I recently attended the 1^st edition of “Fest of Ales” which took place at the Comedy Zone located within the Ramada Inn at South Charleston. I must admit that I had my doubts when I heard the idea of mixing a beer tasting with a stand-up comedy act. I wasn’t so sure it would fly, but boy was I wrong. There were at least 80-100 people there to eagerly partake in the beer, food and comedy, all for a reasonable $25 ticket.

The concept was cooked up by Melissa Stricker of the Ramada, and Jim “JJ” Waugh of Capitol Beverage. JJ is Capitol’s manager for craft and import beers. Both thought it would a great way of introducing “better beer” to a younger crowd. The original plan was to debut the sudsy offerings from Parkersburg’s North End Tavern (the NET), whose beers were supposed to be available for retail sale. A last-minute state regulatory snafu delayed the idea. When the NET beers finally are allowed to be sold at retail stores, Capitol will act as distributors for the Charleston area.

The “snafu” not only affected a change in the beer menu that evening, it also put me in the game as acting “beer-tasting emcee” when the NET’s brewer — along with his beer — was unable to show. It was last-minute notice for me. I was worried nobody would really care to listen to what I had to say, but I will always come to the aid of beer! The “real” emcee for the evening was FM 105’s Brian Thompson, who lightened things up a bit between my probably boring beer-snob moments at the microphone.

A short talk on beer and the tasting of five brews kicked off the evening. Then two uniquely different comedians had their crack at the audience. The headliner was W.Va. native son Kelly Terranova, who was pretty quick on his feet and took advantage of the hometown crowd. Beer was ever present with additional beer samples being served-up along with the punch lines.

The beer list consisted of 11 selections, ranging from German pilsner beer, all the way to Rogue’s Shakespeare stout. Many of the beers were served with a food paired to the beer by Ramada’s chef David Murphy. Among the best pairings were a creamy broccoli soup served in a bread-bowl served up with mildly hopped pale ale from J.W. Dundee and a “daring-pairing” of mint ice cream along with Shakespeare stout.

The event’s success spurred discussion by the organizers about a repeat event, possibly even quarterly…

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