What a weekend it was traveling from Charleston to Fayetteville to Weston and back again to enjoy a bounty of the Mountain State’s culinary delights!
The fine folks at Stonewall Resort near Weston invited me up Saturday to enjoy a four-course dinner featuring Executive Chef Corey Pickens’ plates paired with West Virginia craft beers made by Screech Owl Brewing in the mountains of Preston County in Bruceton Mills.
While soaking up sweeping views of the surrounding lake and mountains from high atop Lightburn’s Restaurant at the golf clubhouse, we enjoyed a vibrant Strawberry, Bacon & Bleu Salad paired with a crisp and slightly tart Wild and Wonderful Strawberry Ale that nicely cut through the salad’s creamy, salty notes.
That was followed by a Wild & Wonderful Burger blended with bison, wagyu, elk and wild boar topped with sweet onion bacon marmalade, four-year-aged cheddar and fried onions, which came with a sample of Screech Owl’s beautiful Bold Blonde Ale. (More on that beer in a minute!)
Next up was a tender Peppercorn-Crusted Beef Tenderloin with fried shitake mushrooms, sweet pea puree and smoky charred corn elote accompanied by the Class IV Zinger Hazy IPA, then a luscious, rich Chocolate Peanut Butter Layer Cake chased by Black Diamond Peanut Butter Milk Stout.
Every course was delicious – as I’ve come to expect at Stonewall – but Screech Owl was a new discovery to me. This was my first time trying their craft beers and I was excited to learn they are brewed in the German tradition (using precise Old World processes with no shortcuts) by a family of really warm, authentic people.
Throughout the evening, Master Brewer Roger Johnson regaled those in attendance with his humor and storytelling, sharing how Screech Owl started back in 2015 when he retired after 21 years as a truck driver to find a career that would let him spend more time with his family at home on their farm.
So he turned a passion for home-brewing into a thriving family business, converting their garage into a brewery and then eventually adding a separate brewhouse (and now, 19 employees) to meet increasing demand.
As each paired course was presented, Johnson also shared his knowledge of the beer-making process, explaining how most mass-produced beers are brewed – and how Screech Owl does things a little differently, taking extra time and care to make what they believe are better beers.
I’d have to agree.
The revelation of the night for me was that aforementioned Bold Blonde Ale, an easy-drinking beer that manages to walk a fine line between being light and crisp enough to be refreshing, yet rich and full-bodied enough to offer a punch of flavor. And at a not-too-shabby 6.1% ABV, it definitely gives you the satisfying heft of a well-made craft beer.
“Number #1 in sales and customer loyalty,” the brewery says, “our Bold Blonde Ale is good for any occasion, or no occasion at all!”
In addition to their beers, Screech Owl also runs an on-site “homestyle cooking” restaurant called the Spent Grain Café, so named because they reuse their spent grains from the beer-making process to make all of their breads, doughs and buns from scratch.
How cool is that?
IF YOU GO: Screech Owl Brewing, 2323 Ralph Livengood Rd. in Bruceton Mills, is open from 3 to 8 p.m. Friday and noon to 8 p.m. Saturday. (Kitchen closes at 7 p.m. both nights.) For more information, call 340-379-4777, visit www.screechowlbrewing.com or check out their Facebook page.
Gorging on good eats at Taste of Bridge Day
The night before that feast at Stonewall Resort in Central West Virginia, I was excited to be asked to return as a judge for Friday night's Taste of Bridge Day, a popular food fest at Adventures on the Gorge in Southern West Virginia.
That tasty shindig features hundreds and hundreds of guests enjoying food from nearly a dozen Fayetteville-areas restaurants, food trucks, bakeries and more on the eve of West Virginia’s largest single-day festival, Bridge Day, which took place on Saturday.
Me and nine fellow foodies from across the state gathered around a table, where we sampled, savored and scored dozens of entries in four different categories: snacks, appetizers, entrees and desserts.
Some of the highlights for me were the smoked brisket pretzel bites stuffed with poblano peppers with beer cheese queso, and the peanut butter and chocolate swirl cheesecake bites from Chetty’s Pub. There was a really good blackberry cobbler with lemon ice cream and candied herbs, plus whipped goat cheese and honey with cranberry walnut toast from Smokey’s.
I also enjoyed the pepper jack pepperoni rolls from Black Bear Bakery and appreciated the creativity The Gaines Estate showed in their fried green tomato topped with marinated crab and smoky remoulade.
But my favorite bite of the night came from last-minute entrant Deez Eatz, who fried up a plump eggroll stuffed with Jamaican-flavored beef and served with a sweet potato-pineapple chutney mash on the side. Delish!
• • •
Steven Keith is a food writer and restaurant critic known as “The Food Guy” who writes a weekly column for the Charleston Gazette-Mail and has appeared in several state, regional and national culinary publications. Follow him online at www.wvfoodguy.com or on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest. He can be reached at 304-380-6096 or at wvfoodguy@aol.com.
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