Deschutes delays Eastern expansion

Expansion? Why anyone would gamble on expanding right now with the way the trends are going is beyond me.

 

I would agree. Shore up what you have first. Not sure how stable Deschutes is, but you'd have to be pretty confident to think about opening another full scale brewery right now.

 

“Now, city and Deschutes officials say market conditions have caused the brewery to pause and re-evaluate the timing and scale of its expansion.”

Yup, market conditions are very competitive for larger, distributing craft breweries right now.

If Deschutes is still confident that they could sell the beer they brewed at an East Coast location, there is a brand new brewery available for sale (via auction) in Virginia Beach, VA.

Cheers!

 

I think the expansion was previously planned and some agreement made with Roanoke, so that is why there is this press release saying they are scaling back from original plans. I'm unsure(legally) what was in the original agreement.

 

I totally understand their move, and it's probably a good one given their line-up, but at the same time I've always found Deschutes beers to be quite solid. I'd think they'd have a chance... at least if they start brewing NEIPA

I'm kidding but... this is one of the reasons that I'm predicting a fall out of - or at least big fight between - the bigger regional and national breweries. Smaller, non-production or limited-production breweries can adapt and change quickly, but packaging and large distribution is a different beast and they can't keep up with the wishy-washy desires of our up and coming beer consumers.

 

For real, with the way the big regional guys are having to start pulling back and tightening up, delaying expansion at a secondary location seems like the smart play.

 

16oz stickered can with a hiphop reference name, Flaked oats, Citra, Galaxy, lowflocc English yeast. Basically like printing money.

 

The last thing I want to see is Deschutes, one of my favourite breweries, fail at anything that they attempt. Pausing could be just the right thing, as many of you above have already stated.

 

Wow. Speaking of Deschutes, add them to another long list of breweries that I seem to neglect. I love their obsidian stout as a no frills sub 8% stout but haven't bought it in years. Fresh squeezed is solid and PNW pale ale is always nice. I only tend to buy their seasonals since I know they're fresh.

But much like Odell, these regional breweries are getting neglected big time. Many local options come come or surpass both of those guys so dollars tend to trickle elsewhere.

Im calling it. They're hurting and this brewery expansion won't happen. Keeping the brew pub open is nice. Are they producing one offs and more seasonals there? A smaller 15bbl regional operation seems more feasible for alot of these breweries, instead of trying to dominate the world. They need to dominate markets first.

 

I also like the idea of buying the Green Flash brewery at a discount, provided Deschutes has confidence in being able to sell their beers on the East Coast with enough volume to support the investment. Personally, I'd buy fresh Mirror Pond in 16oz cans regularly here in PA, and to a lesser extent, Fresh Squezzed. I'm a fan of Fresh Squeezed for sure, but most of my beer purchases are for beers around 5% ABV or less.

 

Do you buy a lot of Deschutes beer? As a fellow Pennsylvanian I will report that I personally do not buy their beers anymore since their prices are way too high at my local beer retailers (suburbs of Philly). Regardless of freshness these beers are a "no" from a price perspective.

Cheers!

 

If expansion would allow them to add more Abyss variants, increase Abyss production, and start bottling Abyss in 12oz doses, then I'm all for it. Though, yeah, staying in business is advisable too.

 

Yes I do. I have spent a lot of time working in Portland, OR. I remember landing at PDX around midnight about 8 years ago. As I drove to the hotel, I stopped at a bar for pizza and beer. I ordered a local beer that I had never had before, and it was Mirror Pond. My first taste caused me to say wow. I've liked it ever since. Subsequently, I went to the pub downtown a number of times. And two years ago made a point of going to Bend Oregon to visit the brewery there on my way to Crater Lake. Just a fanboy I guess.

 

Fresh squeezed is one of my fiancées favorites, but I've never seen a six pack of it that wasn't old. So it's usually a tap only purchase. They should be working on this issue with their current distribution footprint first (assuming it's not just my area with this issue)

 

I am sure they will be eating some $$$, but not as much if they went forward with their initial plan.

 

When you say many locals surpass Odell and Deschutes, do you mean in terms of quality or popularity? If it's the latter, I get it. If the former...not so sure.

I'm beginning to pull back in terms of my "ticking". I'm tired of trying new beers, most of which are local or semi-local, and enjoying +/- 50% of them. Deschutes makes great beer, every bit as good as it needs to be. Fresh-Squeezed will take residence in my fridge throughout the summer, along with Black Butte and Pacific Wonderland.

I'm going to tighten up my buying patterns and resist the urge to try every new beer I see. Here's the thing...there are many new beers that I really do like, but I don't like them any more than old standbys from breweries that I appreciate and respect that might be struggling in the current environment. I'm going to throw most (not all) of my bones their way for a while. I'm pretty sure my enjoyment of the product will not suffer at all. If anything, forgoing a bit of the FOMO attitude will probably enhance my enjoyment.

 

Don't do it Deschutes. Its not a good time for expansion.


Their Obsidian Stout and Black Butte Porter are some of my favorite shelfies.

 

A little of both.

I shouldn't say many as I'm really only speaking of two. La Cumbre and Marble both have core offerings that match or exceed mostly everything out there. They could compete in every market with what they have. That's also the feeling that Deschutes had when they wanted to expand. Everyone things they are better and unique than the others.

Maybe others have simply caught up. I love the many choices but as I slow down on my consumption, I tend to go with the local offering 8 times out of 10 when I think of what I'm buying for the week-month.

Then I look at other regional beasts who have come to NM recently. Founders two years back. Firestone walker a few years back. Bells just recently.

Then you have your fake craft like golden road, 10 barrel, and karbach who have come on strong in my state. For the average consumer , it almost leaves a regional brewery who's been here awhile back 9-10 spots on priority. It may be good to be lumped in with stone, lagunitas, SN, NB, DFH, And the few I mentioned above. But anymore, there is no sheer lack of a quality product. Deschutes isn't bringing anything anymore unique than the next player.

What's their distro footprint now? They've been in NM so long, I take them for granted and their accessibility for granted from others.

I'll be sure to check out the selection this Friday and post some impressions here. I need to make it an effort to support these guys again.

I can see them jumping into new states and selling well for awhile. But the fall off is even more severe than ever before. Is that one year increase worth a huge investment? That's what everyone is trying to figure out.

 

Correct. The original announcement was made in 2016 and even then they (Deschutes) was clear they would not have originally broke ground until 2019 and opening around 2021. IIRC there were $$ incentives from the city that would be kicking in within the next couple months so the timing of this announcement is due much to that approaching.