Customers asked, and Neighborhood Kombuchery answered—with a 6% alcohol hard kombucha as refreshing as the original.
If you enjoy the refreshing flavors put out by Neighborhood Kombuchery but sometimes wish you could get them with more kick, Friday, July 12, is your day: the official launch of Whim, the brewery’s new line of hard kombuchas.
“The name came because it’s pretty honest for how this whole business unfolded,” laughs Carissa Herman, co-founder and co-owner of Neighborhood Kombuchery with her life partner, Andrew Rhodes. “It just started with ideas, and we wanted something that reflected that—and we also like that it’s simple and playful and fun.”
As a reminder for those who don’t recall, tangy, fizzy kombucha is a fermented beverage that starts as sweet black, green, or herbal tea. It’s a low-sugar alternative to soda, a gluten-free alternative to beer, and a minimally alcoholic—under 0.5%—alternative to harder beverages that is believed to support digestive health.
Neighborhood Kombuchery, launched in Morgantown in 2019, uses locally grown and sourced ingredients in its kombuchas whenever possible, with a focus on beneficial herbs. At any given time, the fetching flavor combinations available can include Blueberry Lavender—the original and popular favorite—Strawberry Rose, Cucumber Lime Mint, and lots more. The brewery now distributes its kombucha at markets and festivals and on tap and in cans across Morgantown and West Virginia and into Maryland and Pennsylvania.
But almost from the beginning, customers have asked for hard kombucha, Herman says—a product requiring a longer and more complex process that includes a second fermentation. Neighborhood Kombuchery started experimenting a couple years ago. “It took quite a while to develop the product in the way that we thought was really solid, and we finally got there,” she says. “That’s a good credit to our brewing team, which is Andrew along with Cody Woodring and Elijah Romine. They are stars.”
The result is Whim: a hard kombucha that, at 6% alcohol by volume, goes head-to-head with craft beers. Its first flavor, called The Mystery Move, is a blueberry–hibiscus combination. “This is still a kombucha, but it’s very light,” Herman says. “It has a beautiful blueberry hue, and hibiscus has a citrus-like flavor, so it’s very refreshing.” This first release is named for the mystery move, an underwater kayaking or squirt boating maneuver that originated in West Virginia, she explains. And as an alternative brewery, Herman and Rhodes are playing off of the popular craft brewery practice of artist-designed can labels by basing their labels on the images of photographer and designer Joel Wolpert of Belington, West Virginia. The Mystery Move name was inspired by Wolpert, and the can art is an underwater shot he took at a spot in the Cheat River called Fascination Alley, near Rowlesburg.
Neighborhood Kombuchery did a soft launch of Whim last Friday, July 5, making The Mystery Move available in cans or on tap at 123 Pleasant Street, Black Bear Evansdale, Chestnut Beer Hall, Gene’s Beer Garden, River View Rooftop, Stone Tower Brews in Morgantown, and Terra Cafe.
And tomorrow, Friday, June 12, during the usual 3–7 p.m. taproom hours at the Neighborhood Kombuchery brewery at 119 Pleasant Street, is the official launch of Whim. Stop by to fill a growler with your favorite non-alcoholic kombucha and get your first cans of The Mystery Move to go.
As far as Neighborhood Kombuchery and Morgantown magazine are aware, Whim is the first and only hard kombucha in West Virginia. It’s in limited release for now as the brewery ramps up production. Soon to come: In The Weeds—a pineapple–mint combination—and Day Dreamer—blood orange and cardamom.
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