By Suzanne Elliott, The Dominion Post
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The number of craft breweries in West Virginia has doubled in the last five years and more than a half dozen are in the planning stages, which means the state will be closing in on nearly three dozen beer makers.
Currently, there are 28 breweries in the state, up from 11 in 2014. For a state of 1.8 million people, that sounds like a lot, but it’s not, said Charles Bockway, the publisher of Brilliant Stream, a Charleston-based web site that covers craft beer and other beverages from a West Virginia perspective.
“West Virginia adults drink a lot of beer annually per capita — more than adults in any of our surrounding states,” Bockway said in an email. “But West Virginia breweries produce less beer per capita adult than any state in the nation. Those numbers show that West Virginia breweries have a huge upside just to get up to anywhere near the national average.” …
