Asheville brewery to close, operating with limited capacity in final weeks
ASHEVILLE - The owner and brewer of an Asheville craft beer brewery will call it quits after a five year-run and self-reflection.
On July 3, Eurisko Beer Company owner and head brewer Zac Harris announced to social media followers that operations were to scale down and the brewery would eventually close at 255 Short Coxe Ave., just outside of the South Slope brewing district.
Every year or so, Harris said he’s considered potential next steps for Eurisko, like reinvesting money, hiring more people and expanding operations. Ultimately, the answer was to stop everything, altogether.
Many considerations were taken in making the “tough decision” and came down to what direction Harris would like to see his life go in the future.
“For a lot of reasons, it started dawning on me. Do I really want to keep doing this? Do I want to just keep the machine going?” he said. “I think it very well could have. You look at all different kinds of factors like the stress of life and the amount of time you have to be at your business. A lot of folks who’ve gotten out of the brewery industry have been like, ‘Hey man, there’s a whole world out there.’ I think some of us get so stuck in this bubble of beer and kind of forget there’s a world out there.”
Harris was in his late-20s when the brewery opened in March 2018.
At the time, he wondered if he was too young to embark on such a grand endeavor, but veterans in the industry shared how they wished they’d started at an earlier age.
“I talked to so many people who were like, ‘Dude, I did it when I was 35 and I wish I’d done it when I was 25,” said Harris, the sole owner of the business. “It was one of those things like, if I’m going to go for this I might as well go for it.”
Years later, he’s gained experience and a new perspective. He used to wonder if he’d regret not opening a brewery. Earlier this year, he asked himself if it’s something he wants to do for the rest of his career.
“I’m 33 now. Do I want to be 43 or 53 and still working this thing or is there something else that I can do in the world?” Harris said.
Eurisko’s last days of operation
After July 9, Harris and his girlfriend, Jill Dixon, who has pitched in with duties like social media management, will manage the taproom until its eventual closing at the end of summer or early fall.
Harris is searching for someone to either purchase the Eurisko brand and recipes or introduce a new concept in the commercial space.
Previously, the business was open daily. Now, the hours have been condensed to afternoon and evenings Thursday-Sunday, and those hours may vary.
Eurisko has remained a small business with four employees. Harris said he debated when would be the best time and way to break the news to the staff who are all close friends.
“I realized I wanted to do something different and move on and not push super hard for Eurisko to continue, but of course, you have people who work for you,” Harris said. “That, by far, is the hardest thing, and these are some of my best friends in the world. What do you do with all those factors?”
A few weeks before the public announcement, Harris gathered his staff and notified them of his decision and how the brewery would move forward in its final weeks of operation. Harris said that although they were not happy, the staff understood and accepted the decision.
The last day with a full staff was the weekend of July 9, which was decided to give the employees time to find other employment and completed a pay period cycle.
Aaron Fish, the salesperson, was one day shy of marking his one-year anniversary with the brewery when he learned the news.
Fish said Harris spoke with the staff one-on-one about the situation but offered job search assistance, such as reference letters, recommendations for work, and reaching out to other breweries on the employees’ behalf.
“He told us why he decided to do it and offered support in whatever we do next. It was kind of a shock to all of us, but I understand his reasonings for it,” Fish said. “He told us if we needed time to take off between that to look for something as we were ramping down, so to speak, we could take some time.”
Fish began as a beer fan who frequented the brewery in its early years, then learned about the sales position from Harris.
In the past year, Fish said it’s been a positive experience and he’s loved working at Eurisko, particularly with other team members.
Fish’s job search was ongoing as the final weekend approached, and finding a comparable job in the local brewing industry had proven challenging, he said.
“I have some people who I’m supposed to talk to, and I’ll just keep pounding the pavement to see what’s out there,” Fish said.
“I’m kind of sad that it’s ending, but nothing lasts forever,” Fish said. “We’ll see where that takes us. … It was fun while it lasted. I wish all of them good luck and hope everybody finds something that works for them now that it’s done.”
