Thousands pour into Heritage Port for Mountaineer Brewfest
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WHEELING - Crowds poured into Heritage Port on Saturday for the 12th annual Mountaineer Brewfest, where thousands of visitors from near and far came to get a taste of West Virginia’s best craft beers.
The event is not only a great time for everyone, it is also a huge fundraiser for a good cause.
Since its inception, Mountaineer Brewfest has raised more than $320,000 for area charities through the annual celebration, where fleets of volunteers from local organizations throw their efforts behind making everything flow smoothly during the festival.
"We have about 100 beers here from the West Virginia brewers," said Jeff Hayes, president and founder of Mountaineer Brewfest. "We have food trucks, we have live entertainment all day, we have another 50 beers in our beer garden, and today we’re raising money for the Wheeling YMCA."
Each year, the event’s leadership committee selects a new charitable organization to support through proceeds raised during the summer event.
"It’s a different charity every year," Hayes said. "We vote early in the year who that charity is going to be, and this year, it’s the Wheeling YMCA."
Craft brewers from throughout the Mountain State are invited to come participate in the event, and this year, a total of 20 West Virginia breweries were represented. Each of them offered samplings of the finest original brews, with a total of 99 different craft beers.
Saturday’s event kicked off with a parade through the festival grounds and opening ceremonies that included the tapping of the firkin - a small cask of beer that is cracked open to signal the official start of the celebration. This year’s Firkin Champion Daniel Young of Edward Jones took the honors of tapping the ceremonial firkin. Young submitted the winning bid during Friday night’s VIP and Pairing event at Wheeling Island Hotel-Casino-Racetrack, earning him a spot at the head of the parade and the honor to swing the wooden mallet to get the beer flowing and the celebration going.
"It signifies the opening of the festival," said Jeff Yourkovich, beer garden chairman. "We work hard putting everything together. We have 180 volunteers this year, we have 53 sponsors."
This year’s firkin featured a German-style bock, and organizers honored craft beer enthusiast Charles Bockway for his contributions to the festival by raising a glass to great West Virginia beers.
"We know how to throw a good party," Yourkovich said. "There’s great music, great fun, and most of all, along with all the fun we have, we’re going to donate all of the proceeds to charity - to the Wheeling YMCA. I’m a Y guy, and I’m happy they chose the YMCA as the charity this year. We hope to raise a nice chunk of money today."
Not only do proceeds from the festival go to the overall donation to the YMCA, tips collected in the beer garden by the Circus Saints & Sinners are donated as well. Those donations are also matched by three different generous supporters from the community, too.
"We have about 65 Circus Saints and Sinners volunteers at the beer garden," Yourkovich said. "All tips that we raise here in the beer garden go directly to the charity."
Wheeling Island Hotel-Racetrack-Casino was once again the title sponsor for the event, and organizations like the Wheeling Lightningbirds women’s hockey team and Wheeling Alers Homebrew Club, along with several other partnering entities, had fleets of volunteers working the festival, helping out at the craft beer booths and greeting Brewfest patrons.
There were plenty of newcomers and veteran Mountaineer Brewfest patrons in attendance during Saturday’s event, which was met with picture perfect August weather.
It was a first time visit for Dave and Denise Kennedy of the Pittsburgh area.
"We just like to try different craft brews, so what better way to do it than to try BrewFest?" said Dave Kennedy.
They were joined by festival veterans Andrew and Sara Romanyak of Burgettstown, Pa.
"It’s our third time," Andrew Romanyak said. "It’s great camaraderie, and there are some great beers. I love that it’s all West Virginia beers. I’m originally from West Virginia, so that’s definitely part of the draw. And the event supports charity every year, so that’s another reason we come back, as well."
New this year were some new craft beer vendors, live painting by local artist Mindi Yarbrough, live entertainment by The Trainjumpers, North to Nashville and Pulse, and stilt walkers entertaining the crowds. But each year, only a few tweaks are implemented, as the Mountaineer Brewfest crew has crafted the right formula to create an event that has become tried and true every year.
"I think people just come because it’s a very social event, and it’s a very fun event," Hayes said. "People meet and congregate here, they see old friends, and it’s just something to look forward to every year. We have people come in from New York, from Michigan and the Carolinas, from all over this state, as well, along with Pennsylvania and Ohio.
"People come together here. They just love a good festival, and we try to put on a really good one."