reasons other than seeing a baseball game.
“That’s a big benefit for us. Being able to do this and showcase a lot of beer distributors that we work with during the season as well. And the United Way, of course all the proceeds, the ticket sales will go back to them,” she said.
“This event has come together nicely the past few years. It’s just one of the things we encourage people to come out to because it’s something where you can truly be on the field. When we say Home Run and Hops, you are literally hopping around the field tasting all the different beers,” she said.
Matt Drayer, general manager for the Black Bears, is a man who knows his beer. He likes that craft beers are made locally, meaning he can support local businesses.
“It seems that there’s a pride, there’s ownership. When you talk to these guys that are making their own beer, they’re very prideful of their product. To me, that makes the product better,” he said.
He loves the unique tastes, flavors and seasonal beers and seeing the creativity and art in the selections. Drayer is an IPA lover, though his taste can vary — right now he’s enjoying seasonal beers.
“It’s tough to say ‘what’s your favorite beer?’ because there’s so many different local places, or even some of the larger, national craft beers it’s just tough,” he said.