Beer, while supplies last
Eurisko provides beer to restaurants, bars and markets across North Carolina, including Charlotte and Raleigh. Distribution will eventually dry up as supplies wane.
In the taproom, Eurisko guests still will have plenty of options, including new and reimagined beers that will be released.
“We have a lot of beer that we brewed, some even over year ago, that we still have in stock. These will be technically new beers before they won’t be the version that we released,” he said. “We definitely will be putting new things out and going through some old stock of things that people have never seen from us. We’re in a fairly good point of having a lot of beer that can be fairly new to people.”
There may be other surprises and small batches on tap, as well.
Know when to fold them
Nearly a decade ago, Harris worked at a local retail beer and wine shop that sparked his interest in the alcohol industry. He later went on to work at a brewery in Charlotte.
Then, he began homebrewing, which evolved from a hobby to a career possibility. In 2014, he enrolled in a brewing school that took him to Germany to learn in the historic beer country.
And ambition led him to pen a business plan to open his own craft beer brewery.
It was a ripe time to break into the budding Asheville craft brewing scene, which continued to attract locals and tourists to the taprooms.
“That time in the industry was like, everybody should open a brewery. This is the best time in the world. Why would you not?” Harris said.
“Part of it for me was it got to a point where I didn’t so much love all parts of beer like I did then,” Harris said.
Harris nailed down the location and concept for the business that would be Eurisko Beer Company – a name inspired by a fictional software company in an episode of “The X-Files” and translates from Greek to “I find” or “I discover.”
The taproom took shape and reflected his interests and personality with TV memorabilia and locally made eclectic artwork decorating the one-room tasting room, which is concealed on the second floor of the building.
The Eurisko team and taproom guests have made it harder to walk away from the business he built from the ground up.
Get back to the basics
The brewery’s financial standings were not the deciding factor for the closure and moving away from the brewery industry, he said.
Harris imagines that taking a step away from the beer business will bring him back to his passion for beer.
Over the last five years, Harris has witnessed many things changing in and outside of the brewery.
Eurisko’s distribution and sales were strengthening, largely attributed to Fish. And although revenue wasn’t ideal, the business could have continued, Harris said. However, issues like ebbing and unpredictable customer traffic, sales and drinking behaviors following the COVID-19 pandemic took a toll.
In the beginning, he understood that business goals would evolve and that the brewery would have to adapt, but the quick and constant changes required more than he was willing to give.
“Every year we moved forward; everything was just changing so rapidly for us. I got to a point where I’m really doing what we set out to do anymore,” he said.
Catering to the different, new trends seemed to take Harris further away from what he imagined for Eurisko. Harris noted an uptick in the demand for nonalcoholic beers, cider, seltzer, wine and other nontraditional beers and beverages.
“The beer industry is very diverse in a good way as far as product right now, but it’s very weird for a brewer,” Harris said. “I like making traditional beers, and that’s only one tiny little segment of what the alcohol industry is all about.”
Harris said the shift in consumer behavior isn’t limited to the South Slope brewing district or the greater Asheville area but is evident at breweries across the country.
Harris’s own behavior shifted, too, amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Currently, he drinks less and works out more, and is studying for a personal training certification course.
“Access to alcohol is something you always have to balance,” Harris said. “A lot of it was slowing down drinking. I think 2020 for a lot of people, made us look at our health. … For me, it was a lot of getting healthier. I think that’s a lot of what we’re seeing in the beer industry, in general.”
Harris doesn’t know what he’ll do professionally after Eurisko closes, or if his path will lead back to the industry.
For now, he’s anticipating reclaiming his love for the craft of brewing without the weight of the business.
“I can’t wait to homebrew,” Harris said. “I want to enjoy beer again, at least before I were to get back into the industry, and that just may be a matter of time or a shifting of the world as we move into the future.”
For more, visit euriskobeer.com and facebook.com/euriskobeerco.
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Tiana Kennell is the food and dining reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. Email her at tkennell@citizentimes.com or follow her on Twitter/Instagram @PrincessOfPage. Please support this type of journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Eurisko Beer Co. to close, owner reflects on life, industry changes
