Oasis Brewery may scale back; Capstones no longer restaurant

BOULDER ? In the face of slowing microbrew beer sales, Oasis Restaurant and Brewery in Boulder is considering reducing the size of its brewing operation. It also plans to turn one of its restaurants back into a bar that will be open only on a limited basis.

George Hanna, owner of the Oasis, said the fast-growing market for microbrew beer in the early and mid-1990s led his company to overestimate the market’s appetite for hand-crafted suds. The industry’s growth slowed dramatically in the late 1990s, and Hanna decided to scale back Oasis’ operations at the company’s 12,000-square-foot brewery annex at 32nd and Walnut streets, where it currently produces and bottles seven different kinds of beer.

According to the Boulder-based Institute of Brewing Studies, the microbrew industry sold 5.9 million barrels of beer in 2000, which is 4.2 percent more than was sold the previous year. A barrel is 31 gallons.

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The main Oasis Restaurant, which opened at Canyon Boulevard and 11th Street in 1991, will continue to brew beer on-site and is not included in the company’s plan to scale back operations.

Hanna said that while he has been exploring a merger with another brewery, including a brewing and bottling arrangement with Boulder-based Rockies Brewing Co., no deals have been made. Jeff Brown, general manager of Rockies Brewing Co., referred all questions to Hanna.

?It’s been a success, but at some point the growth in sales couldn’t justify the space we had,? Hanna said of the company’s brewing annex, which opened in 1995. He said the annex brews 10,000 barrels a year but has the potential to brew 20,000 barrels.

As part of the brewing annex, Oasis provided a tasting room for people touring the brewery. The tasting room evolved into a restaurant in November 2000, called Capstones Brew Bar. Named after the company’s Capstone ESB beer, the restaurant seated about 40 and offered a natural foods menu and a direct supply of Oasis beer.

Capstones was a partnership between Hanna and Jules Lieb, a 25-year veteran of the restaurant business. Lieb said Capstones served its final meal March 1. Hanna said the space will now mainly serve as a tasting room for brewery tours and will be open for special occasions and happy hours.

?Sales have not been exciting enough for a full-time restaurant,? he said. ?We didn’t build up enough of a crowd to warrant that kind of time and effort.?

Contact John Aguilar at (303) 440-4950 or e-mail jaguilar@bcbr.com.