E-Malt.com News article: USA, OR: RiverBend Brewing close to capacity limit but not planning expansion soon

Gary Sobala’s end game has been decades in the making. A lifelong restaurateur and now the CEO of RiverBend Brewing Co., Sobala looks forward to someday handing off management of the brewery and nearby brewpub on NE Division Street, in Bend, to managers to run and potentially grow, Bend Bulletin reported on August 3.

Running a successful brewery and brewpub, which are separate business entities, was a personal dream on which Sobala said he staked the couple’s life savings.

“We felt we could enter the market and do OK,” he said on July 31. “And it’s kinda my baby, my idea, and we took it and ran with it and tried to make it successful, and it seems to be going that way.”

The brewery occupies the western 2,600 square feet of that building today. In the meantime, Sobala took over Rivals, a sports bar, from its owners. In 2013 he transformed Rivals into RiverBend Brewing Sports Pub and started serving beer from the brewery 150 feet away.

Since then, beer production has steadily increased. In January, it sold just over 23 taxable barrels in Oregon and in May nearly 40 barrels, according to Oregon Liquor Control Commission beer reports. The brewery is close to its capacity, but expansion is not high on Sobala’s list of things to do, he said.

He’s content that the brewery find a niche and then hand it over to others to run and possibly grow, Sobala said. He credits his employees for whatever success the business has achieved thus far.

“I’ve never brewed a batch of beer in my life,” Sobala said. “I drink beer; I don’t know how to brew it. I still don’t know how to brew it. I’m busy 12 hours a day running this whole joint.”

Lead Brewer Kyle Schwenk, previously with Boneyard Beer, joined the brewery in December and eventually took over for Daniel Olsen, who ran the operation from its opening in fall 2013.

“Although the brewery produces a wide range of beers, from hefeweizens to stouts, Schwenk specializes in lagers and Pilsners,” Sobala said.

“Those take up to eight weeks in those tanks, so we have to give up some production to let him do that,” he said.

RiverBend Brewing’s beverages are distributed by Point Blank Distribution in barrels only, from the Oregon Coast to the Willamette Valley to Central Oregon. Scott Lennie, Bend branch manager for Point Blank Distribution, foresees someday expanding RiverBend distribution into Washington.

“The beers have to be solid,” Sobala said. “If the beers aren’t good, we aren’t going to look at it.”


05 August, 2015