OLCC reprimands former Oblivion Brewing owners

Published 4:50 am Wednesday, December 20, 2017

Thinkstock

The Oregon Liquor Control Commission has reprimanded a pair of Bend brewers for selling a share of their business without prior approval.

Former Oblivion Brewing Co. owner Darin Butschy agreed to surrender the liquor license he and his ex-wife, Meghann Butschy, held together. Meghann Butschy, although listed as a license holder by the OLCC, had already sold her interest in the brewery, according to a divorce agreement this year in Deschutes County Circuit Court records.

Darin Butschy said the violations were simple oversights and that he will continue as Oblivion’s head brewer. The brewery, he said, is making 40-50 barrels of beer a month and expanding distribution into Portland, Eugene and Corvallis.

“My ex-wife sold out her part to the new partners,” he said. “Obviously we didn’t make that transition in a timely manner for (the OLCC). We had to regroup and submit a form.”

The OLCC is in the process of transferring the Butschys’ license to the group that bought into Oblivion, said OLCC spokeswoman Christie Scott. The group includes Bryan Harrison and Christopher Springer, both of Bend and principals in Triple Brew LLC, which incorporated in December 2016. Scott said Harrison, Springer and two others became partners in Oblivion, which started in 2012 and brews in northeast Bend. But Darin Butschy failed to seek commission approval for their involvement, Scott said. Going forward, she said, Butschy will have no ownership interest in the brewery.

Scott said the Triple Brew partners’ stake in Oblivion came to light after Butschy applied for permits to serve beer at special events, including February snowmobile races at Wanoga Sno-Park and another event in June, without revealing Triple Brew had bought into the brewery.

Scott said that added two more violations, one each of making false statements to the OLCC.

“You can’t have hidden interests,” she said. “That’s how you prevent money laundering and prevent people who shouldn’t have liquor licenses from having liquor licenses.”

The license holders are liable for the offense, not the other financial partners, Scott said. The letter of reprimand goes into the license holder’s file, in this case the Butschys, but does not necessarily disqualify them in the event they apply for a future license, she said.

Darin Butschy said he didn’t intend to mislead the OLCC. Triple Brew LLC is publicly listed as a principal in the corporation record for Oblivion Brewing Co. LLC, according to the Oregon Secretary of State Corporation Division.

“It’s really unfortunate,” Butschy said Tuesday. “We weren’t trying to hide anything from them.”

— Reporter: 541-617-7815, 
jditzler@bendbulletin.com

Marketplace