Starr Hill Beers are a Welcome Addition to WV’s Growing Stable of Craft-Brew
If you have been out and about lately, you may have noticed a new ”Star-Studded” tap handle behind the bar. Starr Hill is a small craft brewery from just outside of Charlottesville Virginia. The brewery opened as a brew pub in downtown Charlottesville in 1999 but in recent years has expanded into full-scale regional microbrewery selling into eight states; and now West Virginia. The great thing about Starr Hill is that was founded and is run by its award winning brewmaster Mark Thompson, so the place has been built slowly and deliberately on good beer. I have tasted two of the beers offered here in the Charleston area; Jomo Lager and Star-Hill Pale Ale and they are both pretty good.
Jomo Lager is my fave of the two, not because the Pale Ale is inferior but more to the fact that Jomo is a pretty good Vienna style Lager and we need more good full-flavored lagers out there! Though based on the Austrian classic, Jomo’s hop aroma and flavor never lets you forget that it’s an American Craft beer. Jomo will be appearing on tap and in bottles at the better beer venues around town. Lola’s in South Hills is supposed to be getting Jomo in bottles and I suggest one with your next Lola’s pizza.
Starr Hill Pale Ale is a well brewed, but fairly middle of the road Pale Ale, similar in many ways to Mountaineer Pale Ale. Admittedly it’s been a while since I have had a Mounty (I can’t find any!), but the two beers seems very similar in the hops arena. Mountaineer might come across as a little more “woody” versus “citrusy”. In a world full of Pale Ales, Starr Hill will have its work cut out for it once we start seeing some even bigger and better beers come into the state (fingers crossed…). Starr Hill Pale Ale will pair nicely with mildly spicy foods such as Caribbean or spicy Mexican, but is equally good with spicy barbeque ribs, though an India Pale Ale might edge it out.
I don’t think I can talk about Starr-Hill without mentioning their commitment to bringing great music to the masses via festival sponsorships. The company is involved in sponsoring or promoting many concerts throughout Virginia as well as being a major sponsor of West Virginia’s annual “All Good” music festival held in Masontown.
Here we have brewery that gives us great beer and music; like brewing itself, a collaboration of art and science. This should be no surprise coming from the land of Thomas Jefferson…
May 27th, 2009 at 10:37 am
Great timing Rich ! I saw this at Krogers last weekend and was going to do some research on it before I bought any. Now I don’t have to
As to not being able to find the Monty Pale, the girls at the better beer tent at Power Park told me the distributor is out, so retailers and bars are out….For what that’s worth ???
May 27th, 2009 at 10:52 am
I saw this in Kroger as well. I’ll be sure and give it a try. I’m pretty sure it was the Pale Ale only. Any idea which joints in town will have this on tap?
May 27th, 2009 at 9:47 pm
Bruno’s has Jomo on tap, but I am not drinking draft beer there until they fix the draft system. I think Sam’s has it as well and maybe Bridge Rd. Bistro.
May 28th, 2009 at 4:07 pm
I read somewhere that Billy’s out at Southridge has one of them on tap.
Up here in Morgantown we have Jomo and the Amber ale, but the damn distributor is too worried about rolling out Yuingling to get it on the shelves. By (my) special request, they did get some into Maris’s, but I am not aware of it being on tap anywhere yet.
May 28th, 2009 at 9:48 pm
I’ve said it before and will say it again: Jomo is what Yuengling Traditional wants to be when it grows up.
Yuengling = enh. Jomo = The Shit.
On tap at Sam’s, 101, Bruno’s; bottles at Capital Market, etc.
May 29th, 2009 at 10:54 am
As the brewmaster of Starr Hill, I wanted to say thanks for all of the love and helping with our mission of the gift of great beer.
Look for our two newest beers that should be coming to WV soon. Northern Lights is a true west coast IPA with 6% ABV and 92 IBU’s. The second is The Love, the 2008 silver medal winner in the South German Hefeweizen category at the GABF. Light in body with hints of banana and clove.
May 29th, 2009 at 2:16 pm
Thanks Mark! Keep em coming! (Both the beers and the comments!)
June 1st, 2009 at 7:22 am
Interesting that I actually ran into Mark Thompson at the Savor event in DC. Mark was very excited about our small market in West Virginia. I also had a chance to taste his Hefeweizen called “The Love”, which was a pretty easy drinking summer brew, though not as chewy as a Bavarian Hefe. “The Love” should be hitting WV pretty soon…
June 1st, 2009 at 9:36 pm
We’re still awaiting Starr Hill’s arrival
here in the Northern Panhandle area…
June 2nd, 2009 at 12:46 pm
Just got an email from Carenbauer Distributing in
Wheeling that Starr Hill is available right now
at the Rite Aid in Elm Grove, and will be available
throughout the Northern Panhandle, once they
get approval from the vendors.
June 11th, 2009 at 4:31 pm
monty’s holy grail had a duplicate upc problem.only store chains that could make their own codes were able to sell them for awhile.try smoker friendly in st.albans.if they do not have, they will try to get any reqested beer.north central distributes that beer and they are famous for their out of stocks
July 9th, 2009 at 10:17 am
The SH Amber Ale finally staggered into Wheeling
this week at Smoker Friendly. I asked the clerk if
they would handle the rest of the line, and he
said as soon as Carenbauer Distributing gets the
SH beers in, they’ll stock them. Also, the clerk
seemed really impressed with the SH lineup.