MORGANTOWN —Craft brew connoisseurs got the chance to sample beers from around the globe Saturday at the Second Annual Hops on the Mon at Mylan Park.
Top Tier Beer Group, which includes Andrew Walker, Jay Redmond and Grace Hutchens put the put their heads together in creating the event. The beers showcased came from local and regional breweries as well as national and international beers, Walker.
“We like to kind of pride ourselves on having a really good local flavor but being able to showcase a good number of beers from Belgium, Europe, like just all around the world,” he said.
The craft beer movement has been growing locally, and Walker said it’s a great thing. He said one of the great things about it, especially in the Morgantown and West Virginia in general, is it offers a big economic boost. It’s a way to not only offer high quality product but also connect communities.
“Brings in a lot of new jobs, bringing in a lot of additional revenue. A lot of these places like Short Story or Chestnut or Stumptown, a lot of them are going to have food associated with them as well, they kind of become cultural hubs,” he said.
Walker said there was upwards of 75 to 80 breweries at Mylan Park Saturday and almost 200 different beers. Walker himself likes all beers, but said he enjoys a good IPA and in the winter time he enjoys a good Stout.
Walker said Hops on the Mon allows beer lovers to broaden their horizons, and gives people the opportunity to get people together and enjoy one common interest.
A small list of featured breweries included Sweetwater Brewing from Atlanta, Georgia, Foothills Brewing from Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Parkersburg Brewing from Parkersburg, West Virginia and Anchor Brewing all the way from San Francisco.
Ross Williams, head brew master from Bad Shepherd Beer Company in Charleston, WV talked about their beer offerings on Saturday. He said though they have always strived to offer a wide variety of beers their most popular beer is The Loud, an IPA.
Williams said they’ve produced around 70 beers. Keeping variety moving is what they do, he said.
“I really enjoy playing with local things from Gritts Farms for instance. We’ve got a lot of melons from them earlier this year and those ended up in a lemon herb shandy,” he said.
The beer contained sage and rosemary and Williams said it was not your typical shady. Saturday, the brewery was featuring a smoked pumpkin porter. The pumpkin, from Gritts Farms was smoked and then brewed into a dark beer.
Brewing beer is a lot of trial, and not necessarily error. Williams said it’s fun to try new things and Williams said as a brewer you learn what works and what doesn’t.
“I think the goal is try to improve on your practices, try to improve on your methods and try to figure out what works for your brew system – and what works for your clientele as well” he said.
Williams said Hops on the Mon is phenomenal for West Virginia and its growing craft beer scene.
“This very similar to how the Great American Beer Festival in Denver is set up. It even kind of looks similar. It’s in a huge event hall, and there’s even room here to grow, which is good. It’s just exciting mostly,” he said.
