Oregonians buy 585K barrels of Oregon-produced beer in 2014


Brewers in the state added 800 jobs last year.

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BY JACOB PALMER | DIGITAL NEWS EDITOR

The Oregon Brewers Guild released a report stating Oregonians bought 585,000 barrels of Oregon-made beer in 2014, a 14.3 percent uptick from the year prior, and that the industry added 800 jobs.

Portland Business Journal writes:

What’s more, Oregon continues to lead the U.S. in relative dollars spent on craft beer: A full 20 percent of the beer sold within the state is considered of the craft variety. …

Oregon’s breweries made 1.64 million barrels of beer last year, a 16.9 percent increase from the previous year. The industry added 800 jobs in 2014.

In a release, Brian Butenschoen, executive director of the Oregon Brewers Guild, said: “We were the first state to reach the [20 percent] milestone. The numbers don’t lie.”

Brewing claims $2.83 billion of the state’s economy.


 

Portland group aims to help small North Carolina brewer

The Portland-based Craft Brew Alliance is partnering with Appalachian Mountain Brewery in hopes of helping the latter gain national recognition.

The Triad Business Journal explains the move:

In Craft Brew Alliance, Appalachian Mountain Brewery finds a partner that already has a national distribution network through distributors affiliated with Anheuser-Busch, which also owns a share of Craft Brew Alliance. Last year, that network distributed more than 766,000 barrels of beer from CBA brands. Additionally, CBA has breweries located in Oregon, New Hampshire, Washington state, Hawaii and Tennessee, with an overall capacity of more than 1 million barrels annually. Those breweries produce CBA’s well-known brands Redhook Brewery, Widmer Brothers Brewing Co. and Kona Brewing Co..

“It’s a powerful step forward for Appalachian Mountain Brewery to be aligned with Craft Brew Alliance,” said Tim Kent, executive director of the N.C. Beer & Wine Wholesalers Association. “Appalachian now will have strong exposure initially through the Piedmont and North Carolina, and I would expect their production will increase significantly. Ultimately, I would expect Appalachian Mountain Brewery to become a recognizable brand all the way from Georgia to Vermont.”

Andy Thomas, CEO of Craft Brew Alliance, said in the report he expects this kind of arrangement to become commonplace in the industry.