(Chico, CA) – The calendar has turned to November and there is still no announcement from either Sierra Nevada Brewing or New Belgium Brewing as to where each company will build its second facility in the Eastern part of the U.S..

Recent reports surfaced that Sierra Nevada has ruled out, what were thought to be, the top two candidates for a second brewery facility: Blount County, TN, and Montgomery County, VA.

A Tennessee news station actually led off with the story on Tuesday evening. A spokesperson for the Blount Partnership believed that the high state tax on beer and “variances in water temperature” were both key factors in Sierra Nevada ruling out Tennessee. [ed. note: can someone explain the water thing? Not a brewing expert.]

Communications Coordinator, Bill Manley, said on Beer Advocate earlier this evening:

I can confirm we’ve decided to rule out Tennessee which was a very hard decision for us. That’s the only site I can comment about at the moment.

Interesting that Manley has the green light to comment on one but not the other. Is there a second Virginia site that we don’t know about?

He continues:

The fact is, we’re still looking at several sites in several states but haven’t made a final decision one way or another. We expect to have a decision made at some point late this year. (hopefully.)

Sorry for being so vague, but this is an extremely important decision for us. We consider this a 50 year investment requiring a lot of thought, and even more foresight. We will make an announcement regarding our plans when the time is right.

Though things have been a bit more quiet on the New Belgium side of things in the media, Media Relations Director, Bryan Simpson, also confirmed that New Belgium should still have an announcement to make on an Eastern facility later this year.

City officials in Asheville, North Carolina, have confirmed that both breweries have inquired about that area of the state.

Media reports have not yet revealed other locations for either brewery.