Most Anticipated New Oregon & SW Washington Breweries & Taprooms Opening in 2023
Last year we had a record number of disappointing brewery and taproom closures, but also a slew of new ones undaunted by the pandemic, 2023 will do the same with a lower barrier to entry thanks to new contract-based ghost breweries and existing turnkey brewhouses and taprooms that make it more affordable to start a new operation. The following are our most anticipated upcoming new breweries, new locations, or expansions opening in Oregon and Southwest Washington in 2023.
Portland/Clackamas, OR
Trevor Lauman and Jules Domingue, schoolmates at Rex Putnam High School in the 90s in Oak Grove, worked together in the early days of Ancestry Brewing. Lauman graduated from Oregon State University’s Fermentation Science Program and developed some of the earliest recipes at Ancestry. The name grows from being in and growing up in the Oak Grove area. “It's been my dream for a long time to bring something to this area that's meaningful, and not underfunded, and not just an afterthought,” Lauman says. They’ll brew at contractor brewers Conspirator Beverage in Clackamas. They’re also on the hunt for a location as close to Oak Grove or Milwaukie as possible, or nearby SE Portland.
Oak Union’s premier beer, a West Coast pilsner, will make heavy use of terpenes. Taking the knowledge from their current gig working at Zoiglhaus, Oak Union will produce a hoppy, lager beer (hence the West coast Pilsner name). It'll be dry-hopped, and then at the end, they’ll add strata terpenes from strata hops.
Follow them on Insta here. And go in-depth on our more recent profile here.
- John Chilson
Recluse Brew Works
Washougal, WA
Wayfinder Beer lead brewer August “Gus” Everson will open Recluse Brewing in Washougal, Washington this year in a brand new 50,000 sq. ft. industrial use space called Building 20. Commissioned and leased by the Port of Camas-Washougal, Building 20 is part of a burgeoning industrial district where 54-40 Brewing is also located, and where the Port hopes to create more of a hub for pubs and fermentation. Gus Everson is a longtime beer fan and homebrewer who decided to leave his career working as a data wizard at tech startups to attend the prestigious Siebel Institute school of brewing and then immediately packed up his bags and moved to Portland. Everson began working his way up the ladder at Widmer Brothers Brewing, learning how to brew precisely on a major scale, but just as in his previous career he tired of working for a big corporation and jumped at the chance to join Wayfinder. Starting his own brewery was something that he and his wife had talked about as a long-term goal that suddenly presented itself much sooner than anticipated. Everson is a fan of the pacific northwests proximity to nature and industry that often lay side-by-side like the way the Building 20 project at the Port bumps right up against Steigerwald Lake National Wildlife Refuge and the Columbia River Gorge. Recluse Brewing has leased two 3,330 sq. ft. bays for a brewery and a taproom, but focus his brand on distribution of clean northwest styles of lager and IPA. Everson is a big fan of American Lager, and lower alcohol pale ales, and plans to package and work with distributors to get his beers into Portland and SW Washington. Build-out of the brewery should start up by February and with any luck the 15bbl brewhouse will be getting installed in April.
Troutdale, OR
Portland, Oregon’s best known English-style brewery of cask beers, lagers and ales has been an underrated gem since 2019. 2023 will be a time of great change for the tiny inner southeast brewery since their sister next door bar Toffee Club has now officially closed, and Away Days looks onward and upward to the former Old Troutdale City Hall building that’s been vacant since 2012. The City of Troutdale has sold the building to Ent Venturex XIV who has leased it to Away Days to turn it into a 3-floor brewpub with an expanded brewery, a speakeasy style bar on the lower level, and a spacious elevated brewpub with deck seating and serving European pub classics like Fish & Chips and cottage pies that the Toffee Club was known for. The project first announced in January 2022 has been slowly developing over the course of a year with demo now completed and new design plan clans currently awaiting permitting approval for build-out. With any luck we will be seeing far more Away Days Brewing beer in 2023 and a destination worthy brewpub to enjoy them at this summer.
Breakside Brewery locations in Astoria, Beaverton, & Gresham
Breakside Brewery will continue their outward expansion from Portland in 2023 and 2024 with new and long gestating locations that will grow the brand in new directions.
