Bend, Oregon – Deschutes Brewery announced today its craft beers will be available in Centre, Clinton and Clearfield counties of Pennsylvania beginning May 25, 2015. The Oregon-based brewery will partner with W.R. Hickey Distributors for distribution throughout the three central PA counties. This move expands Deschutes’ distribution across the state, and bridges the gap between eastern and western Pennsylvania.
Jeremy Kieffer, mid-Atlantic market manager for the brewery, said, “We’re very excited to expand our distribution into State College and the rest of the central PA market. The distributor networks there share a lot of our core values and have done a great job supporting what has become a very loyal craft community.”
Beer is slated to arrive May 25 across three of the counties serviced by W.R. Hickey. Initially, Deschutes Brewery will offer Mirror Pond Pale Ale, Black Butte Porter, the nation’s number one selling craft porter, Fresh Squeezed IPA, and its summer seasonal, Twilight Summer Ale. The beers will be available on draft and in six-packs. Variety packs will also be available in 12packs.
Kieffer continued, “We’ve always seen Central PA as a big opportunity for us, but it was important that we made sure we could meet the demand of our fans first before expanding our footprint. The town [State College] grows to the third largest city in PA during football games and other events, and a large part of our fan base from existing markets lives there for nine months out of the year. With that type of influx in population, State College was the obvious next piece of the puzzle for our Pennsylvania distribution.”
Deschutes launched in Ohio, Kentucky, South-Central and Western Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin last year. Central PA and the recently announced additional distribution through parts of Michigan will round out the brewery’s geographic expansion for 2015.
About W.R. Hickey Distributors, Inc.
W.R. Hickey Beer Distributor, Inc. is a privately owned and operated corporation located in State College, Pennsylvania, which was founded in 1933 by William R. Hickey. Now in its third generation of family ownership, Hickeys is the master distributor for over 20 breweries in 7 counties throughout Central Pennsylvania. To learn more, visit www.WRHickey.com
About Deschutes Brewery
Named as OUTSIDE’s Best Places to Work in both 2013 and 2014, Deschutes Brewery was founded in 1988 as a brew pub in Bend, Oregon. Still family and employee owned 27 years later, the brewery is known for brewing a diverse line-up of award winning beers including the popular Black Butte Porter and Mirror Pond Pale Ale. From the beginning, the focus has been on crafting the best beer and food using only the finest ingredients. In 2008, the brewery opened a second pub in Portland’s Pearl District. Deschutes Brewery now ships beer to 28 states, the District of Columbia, and around the world from its main brewing facility located on the banks of the Deschutes River.