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Deschutes headed to Roanoke, Virginia

Deschutes Brewery announced that after a long search it has chosen Roanoke, Virginia, as the location for its East Coast brewery. The new facility will begin shipping beer in about five years.

The company is calling the future brewery “Brew 4.” The original brewpub in downtown Bend, Oregon, is Brew 1, the production facility in Bend Brew 2, and a brewpub in Portland Brew 3. Construction on Brew 4 will begin in 2019, and its initial capacity will be about 150,000 barrels.

“We started Deschutes Brewery when craft beer wasn’t burgeoning and led with a beer style that wasn’t popular at the time – Black Butte Porter,” said fouder and CEO Gary Fish. “This pioneering approach was a key driver behind our decision to go with Roanoke, as that same spirit exists in this community and its fast-growing beer culture.”

Deschutes opened in 1988. The brewery produced 345,000 barrels in 2015.

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Craft beer retail sales pass $23 billion

Craft brewery production volume grew 13% in 2015 and sales volume 16%, leaving craft beer with a 12% share of the overall beer industry.

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Craft brewers — as defined by the Brewers Association — produced 24.5 million barrels in 2015 and sales of $22.3 billion of represent 21% all retail sales.

“For the past decade, craft brewers have charged into the market, seeing double digit growth for eight of those years,” BA chief economist Bart Watson said for a press release. “There are still a lot of opportunities and areas for additional growth. An important focus will remain on quality as small and independent brewers continue to lead the local, full-flavored beer movement.”

The numbers are preliminary and the Brewers Association will release the list of Top 50 craft brewing companies and overall brewing companies by volume sales on April 5.

For information about the methodology in the collecting the numbers and about the BA definition of craft brewer, visit the association website.