Breakside Beaverton: As first reported by the New School in early 2021, Breakside is still planning to open a taproom, food truck pod, and beer garden in Beaverton. The Beaverton project is their most anticipated opening since their Slabtown brewpub in NW Portland, and is set to bring top notch carts and an indoor/outdoor drinking experience to the suburbs that is so far unmatched. The Breakside Beaverton plan has been buried in delays since it was first announced, while other taprooms have opened in the meantime in existing for lease spaces, the Breakside location called for serious construction and a rezoning of the brick-and-mortar portion which was formerly a furniture store. Finally at long last most of the permitting is finished and demo is underway with the food truck pod and a storage container bar hoping to be open before summer, followed by the indoor tavern space that was originally intended to be a full restaurant but now will rely on the food trucks such as Farmer & the Beast to keep drinkers fed.
Breakside Astoria: Breakside’s purchase of the former Astoria Food Co-Op at 1355 Exchange St made news earlier this year when Clatsop County documents were published showing the sale by developer Paul Caruana. The sale was confirmed by the state and the building’s real estate partner, but Breakside has been quiet on what the plan was. We can now confirm that Breakside will open a taproom in the space unlike any of their previous locations, with more wine, cocktails and champagne alongside their beers and a small plate fresh seafood bar. Emphasis will be on raw fresh items like oysters, crab, and fish, a playful date night or celebratory atmosphere of small plates instead of typical brewpub fare.
Breakside Gresham: As detailed by the New School in 2021, Breakside Brewing is undertaking their largest project yet in Gresham, Oregon with the recently completed purchase of 31-acres of land from the Port of Portland. Breakside aspires to relocate their largest brewery production here, and open a taproom, amphitheater and food cart pod with a massive beer garden, walking trails, streams, and maybe even wine tasting rooms, plus a duck pond where families can run small radio controlled boats in the reservoir. Plans are very much still developing as the brewery feels out the current market for construction materials and weighing the cost of inflation and delays on how much they can pull off for a beer park destination to rival McMenamins Edgefield. A best case scenario would have development starting near the end of 2023.
The Upright Brewing “Gas Station” before work began rehabbing the upcoming satellite location
Upright Brewing Gas Station
Portland, OR
The long anticipated Upright Brewing second location was first reported in the New School’s most anticipated new breweries and taprooms of 2021! This year it looks like the former gas/auto station at 7151 NE Prescott will finally open in the first quarter of 2023. This will be the first official expansion of Upright Brewing not counting former off-shoots Grain & Gristle and Old Salt Marketplace (RIP) and it will be a slight change of pace in what’s come before. Upright “Gas Station” as it’s currently internally nicknamed, is a partnership with Junior's Roasted Coffee who will operate it as a cafe in the morning and early afternoon, and then transition into Upright Brewing in the afternoon/evening. During Upright’s hours they will rely on two on-site food trucks, one of which will be Chaat Wallah, an Indian street food truck owned by Deepak Saxena, the chef restaurateur behind Prost! Marketplace food truck Desi PDX and the brand new Indian breakfast joint Masala Lab on N. MLK blvd. The Upright Gas Station will have a large outdoor beer garden and an intimate indoors space featuring 2-3 cask engines, 7 draft faucets, and an additional side pull lager faucet dedicated to newish beer Spellbinder Pils. With any luck, Upright Gas Station will open near the end of this winter season!
Canby, OR
Oregon City Brewing is one of the biggest success stories of Clackamas County, almost single handedly putting the old town of Oregon City back on the brewing map for new prolific award-winning beers like Coming to Fruition. A few years back Oregon City Brewing emerged victorious from a bidding process to redevelop the closed since 2014 Canby Library building. Their ambitious plan is for a barrel aging cellar with 120+ barrels and a post-pandemic friendly taproom with a sliding glass wall for seamless flow indoors and outdoors to a massive patio with seating for 257.
The sale was formalized in December 2021 and the brewery finished demo’ing the building for build-out last February. In June 2022 the City of Canby adopted chapter 16.45 in their municipal code, which allows for foodcart pods where it once did not in the downtown city corridor. Oregon City Brewing owner Bryce Morrow decided one final pivot would be worth the extended timeline so that they could add a 3,100 sq. ft. heavy timber canopy on the building’s exterior to cover 8 independently owned and operated food trucks to supplement the 30+ beers of their own they will have on tap at the Canby Beer Library. As the project gets back on track the Camas Planning Commission could approve the new plans this month and construction could break ground by Spring with an anticipated opening date in late 2023.
Farmhouse Carts outside Logsdon Farmhouse Ales opening in SE Portland
Logsdon Farmhouse Ales and Farmhouse Carts
Portland, OR
In their 11 years Logsdon Farmhouse Ales has been a brewery on the move, first as an actual farm set brewery in rural Hood River with a tasting room that never came to be, then a downtown Hood River taproom that was short lived, and then a big brewery relocation to Washougal, Washington where they replaced Amnesia Brewing in 2018. After 3 years in Washington their brewery and taproom building went up for sale, forcing the acclaimed multi-GABF gold medal winning small Oregon brewery of the year to find a new home.
