The Carolinas remain high on the radar for Deschutes brewery in considering its planned new facility in the eastern U.S., as the company continues to consider possible sites. The company plans to make its pick by year’s end, and 100 to 200 new jobs are expected to be created.
Deschutes, a highly regarded Oregon brewery, does not sell much beer in the eastern half of the country, but that would change with the opening of an expansion brewery. The company has scouted South Carolina, but much of the buzz and speculation has centered on the busy beer city of Asheville, and on Roanoke and Charlottesville, Virginia, which also made the short list.
Deschutes hopes to begin producing beer at a new site in 2019.
Deshutes president Michael LaLonde is traveling to Asheville next week in what’s described as an informal visit to meet the city’s brewers and brewery owners and learn more about the scene there. There are no announced plans to visit South Carolina on this trip.
Cities with thriving beer cultures where breweries continue to open are attractive in luring new players, said Julia Herz of the Brewers Association craft beer trade group. “There is power in numbers and we are seeing that across the country,” she said. Nationally, there are 4,011 craft breweries across the country, she said,
Wherever it goes, the Deschutes brewery would bring an economic impact and become a tourist draw. The Sierra Nevada brewery near Asheville has been popular with visitors, who must register online for a guided tour, spokesman Bill Manley. The brewery has 369 employees, most of them working in the Sierra Nevada restaurant.
The tourism bump is being felt by many Western North Carolina breweries whose owners believe Deschutes would also draw visitors who would then patronize other area beer hot spots. “The more breweries you have, the stronger the case” for beer tourism, said Joe Rowland, president of the Asheville Brewers Alliance and owner of Nantahala Brewing in Bryson City, North Carolina.
His brewery depends greatly on tourism, and many visitors seek out regional breweries to visit. “We have 1,600 people in Bryson City, and I didn’t build here because of that population number,” he said.
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