USA, WV: The Charleston Brewing Co. sold to Bad Shepherd Brewing Co.

The Charleston Brewing Co.’s location on Quarrier Street has been sold to Bad Shepherd Brewing Co., whose owners, Patrick Guthrie and Jessica Bright, also own Black Sheep Burrito and Brews, next door, Charleston Gazette-Mail reported on October 11.

The remaining craft beer at Charleston Brewing Co. will be the company’s last, as its assets have been sold to Black Sheep Burrito and Brews owners Patrick Guthrie and Jessica Bright for their new startup, Bad Shepherd Brewing Co.

The brewery, which is located next to Black Sheep on Quarrier Street, will be making and selling beer under the Bad Shepherd name by January 2017.

Guthrie said, with Charleston Brewing Co. owner Ann Saville looking to sell the company and it already having close ties with Black Sheep, they decided to purchase the brewery.

“We were already there selling the beer, so now we’re going to come in, change the structure and start a whole new company,” he said.

The sale became official Sept. 30, according to Saville, who also owns Taylor Books, on Capitol Street. The remainder of its beer will be sold at Black Sheep, and Bad Shepherd can use Charleston Brewing’s recipes. Guthrie said Bad Shepherd will offer similar options to Charleston Brewing’s most popular beers.

Saville would not disclose exact numbers on the sale. She said she wasn’t making much profit with Charleston Brewing and that Guthrie and Bright were already looking for a space to operate their own brewery in the area.

“I thought it was the perfect opportunity, instead of going out and looking for someone else to sell it to, and I’ll recoup in the near future, so my family won’t have to worry about me carrying on with [Charleston Brewing],” she said.

Guthrie said the brewery will primarily send its beers to the four businesses they operate in Charleston and Huntington. Most of the beer served at Black Sheep will be Bad Shepherd-brewed, he added.

“We’re going to be serving most of our capacity to the businesses, and we’ll have about 15 to 20 percent left over to self-distribute,” he said. “We don’t want to make any major deals with distributors, we just want to keep it simple.”

Charleston Brewing Co. opened in April 2013. It was Charleston’s first brewpub, with its own restaurant operating where Black Sheep is now.

Black Sheep arrived in January 2014, taking the place of Charleston Brewing’s restaurant while the brewery continued to create and distribute beer. The restaurant and the brewery had a mutually beneficial relationship, with the brewery’s beer being featured on Black Sheep’s menu.

A combination of property taxes and distribution costs made it difficult for Charleston Brewing to stay afloat, according to Saville. But she said she is confident Guthrie’s company will have success at the location and that fans of Charleston Brewing’s beer shouldn’t be worried.

“There will be no discernible change for anybody, except I am not making the beer, nor am I selling the beer,” she said.

Charleston Brewing has six out of the nine beers currently available on tap at Black Sheep, according to Black Sheep general manager Kevin Madison. As the Charleston Brewing Co. supply runs out, Black Sheep will put other West Virginia-brewed beers on tap from brewers such as Greenbrier Valley, Big Timber and Bridge Brew, he said.

Guthrie said the next big step for Bad Shepherd is to hire a new head brewer because Charleston Brewing’s Ryan Heastings is leaving for Fat Head’s Brewery, in Ohio.

“We’re going to take it slow right now,” Guthrie said. “We want to make sure we get the right brewer who has the right vision.”

13 October, 2016