With any luck this summer Logsdon Farmhouse Ales will move into their new Portland brewery at 2425 SE 35th Pl in the former SE Wine Collective building. In the year plus interim between locations Logsdon Farmhouse Ales has been brewing elsewhere and branching out further from the farmhouse ales and Belgians that made them famous, without fully leaving behind that old world rustic tradition. The new location comes with an exterior beer garden and food cart pod called the Farmhouse Carts founded by building owner Reed Dow. The gated food truck garden will have a northwest timber theme with many of the wood features built by Dow himself who is a retired woodworker. Alongside the building there will be live edge tables handmade from cedar, maple, walnut, and poplar trees. The walls will be decorated with custom carved salmon, and other woodsy pacific northwest designs with a wood-framed covered area and gas firepits. Dow is spending a considerable amount of his own money with hopes to make it a top food cart pod in town, and with electrical for each station, piped in natural gas with no tanks, and hook-ups for each of 10 trucks it already looks like an ideal setup. The first food truck, Mama Chow’s Kitchen is already setting up at the Farmhouse Carts with Wicked Garden Alchemy, Sunrise Co., Tokyo Sando, Thai Burger PDX, Lets Roll PDX, E-San Thai, PoppySeed, Bobablastic, Salvi PDX,and Nacheaux. When they open, Logsdon Farmhouse Ales will have a window from the bar to the exterior Farmouse Carts for easy access to beers and grub on the patio.
Vice Beer’s “A Little Vice”
Vancouver, WA
Vancouver, Washington’s newest brewery the 2022 opened Vice Beer, will open “A Little Vice” in downtown Vancouver. The retro 80s & 90s signature brand vibes will be jam-packed into a 800 sq ft space at the corner of 7th and Main in downtown. It will be a 21+ location with a full bar and cocktail program in a simple, small, pop-up style space designed for quick and easy beers and drinks on-site or picking up to-go. Following in their current taproom theme “A Little Vice” will have 4-player free video game cabinet with over 7,000 retro gaming selections and a paired down draft menu of 10 Vice beers and perhaps some frozen slushee beers as well. A Little Vice will be food trucks adjacent and is projected for late spring/early summer opening 2023.
TPK Brewing going into the former Tabor Bread location on SE Hawthorne Blvd.
Portland, OR
Perhaps the most anticipated brand new brewery scheduled to open in 2023 is the ground-breaking queer and women-of-color owned TPK Brewing, which will also be the first tabletop roleplaying game brewpub in the country. TPK stands for “Total Party Kill” a Dungeons & Dragons term which the brewery will have a custom world with fully fleshed out characters and storyline of which a book is already being published. Beloved local bakery Tabor Bread is relocating, and TPK has just began construction on their former building to add a brewery along the backside and a second floor private game room. The Tabor Bread open wood-fire hearth and the cafe are being renovated for a new combined kitchen called Hapa Barkada by Filipino and Hawaiian Americans. The beer will be inspired by the gameplay, and vice versa, with special emphasis put on community and inclusiveness. Read much more about the TPK Brewing story here, ahead of their planned summer 2023 opening at
Portland, OR
You might be thinking that Duality Brewing isn’t new, they have been brewing out of a shipping container and dropping cans at pop-ups since early 2021. But 2023 is the year Duality Brewing goes mainstream, with their taproom and a full fledged brewery going into a new retail renovation or a hangar space from Guerilla Development and IES interior exterior specialists The brewery, created by chef Michael Lockwood, is a fully experimental and foodie driven brewery that experiments with flavors like plum-wine co-fermented saisons with shiso and lagers with wild rice and heirloom corn that have earned them a cult following.
Duality Brewing will take up two suites with about 10 total tenants in the nearly complete ‘Atomic Building’ at 2555 NE Sandy Blvd. The project has taken much longer than expected as the building was completely rebuilt from the frame in a process that went through architects, structural engineers, a unionized construction team and of course the biggest hurdle of city permitting. Duality Brewing is among the last tenants able to move into the space because of the extra plumbing and wastewater management hurdles. When finished, one suite bay door will be the Duality brewing facility and the other door will be for a taproom serving small plate food and hosting rotating menus and chef pop-ups. Each day of service will feature 2-4 food specials and morning coffee (perhaps brunch), and regular kitchen takeovers on certain days of the week. Though their timeline is the longest, Duality Brewing has the benefit of being at the main entrance to the Atomic building with an exterior deck surrounded by trees and a gated garden that will make the wait worth it for an aspirational late winter or early spring 2023 opening.
