New Belgium Brewing is eyeing Asheville, N.C., and Philadelphia as potential sites for a new brewery.
“Asheville and Philly are leading our short list of sites,” said New Belgium spokesman Bryan Simpson.
“But we are not under contract for property anywhere,” Simpson said in response to Twitter reports Wednesday that the brewer had chosen an Asheville location.
He said a decision is expected to be announced in late January or early February.
The Fort Collins-based brewer had started with eight to 10 prospective East Coast sites, then narrowed the list to four earlier this year. Simpson would not disclose the other two on the short list.
New Belgium, maker of the popular Fat Tire and Sunshine Wheat, is the nation’s third-largest craft brewer, behind Boston Beer Co. and Sierra Nevada Brewing.
New Belgium earlier this year expanded its distribution to Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C.
Steve Raabe, The Denver Post
