Baker City brewery prepares for “down” year as craft beer industry declines
By Joe Hathaway on Wednesday, January 24th, 2024 in More Top Stories Northeastern Oregon News
BAKER CITY — Oregon is a state renowned for its diverse landscapes, vibrant culture, and pioneering spirit. One of the elements that prominently features in Oregon’s cultural narrative is its thriving craft beer scene.
Call that “once thriving.”
In 2023, Oregon’s revered craft brewing industry faced one of its most challenging periods, marked by a decline in draft beer sales and escalating costs that placed significant strain on many businesses within the state.
According to newschoolbeer.com, more than 30 breweries and brewpubs across Oregon shut their doors forever in 2023.
“It’s been a rough year for the Oregon brewing industry for sure,” said Tyler Brown, founder and general manager of Barley Brown’s Beer and Brewpub. “The beer industry in general is seeing a decline in sales.”
According to the Oregon Brewers Guild, Oregon is home to about 400 breweries, brewpubs and taprooms, which collectively provide 50,000 jobs and generate nearly $9 billion in economic output.
Brown, who founded Barley Brown’s in 1998, says a number of factors have led to the industry’s decline.
“At our restaurant that has a full liquor license, we serve our beer, wine, hard cider, and a full range of spirits. We’re seeing a trend that appears to be following the national trend of consumers choosing other types of alcoholic beverages over beer,” said Brown.
Brown says another factor is a new wave of interest in cocktails, inspired by social media trends.
“There’s a lot of fun clips of mixing and shaking colorful cocktails, but there’s still only one way to properly pour a beer,” said Brown.
The Oregon Brewers Guild says that people’s habits have changed since COVID. The guild points to more people staying in, ordering food and drinks in and not frequenting their local pubs as they had prior to the pandemic.
“A topic of discussion we often have is strategizing on how to market to people who have changed their habits. It’s understandable that some people just don’t want to be in crowds anymore, and we’ve noticed a distinct shift in people not staying out as late as they used to,” said Brown. “In markets like Portland there used to be neighborhoods that had thriving late night dining and bar scenes that are now mostly closed by 10pm. This trend erased 3-4 hours of on-premise consumption of food and drinks.”
Despite the challenges all Oregon brewpubs face, Brown says Barley Brown’ had nearly identical production numbers as they produced in 2022, as well as a 3% rise in sales to beer distributors.
“With all the bad news about breweries I felt pretty good about where we ended in our brewery,” said Brown.
Yet, Brown says he and other brewers face declining sales, there’s also a rapid increase in the price of raw materials to make beer, such as hops and barley. Brown says every single ingredient has gone up substantially, but the market price of beer has stayed the same.
“As we head into 2024, we’re preparing to have a down year. Much of what we saw last year is most likely going to continue on until 2025.”
