6.2 🍺 above average
Hop Centric
2015 was a great year to open a brewery. Craft beer had just experienced two years of its most explosive growth (18% in both 2013 and 2014). Taproom sales seemed a can’t-miss business model: “Just build it and they will come” had never seemed truer. And hazy, juicy IPAs were finally busting out of New England, and popping up in Philly, New York, and . . . Davis, West Virginia?
Mountain State native Jonathan Robeson had just returned from Vermont, where he had trained with John Lawson, founder of Lawson’s Finest Liquids. Renowned for its sublimely balanced double IPA Sip of Sunshine, Lawson’s is the nation’s only brewery to hold down three spots (#5, #7, #9) in BeerAdvocate’s Top Ten Imperial IPAs. So when Robeson was designing his signature beer for the new brewery he was opening in 2015, Sip was the obvious inspiration. With his single-hop Holy Citra! (8.2% ABV), Robeson drew from the lessons he had learned in Vermont to harness the full potential of craft brewers’ favorite hop varietal.
West Virginians—and most beer-lovers in the mid-Atlantic—had never tasted anything like it. Holy Citra! delivers smooth, creamy waves of super-saturated hop flavor, pushed to the limit, stopping just short of the resiny burn that so many big hazies are unable to restrain. In fact, Holy Citra!—more translucent than hazy—is more of a hybrid of West Coast and New England influences, offering a vibrant blend of tropical and citrus flavors with just a touch of bitterness at the end.
Up to this point, West Virginia breweries had all followed the same playbook. Brew modest-strength, not-too-extreme beers to woo the local Bud Light drinkers and offer a wide variety of styles to keep the tourists happy. Robeson would have none of that.
When Robeson and his wife Cindy opened Stumptown Ales on August 13, 2015, their “Hop Centric” branding was uncompromising: “IPAs rule our taps . . . For us, life starts at the hop.”
“More than any other brewery, [Stumptown] helped put WV on the map for America’s most popular beer style,” declared Brilliant Stream, which named Stumptown Ales West Virginia’s best new brewery in 2015.
Stumptown’s gamble to go all-in on IPAs couldn’t have been better-timed. By 2016, NEIPAs were popping up in nearly every metro area along the East Coast. Stumptown was ahead of the curve but still couldn’t keep up with demand. It only took six months for Robeson to graduate from his initial ½-barrel brewhouse to a 2½-barrel rig. Within 18 months, he was brewing on a 10-barrel system and still struggling to brew enough beer to supply select accounts in Morgantown, Charleston, and Huntington, where demand was through the roof.
“No brewery I can remember in West Virginia has created the consistent buzz that Stumptown has,” observed Charles Bockway on Brilliant Stream in 2016. The following year, West Virginia’s leading source for craft beer news named Stumptown Brewery of the Year. Stumptown is also the highest rated brewery in the state on Untappd.
In a state where tourism contributes $9 billion annually to the economy and provides 7% of its jobs, Davis (pop. 595) is one of West Virginia’s star attractions. At 3,520 feet above sea level, it’s the highest city in the state and gateway to Blackwater Falls State Park and the Canaan Valley, the highest mountain valley east of the Mississippi. With so many thirsty hikers, bikers, hunters, rafters, and skiers roaming town, Davis, along with its sister city of Thomas (pop. 584), is able to support three breweries: Stumptown, Mountain State, and Big Timber’s “Logging Camp” taphouse. That works out to one brewery for every 393 people, or nearly five times the concentration in such craft brewing hot spots as Ashville, NC, or Portland, ME.
Stumptown Ales takes its name from the profusion of tree stumps left behind in Davis after heavy commercial logging in the late 19th and early 20th century. Today, the trees have grown back, but the Blackwater River, which flows along the edge of town, is still dark amber due to the tannins from decayed needles of hemlock and red spruce.
Unlike most warehouse taphouses located in industrial parks, Stumptown occupies a cozy early 20th-century storefront in the center of town. The interior is all rustic wood planking on the floor and walls with an ornately patterned tin ceiling. The space is fairly small, dominated by a 21-foot solid red oak log that serves as its bar.
Cross sections of tree trunks, handsomely stained and varnished, surround the taps and also form small tables throughout the room. Logging artifacts decorate a small alcove, which features a wide-screen TV and gas fireplace. Rocking chairs add a homey touch.
The room was mostly filled on a Tuesday afternoon in late June. Tourists and locals conversed enthusiastically. The vibe was relaxed and welcoming. I scanned the tap list, which included a dozen beers and one seltzer. As expected, five of the twelve were IPAs: three of imperial strength plus one triple, with the lightest hoppy beer a 6.5% hazy. The non-IPA alternatives were even stronger: an imperial stout, a barleywine, a Belgian-style tripel, and a quad. Only two beers were weaker than 6%: a hefeweizen and an altbier. The average ABV was a whopping 8.1%!
