Rambling Root, Short Story Brewing offer high-quality, locally made beers

Now, they’re set up to make several types of beer at once, with eight brews always on draft at any given time.

“We’re a brewery first,” Kopischke said. “We’re focused n delivering lots of varieties of high-quality craft beer. We didn’t even have a commercial kitchen for the first year. We have eight tap lines and try to have them full, because we want people to come and try our beer. …

“We also try to be specific to style. If we’re making an IPA, we’re making an IPA. If we’re making a Kolsch, it’s going to be a Kolsch. We want it to be high-quality within that style, but we want to also have a lot of variety so there’s something for everybody. We try to always have a lager, a stout and a sour, as well as some IPAs. It’s as fresh as it can possibly get.”

Because of this focus, Short Story’s taproom exclusively sells beer made on-site. Kopischke said that since opening, Short Story has brewed “well over” 60 different kinds of beer.

While they always intend to have three or four popular beers that they’ve made before on tap, she added that part of the excitement of running a brewery is the ability to tweak recipes and come up with something wholly unique and delicious, even if it’s just for one batch.

“There’s always something new on tap,” Kopischke said.

Kopischke encouraged those who have never tried Short Story’s beer before to do so, either by visiting the taproom to get it fresh or at another pub at which their brews are served.

‘We want people to know that if they have a Short Story beer, they’re going to get a high-quality beer,” Kopischke said. “Our goal is that, if you come across a Short Story beer, we want you to say ‘I’ll try that, because I know that’s going to be a good beer, even if I haven’t had that style before’. …

“We also want to really encourage the community to try more of a variety of craft beer. … They’re not all heavy IPAs. There have been plenty of people who have come in and said ‘I don’t like craft beer.’ … Four working titles later, they walk out saying ‘I really do like craft beer.’”

Meanwhile, in the heart of Fairmont, The Rambling Root has its own operations going. While the gastropub has a full, ever-rotating food menu and a collection of nearly 30 beers from a wide variety of breweries, owner DJ Cassell and his employees have been offering patrons their own in-house craft brews for the past few years.

Cassell himself has been brewing beer since 2008, and he said it was always his goal to start brewing larger batches to sell commercially, which became a reality in 2018.

“It’s every brewer’s dream to start their own brewery,” Cassell said. “When we first started talking about this, there wasn’t a brewery in Fairmont. The closest ones were Morgantown or Charleston. I’ve always had a passion for food, as well, so I thought ‘Why not?’.”

Since 2018, Cassell said that The Rambling Root has produced more than 100 unique beers, and with a number of other breweries’ beers always on tap, Cassell said that it’s been fun experimenting a bit with the in-house brews.

“It’s my favorite part, being able to try different recipes,” Cassell said. “We try to do a lot of local stuff, so I’ll use a lot of weird ingredients sometimes just to figure out how to use them. … Some people like it. Not everybody, but that’s okay. It’s all part of the experimentation. … You can have the exact same ingredients but change one thing. Change the yeast or hops. Sometimes, that’s all I did, and it was a completely different beer. It’s really cool to figure that out. There are infinite possibilities with beer.”

Cassell said that those looking to broaden their horizons beyond the main popular beers to stop by The Rambling Root to find their new favorite brew.

“We know how to suggest a beer you like,” Cassell said. “We’ll find something you like. With 29 drafts, we probably have something you like. Even if you’re a Bud Light drinker, we always keep something light on. … I educate the staff a lot of how everything tastes and how to describe things. We can find something. Try something new and weird, then you can go back to the American Pilsner we have on draft.”

The Rambling Root is located at 101 Fairmont Ave. in Fairmont and can be reached at 304-534-8475. Short Story Brewing is located at 5904 Fairmont Rd. in Rivesville and can be reached at 304-933-2165.