Oakshire Brewing’s Dark Days of February has become a highly anticipated event annually for both consumers and the company. It aims to bring together beer enthusiasts, local partners, while showcasing unique brewing techniques which can help boost sales during some slow months.
The month-long experience — going on now and hosted at Oakshire’s taprooms in Eugene and Portland, Oregon — not only showcase a variety of dark styles, but it also can serve as a case study of how breweries can engineer ways to engage the local community, drive sales, and build long-term customer loyalty.
A key element of Dark Days’ lies in Oakshire’s commitment to collaboration. This year, Oakshire partnered with Eugene-based chocolatier Davey to develop an exclusive pairing for Valentine’s Day weekend.
“Collaborating with local partners is a core part of what makes our beer experiences stand out,” said Taproom Director, Megan Galbraith. “It lets us play with flavor profiles that push the boundaries of what people expect from beer, which is always exciting.”
This emphasis on local partnerships not only strengthens community ties but also expands the brewery’s audience, drawing in customers who may be fans of the partnering businesses but are new to Oakshire.
Beyond partnerships, Oakshire employs strategic marketing to ensure a successful turnout. Galbraith said that using multiple communication channels, including newsletters, social media, press releases, and targeted emails, is vital to spreading awareness of the Dark Days event.
“Attracting new and returning customers to events like the Dark Days of February is a mix of communication and creating experiences people talk about,” she said. “We’ve cultivated a strong dark beer following over the years and continue to build on that foundation by refining our events each year.”
One notable adaptation in response to customer feedback has been the introduction of multiple release days rather than a single launch event.
“We’ve heard from our guests that they appreciate the flexibility of being able to attend our events over a few days,” Galbraith said. “That’s why we enjoy multiple days of festivities in our taprooms.”
This switch has allowed more customers to participate, cut down on crowding, and extend the promotional window for the brewery’s specialty releases.
Another crucial component of Dark Days is the brewery’s approach to preorders and take-home options. By offering limited preorders with exclusive discounts, Oakshire creates urgency while rewarding loyal customers.
“Preorders play a crucial role in our larger events by helping us manage demand and providing our guests with the first opportunity to secure limited, exclusive bottles before they become available to the broader public,” Galbraith said.
This system not only helps with inventory management but also ensures a streamlined customer experience, reducing in-person rushes on release day.
From a production standpoint, the variety of beers released during Dark Days demonstrates Oakshire’s ability to balance innovation with quality.
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Lead Brewer Heath Barker pointed to Mexican Mocha, one of this year’s releases, as an example of how the team refines techniques to achieve balance.
“We want the heat to be present but not so intense that you can’t enjoy a whole glass,” Barker said. “We periodically sample the beer while the peppers, cinnamon, cacao nibs, and vanilla are in the tank until the team thinks we’ve hit the sweet spot.”
The Hellshire series, a standout feature of Dark Days, points to the brewery’s expertise in barrel-aging. This year’s release, Hellshire XIV, spent a year maturing in Heaven Hill bourbon barrels.
“We seek to be good caretakers of our barrels but recognize that they can’t be controlled,” Barker said. “Rather than targeting specific flavors, we allow the natural interaction between the beer, the barrel, and time to shape the final product.”
The ability to scale an event like Dark Days while maintaining beer quality is no small feat. Barker emphasized the importance of staggered production scheduling to ensure that each release is at its best when it hits the taproom.
“We like to give ourselves a little buffer in case the unexpected happens, and when it does, I’m thankful to have a team that can adapt,” he said.
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