What’s in the water in North Carolina?
Oskar Blues Brewing Co in Lyons, CO, most notably famous for their Dale’s Pale Ale, will be the third regional craft brewer to put a foothold in North Carolina in the last 2 months.
According to an official press release Oskar Blues, named “The hottest place to be on a Saturday night in Colorado” by Rolling Stone Magazine, has announced plans for a restaurant/music venue and brewery location just off the bike path to Bracken Mountain in the small downtown of Brevard, N.C. (about 30 miles south of Asheville). The brewery plans to have the live music venue and brewery up and running by December 2012.
“I’ve left a bike in Brevard for years as we’ve been coming here to ride mountain bikes and check out our buddies Mountain Song Music Festival. This place rings true with the same eclectic mountain charm that inspired Oskar Blues to put Dale’s Pale Ale in a can back in the day in Lyons, CO.” says founder Dale Katechis. “Brevard and Lyons share a small town main street tone mingled with live music and an energy emerging from the surrounding hills.”
Oskar Blues, which has become one of the fastest growing craft brewers in the country, sees 35% of their current sales going east of the Mississippi so building a brewery in NC would allow for the distribution of fresher product as well as cutting costs and environmental emissions associated with cross-country distribution.
“With that much beer traveling east of the Mississippi it allows us to invest in another small town that shares our passions and recoup the investment as we contribute to the community and streamline our shipping costs amongst other things.”
Space for a 30,000 sq ft brewery and a 6,000 sq ft restaurant/music venue have already been acquired. It seems that Oskar Blues will implement another 50 bbl brewhouse similar to the one they already have in Lyons.
