Deschutes Brewery has revealed their east coast brewery will be built in Roanoke, Virginia today. The final selection process was between Asheville, North Carolina, a few locations in South Carolina, and Roanoke, Virginia. Below are some details from the public announcement today.
Deschutes will invest $85 million dollars, creating 105 new jobs for the city. The addition of Deschutes will be the state’s 148th small/craft brewery.
The Governor presented a check to the city of Roanoke for $3 million dollars – an economic stimulus for the build during the announcement.
Deschutes founder, Gary Fish addressing the Roanoke crowd:
- The brewery was founded 28 years ago, to be a gathering place for good people, and good beer
- We never anticipated the growth of craft beer, but grew along with it
- Focus on the people. People are most important to the brewery. We can make beer anywhere. We wanted a home.
- After careful selection, and a desire to expand east, we chose Roanoke.
The Governor of Virginia has taken an active role in enticing the craft brewing industry to build in Virginia.
Access to water played a heavy role as well in the site decision. The state officials believe the brewery will bring $208 million dollars in positive impact to the region (without even considering the increased tourism).
The new location will be called “Brew 4” as it is the fourth brewhouse, after Oregon public house (Brew 1), the production facility in Bend (Brew 2) and the Portland, Oregon public house (Brew 3).
The new brewery will produce approximately 150,000 barrels to start, and will increase as demand requires. The first beer will ship out of Roanoke, Virginia five years from now in 2020 or 2021.
Currently, Deschutes ships to 28 states and Washington D.C. The east coast build will focus on states east of the Mississippi.
This is a developing story… check back for more information was Beer Street Journal receives it.