Deschutes delays, may scale back Va. brewery plans

Bend’s Deschutes Brewery is delaying and likely scaling back its planned East Coast brewery in Roanoke, Virginia.

The Roanoke Times reported Monday that the craft beer brewer still plans to buy the land where it intends to build, as a show of good faith that they are still headed to Roanoke, eventually

After courting several communities, Deschutes announced in 2016 that it would built its East Coast expansion in Roanoke, a $95 million project expected to employ more than 100 people in its first phase. The plans called for breaking ground in June of 2019.

But now, Roanoke and Deschutes officials say softer market conditions have prompted a pause to re-evaluate the timing and scale of the expansion. The decision came only about three weeks before the brewery was scheduled to close on the 49-acre land purchase.

The craft beer industry is still growing, though last year saw only a modest 5 percent rise in production, compared to recent years of at times double-digit growth, the newspaper said. As a result, some larger West Coast brewers who expanded east have scaled bck or even closed operations.

The deal to bring Deschutes, the nation’s 10th-largest craft brewer, to Roanoke involved millions of dollars in incentives, based on performance deadlines. City officials said no incentives have been paid to date.

Without the incentives, the brewery will pay $3.2 million next month to buy the land, “do demonstrate our commitment to the project and to the city of Roanoke” and “to ensure we can build and sustain a viable, healthy business long term in our new East Coast home,” the company said in a statement.