Junction City, OR
ColdFire Brewing is arguably the most popular brewery in Eugene, Oregon for beer nerds, and the most underrated brewery to the rest of the state. From the slick and tasteful branding to the refined and accomplished beers, ColdFire Brewing has earned a reputation for the highest quality. Their Eugene taproom is a must-stop, and their beers self-distributed across the state. In recent years the brewery has dialed in a top notch lagering program, and garnered more recognition and awards for their barrel-program that prizes mixed culture and Lambic-style wild ales and fruited beers. Limited by their size and space, ColdFire Brewing is taking the leap into a second location production brewery in nearby Junction City in 2023. The brewery has leased two buildings in an industrial area originally set up for Winnebago manufacturing that was more recently home to a company building corn seed harvesters. The new location will be production focused to help them meet demand for core popular beers Cumulus Tropicalus, Czech Pils (and other lagers) and the wild ales program which will now have room to breathe.The expansion is a necessary first step to build the brewery for the beers they want to make, but the intention is to stay Oregon and SW Washington only with the goal to feed their Eugene taproom and eventually open an actual ColdFire restaurant in town. Phase 2 of this expansion may see greater distribution and a tasting room added to Junction City, we could be seeing it up and running by mid 2023. Read the full story on ColdFire here.
SteepleJack Brewing at the Oregon Coast
Manzanita, OR
Can you believe it was only 2 years ago when we announced SteepleJack Brewing in our most anticipated upcoming Oregon breweries of 2021?! In only about a year and a half they have three Portland-area locations, and are working on an even more ambitious fourth spot in sleepy Oregon coast town Manzanita.
Steeplejack Brewing Manzanita will comprise two separate buildings that consist of a restaurant, roof decks, an arcade, and a 3-room boutique hotel. The design by Scott Edwards Architecture features cross-laminated and aesthetically pleasing timber floors, custom stained glass accents are incorporated throughout the spaces as homages to their original church set location. The goal with the SteepleJack Manzanita is to create a destination outpost that serves as a family-friendly getaway spot for beers, relaxation, views and fun.
Madras, OR
Initiative Brewing is a little known Redmond, Oregon brewpub that opened in 2019 and more recently secured a loan commitment from the neighboring city of Madras for a big expansion. The complete overhaul and renovation of Redmond’s Jefferson County Public Health offices will turn a building that many think of as an eyesore, into a gleaming centerpiece of the local skyline and a tourism draw. The design by local architecture firm Roadside Bonsai features a glassy exterior and a second floor production brewery visible from the front facing windows. The brewpub will have a full commercial kitchen, a family friendly dining room, and a big pet friendly patio with fire pits. The Madras City Council has awarded Initiative Brewing a $100,000 grant from America Rescue Plan Act funds for a project estimated to cost $1.55 million. The 20,000 sq. ft. Initiative Brewing in Madras is expected to bring 47 full time jobs to the city when fully operational in their peak.
Clackamas, OR
Nomadic and contract based breweries/brands are a great way to make starting a brewery without hundreds of thousands of dollars a viable business. Brewer Tyler Paris knows this and is planning to take advantage of this growing opportunity afforded to Oregon with the opening of facilities like Barrett Beverage to launch Sans Motif Brewing. Paris has been studying fermentation since 2007, and got his professional start as a cidermaker at Portland’s Cider Riot, he then moved to California to become an account manager for Half Pint Cider distributor, then as a mead, cider and jun kombucha brewer at The Apiary. Not long after that Paris was offered the head brewer job at Hollister Brewing Company in Goleta, CA and that reignited his passion for beermaking. After returning to Portland, Paris worked briefly as a brewer at Culmination Brewing, and then at Hopworks.
With Sans Motif Brewing he is looking for an outlet of creative freedom, and a focus on craft lager brewing, with the brand launching with a flagship German-style Pilsner. In the long-term, Sans Motif hopes to eventually have their own taproom and set a new standard for brewers’ pay with growth opportunities and chance for individuals to also express themselves creatively.
