10 Barrel Brewing Apologizes For Mini Pubs: They're Not Real

Since being purchased by Anheuser-Busch InBev, 10 Barrel Brewing has faced disappointed craft-beer fanatics on one hand and increased funding on the other. As it turns out, this predicament may have led to one of the most bizarre creations in beer history: the faux mini pub.

It all began in July when the Oregon Brewers Festival didn't include 10 Barrel Brewing, saying that the brewery did not qualify as a craft brewery. In response, 10 Barrel threw its own heavily promoted party during the festival, and get this: The party was thrown in a mini pub inside of its regular pub in the Pearl.

Then, on August 19, Brewpublic broke the news that 10 Barrel would open seven additional mini pubs "across all of Oregon." The article went on to say that the "rollout began to take place over the past few weeks and will continue to do so over the next few weeks." Another local outlet of high regard picked up the story, and 10 Barrel released a video to accompany the news.

To fill in the blanks, Eater reached out to 10 Barrel, and that's when Jeff Segvich, speaking on 10 Barrel's behalf by phone and email, explained that the mini pubs were all a joke. Later, in an email, Segvich wrote:

"The release on the new mini-pubs was meant to be a tongue-in-cheek note to go along with the video of the small pub popping up on people in random locations throughout the region. Not actually opening any physical new locations. Sorry for the misdirection; we were just trying to have a bit of fun at our own expense, and I think the joke fell flatter than we thought."

The takeaway? 10 Barrel Brewing's mini pubs will not be heading to your neighborhood anytime soon.