Craft beer drinkers aren’t downgrading their tastes in a down economy. Two Eugene breweries have recently expanded and Oregon’s biggest brewery is doing just fine, even though it decided not to expand.

Bend’s Deschutes Brewery is the top selling Oregon beer in the state and 12^th nationally in beer sales. Company president Gary Fish says plans to expand have been postponed. Fish describes sales as having “softened”.

Fish: “With the economy being what it is, we have been able to eke out additional capacity from our current equipment which really has enabled us to postpone the expansion plans that we had.”

Fish says the company is committed to keeping production in Bend. His future plans involve selling Black Butte Porter and Mirror Pond on the east coast.

Fish: “If we were going to be moving or making beer anywhere other than Bend Oregon it would probably be somewhere east of the Mississippi just because it’s hard to justify the expense and the carbon footprint of producing beer in Bend and trucking it all the way to the East Coast.”

Deschutes has a popular pub in Bend and recently opened a pub in Portland.  In Eugene two new small breweries are finding success. Ninkasi is in the middle of a growth spurt. Oakshire Brewery is also growing. Brothers Jeff and Chris Althouse started their company in 2006. This spring, they expanded their building in north Eugene—doubling its size to 4 thousand square feet. Chris Althouse says he believes craft beer is recession resistant.

Althouse: “Oregon beer drinkers are the type who, even when times are tough, they’ll figure out a way to get that pint or get a six-pack or get rid of their cable or start riding their bike more.”

Oakshire is available on tap in brewpubs in Eugene, Corvallis and Portland.  Next week, they’ll start bottling their Overcast Espresso Stout and Watershed IPA. Althouse says he doesn’t think craft beer drinkers are switching to cheaper canned domestic beer.

Althouse: “We’re actually seeing, and I’ve read in trade publications of actually high end wines and high end spirits, people actually trading down to the high end of craft beer. High end craft beer is actually doing really well because people are discovering the complexities that come with craft beer when you spend say 10 dollars on a 22 oz. bottle versus spending 40 or 50 on wine.”

Althouse says, even with Oakshire’s success, they’re staying small. They brewed 11 hundred barrels of beer last year and expect this year to brew up to 22 hundred. Compare that with the 180 thousand barrels brewed by Deschutes in 2008.  Althouse says Oakshire’s distribution will stay in Oregon for now. He says there’s plenty of room to grow here and plenty of healthy competition.

http://oakbrew.com

www.deschutesbrewery.com

www.ninkasibrewing.com