With so many strong beers on offer, it’s unfortunate that Stumptown does not offer flights or 4-5 ounce single pours. Or perhaps it’s a blessing: Service was brisk, and I rarely had to wait long for my next round. Some taphouses that don’t pour flights will serve halves. Stumptown’s solution is one I’ve not encountered before: 10-oz or 14-oz pours (8 ounces for the barleywine and quad).
While many breweries will occasionally brew a single-hop beer, Stumptown pours THREE on a regular basis. Galaxy Frog (6.5%), the lowest-strength hoppy beer on the menu, offered a worthy representation of Australia’s most popular hop, with an impressive concentration of tropical flavors for its weight and Galaxy’s distinctive passionfruit signature.
I knew I could not resist doing a side-by-side with the Holy Citra! (8.2%) and the all-Mosaic Sassy Mojo (8%). However, consuming 20 ounces of 8% beer would limit my options for the rest of the night, so I ordered a 10-ounce pour of the flagship all-Citra beer accompanied with a 2-oz sample of the Mojo. Holy Citra! lived up to its reputation as a juice bomb, exploding with tropical and citrus flavors. Equally flavorful was Sassy Mojo, but its earthy and berryish accents made a more distinctive and memorable impression—even at two ounces.
The third DIPA, Multiple Hopgasms (8%), is brewed with a variety of hops and is Stumptown’s highest-rated regular beer. To do the beer justice, I bought a four-pack of cans to drink later. With a fresh palate, I found the beer a complex and immensely satisfying blend of tropical and citrus flavors.
Which brings me to Stumptown’s triple IPA, Big Boy Pants (11%). Few brewers will push the IPA envelope beyond 10%, for the good reason that the alcohol will overwhelm the hop flavors. Not so, here. Big Boy Pants almost glides across the palate with all its juiciness—especially ripe pineapple—intact. I drank all 10 ounces to see if the alcohol would eventually rise up in a slow burn, but it never did. I expected to appreciate this beer but not necessarily enjoy it. The fact that I enjoyed it made me appreciate it even more.
After an evening of drinking strong beer, I saved the strongest for last. Barrel of Monkeys (11.2%) is an abbey quad, dark and roasty with the clove-like esters that characterize Belgian-style beers. Unlike the similar strength Big Boy Pants, the alcohol was not as well hidden here— but it rarely is at this strength.
Despite my disappointment at not serving flights, I had to admire Stumptown’s unapologetic approach to brewing, reminiscent of Stone Brewing’s “You’re Not Worthy” sloganeering of yesteryear. Like Stone, Stumptown has carved out a niche for making strong, flavorful beers. That’s what they do. If you prefer less challenging, more poundable stuff, head down the street to Big Timber’s Logging Camp. In fact, Stumptown’s default option is pretty creative: a 4.5% seltzer called White Noise. Customers can flavor the fizz from a collection of fruit syrups at a self-serve station at the end of the bar. Why waste a tap that could be better served pouring a barleywine or imperial stout?
Stumptown takes a similarly unorthodox approach to food service. At a time when most taphouses are upgrading their kitchens for added revenue and to encourage longer customer stays, Stumptown still relies on food trucks on weekends and an improvised culinary selection during the week. Working from a limited kitchen, Chef Zach will whip up a batch of something tasty—first come, first serve, while it lasts. It’s usually hot dogs or some kind of sausage on Monday, tacos on Tuesday, and pizza from Sirianni’s on Wednesday. It all depends on what Zach has on hand and what he’s in the mood to cook.
In late June 2023, Stumptown opened a taproom in Fairmont, near Morgantown. The new facility occupies a former bar on once-bustling Merchant Street and is helping to revitalize the city’s End Side neighborhood on the other side of the Monongahela River. Although beer continues to be brewed in Davis, the new facility’s extensive storage capacity has allowed Stumptown to increase production and expand distribution throughout the state.
Stumptown Ales
390 William Ave.
Davis, WV 26260
OPEN
Monday — Thursday: 5 – 9 pm
Friday: 3 – 9 pm
Saturday: 1 – 10 pm
Sunday: 1 – 7 pm
NUMBER OF TAPS
13
AVERAGE ABV
8.1%
OTHER DRINKS
4 wine varietals
FOOD
Hot dogs, tacos, pizza, nachos, hummus, chips during week
Food trucks on weekends
PARKING
Limited parking on street