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OI’s Craft Beer Series Continues Feb. 26

Wheeling, W.Va. (February 16, 2016)- – Oglebay Institute continues its Art and Ale craft beer series at 6:30 p.m. Friday, February 26 at its Stifel Fine Arts Center in Wheeling. The event features a selection of beers from Colorado-based New Belgium Brewery – available for the first time in West Virginia. The Stifel Fine Arts Center is among the first Wheeling venues to feature New Belgium’s award-winning craft beers.

Fort Collins, Colorado has been home for New Belgium since its beginning in 1991. The company is in the process of opening a second home in Asheville, N.C.  The fourth largest craft brewery in the United States, New Belgium is a 100 % employee-owned brewery and is one of the Wall Street Journal’s Best Small Businesses.

“We’ve spent a lot of time in West Virginia this past year, and there is definitely a strong, emerging craft scene there,” New Belgium divisional sales director Rich Rush said in a press release. “We’re excited to get to work and to begin a great and long-lasting relationship with the beer drinkers, retailers and our distributor partners in West Virginia.”

OI’s Art and Ale event will feature five New Belgium selections paired with a buffet of foods prepared by Ye Olde Alpha. Beer selections include:

• Fat Tire Amber Ale (toasty, biscuit-like malt flavors coasting in equilibrium with hoppy freshness)
• Citradelic Tangerine IPA (a blend of citrus, tropical fruit and pine hop with light herbal and caramel notes)
• Ranger IPA (an abundance of hop flavor from start to finish),
• Slow Ride Session IPA (a blend of eight hop varieties twisted with tropical scents of melon, peach, lime and grapefruit)
• Hoppy Blonde Ale (malty-sweet with a light bitter finish)

The Fat Tire Amber Ale will feature a limited-edition label commemorating New Belgium’s entrance into the West Virginia beer market.

Guests at the February 26 event will also have an opportunity to browse the art gallery and explore the historic Stifel Fine Arts Center, which was known as Edemar Mansion and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Tickets are $30. Members of Oglebay Institute receive a discount. Advance reservations are required and can be made by calling 304-242-7700 or at www.oionline.com.

Bluegrass Music Series Returns to Stifel Center

WHEELING, W.Va. (January 21, 2016)- – After a five-year hiatus, Mountain Moon Coffeehouse returns to Wheeling, bringing some of the best bluegrass and Americana music the region has to offer. The venue will once again be Oglebay Institute’s Stifel Fine Arts Center, located at 1330 National Road, Wheeling. The first show takes place Saturday, February 6 and will feature local bluegrass stalwarts, Cabin Fever String Band with Slaid Boone opening in support.

Cabin Fever String Band is not new to Mountain Moon Coffeehouse; in fact, this show marks the band’s 26th performance at this series. Formed in 1986, Cabin Fever has taken its distinctive blend of old-time country, gospel and bluegrass music to audiences throughout the tri-state region and has performed in a variety of settings including square dances, festivals, fairs, coffeehouses, churches and concerts.

Age old ballads, fiddle tunes from their native state of West Virginia and the southern Appalachian region, sentimental songs from the days of early recorded country music, spiritual songs, traditional bluegrass favorites, and even the occasional blues, jug band, or Celtic tune all are represented in an interesting repertoire that includes both commonly known and obscure material.

The band’s electric mix of styles, all played and sung with an undeniable respect for the traditions from which the music came, has become a hallmark of the group. In a review of the band’s first recording in Bluegrass Unlimited, David J. McCarty praised the band for “…presenting the music in its original unvarnished state.”

Band members include Scott Black on fiddle, vocals and dance; Richard Pollack on claw hammer banjo, fiddle, bass, and vocals; Matt Hines on acoustic string bass and banjo; Jim Simpson on mandolin and vocals and Bob Heyer on guitar and vocals.

Cabin Fever String Band
Cabin Fever String Band members include Scott Black on fiddle, vocals and dance; Richard Pollack on claw hammer banjo, fiddle, bass, and vocals; Matt Hines on acoustic string bass and banjo; Jim Simpson on mandolin and vocals and Bob Heyer on guitar and vocals.

Opening for Cabin Fever String Band will be Americana/Australiana artist Slaid Boone, a former member of Clan Boone, Mason Jar and Dogbreath. Slaid currently plays mandolin with Big Wheeling Crick Grass.

Doors open at 7:00pm with music beginning at 7:30. Admission is $15/$12.50 (OI Members) and includes non-alcoholic beverages and light snacks. Tickets are available by calling (304) 242-6855 or visiting www.oionline.com

Other upcoming Mountain Moon performances include: The Jakob’s Ferry Stragglers on March 5, Herb & Hanson April 2 and Marsh Wheeling String Band May 7.