Eugene, OR
Fellow Navy veterans and Ninkasi Brewing alumni, Cam Wells and Chris Archer, and his wife Amy have been dreaming up Arable Brewing for the past 6+ years. In 2020 it was one of our most anticipated new breweries of the year, and was originally set up to open in the small town of Veneta, Oregon. COVID-19 put that plan on ice, and they pivoted to a building in Lowell, that too didn’t pan out as it wasn’t brewery ready with the infrastructure necessary. In the end it worked out, with a successful recent Republic investment campaign, the Arable Brewing partners have leased a space at 510 Conger St. Eugene Or. 97402 and received delivery of a 3 vessel steam operated brew house and five 5 bbl conical uni-tanks for installation. Brewers Cam and Chris plan to make all styles of beer with no flagships or year-rounds, starting out with clean ales and lagers and moving into funkier European styles and even fabricating their own coolship for spontaneous fermentations. Chris Archer is a 10 year Ninkasi veteran who worked his way up to lead brewer and will be Arable brewmaster, Cam was a Ninkasi plant electrician and a facilities/maintenance master with a passion for homebrewing and will take the role of Arable’s CEO. Cams’ wife Amy Wells is the glue holding the operation together handling marketing, sales and bookkeeping. From a brewery adjacent taproom with a view of internal operations they will pour 10 constantly rotating drafts with indoor and outdoor seating, snacks, and eventually food trucks and more food offerings. Arable Brewing should be up and operating as Eugene’s newest brewery by mid-2023.
Estacada, OR
Rising from the recently closed Fearless Brewing spot on Broadway in downtown Estacada, Time Travelers Brewing officially opened its doors in late December. Billing itself as a “family-owned brewery and restaurant providing good food, atmosphere, and beer to our great community.” The brewpub will feature a full lunch and dinner menu and daily BBQ specials like pulled pork on Thursdays, a brisket on Fridays, Hawaiian chicken on Saturdays, and on Sundays, chicken and dumplings, a recipe handed over from the venerable (now closed) View Point Restaurant & Lounge.
They’re continuing the popular 9.5% ABV Strong Scotch Ale as the Time Traveler Strong Scotch Ale. It’s a nod to Fearless Brewing’s own Strong Scotch Ale but using many improved ingredients. Brewmaster Derrick Allgood, also the former Fearless brewmaster, says it’s close to the same recipe with a much better taste. “It’s a good beer but even better - we're now using Prairie Malt, better yeasts, and fresher hops than the previous recipe. It really shows using those better ingredients,” he says.
Other beers include Valkyrie Pale Ale, One Small Step Hazy, Broken Spoke Oatmeal Stout, Black Sea Porter, and Estacada Light, a lager that features a label with a logger - an homage to Estacada’s logging past and history.
- John Chilson
Portland/Tigard, OR
Big things come out of small beginnings, and Portland-area suburban nano Little Hop Brewing is about ready to become a slightly bigger thing with their first retail outlet for draft beer. The Little Hop team of McMenamins brewer Zak Cate and his wife Lisa, have done an excellent job selling their DIY approach to an adoring crowd at farmers markets and taprooms of the westside, so much so that they can’t keep up with demand. Currently they see two options for a shift in business models that will allow them to sell their own beer over the bar. They have signed a contingent lease on a property pending city approval in SW Portland while also building a "Tiny Hop House" tap truck that could be used at pop-ups or set down in a permanent space in Washington county. While they see what comes next with a brick-and-mortar, the couple is regularly posting about their handiwork on the Tiny Hop House from their instagram account. Both the Cate’s have day jobs, so while they work on Little Hop Brewing’s next chapter they have paused brewing operations temporarily and hope to resume by early Spring with more news and brews.
Eugene, OR
Not counting the one-year-open and closed Community Fermentation Union, the new Drop Bear Brewing is Eugene, Oregon’s first new brewery since Gratitude Brewing opened in 2019. Founded by Australians David and Lorraine Lehane, Drop Bear Brewing technically opened in the former Turtles Bar & Grill in early 2022 but are still working on getting the space ready to install a 7bbl brewhouse. Over the past year Drop Bear Brewing has been serving beers brewed at Portland’s Culmination Brewing, some based on David’s recipes as a longtime brewer that hehas worked on with Culmination owner Tomas Sluiter. The Lehane’s have traveled far and wide from the outback to Africa and eastern Europe, they have brought with them to Oregon a passion for sustainability and climate focused operation that will with a socially inclusive taproom serving pizza, organic, sustainable food with plenty of vegan options and beer styles like stouts, browns, pilsners, saisons, hazy and west coast and hazy IPA’s. Drop Bear recently brought in a 1-barrel pilot brewery for small batch brews helping fill the niche for creativity as they await installation of their full size brewery in the near future.