Long dormant Ascendant Beer Co. reopens in Portland’s Old Town neighborhood
Ascendant Beer Company has been in a state of hibernation since the early days of the pandemic. The old town/downtown Portland brewpub reopens this week after a very long closure.
Ascendant was originally known as Pints Brewing, which opened in 2012 under head brewer Zach Beckwith who focused on classic unfussy British-American-styles of beers. Over the years Pints Brewing evolved with a succession of notable brewers under the watchful eye of brewmaster Alan Taylor who went on to co-found Zoiglhaus Brewery in 2015. Pints Brewing was rebranded Ascendant and shifted to be a more contemporary American brewery with brewpub staples like IPA, Red, Porter so that sister-brewery Zoiglhaus could focus more on German traditional styles.
Ascendant Beer’s location is notable, as the first brewery in the Old Town/Chinatown neighborhood of downtown Portland since Henry Saxer’s original Liberty Brewing Co. opened in 1852. The old brick building is near the MAX light rail line and transit station, in a rough neighborhood near public service agencies and office buildings that were among the hardest hit by the pandemic. In the earlier years Pints operated a craft-small batch coffee cafe called Pints Everyday Coffee in the mornings before transitioning to brewpub for lunch. The coffee shop closed exactly 10 years to the date that it first opened and the pub has been closed mostly since the beginning of COVID with a few temporary reopenings.
“We reopened briefly during the time restaurants were able to open and were shut down again a couple of times in 2021. After rebooting everything and having to close a few times, we stopped that cycle and waited for the area/economy/pandemic to get better,” says co-owner/brewmaster Alan Taylor.
Ascendant Beer and Zoiglhaus brewmaster/co-owner Alan Taylor at the Ascendant brewhouse
The slow traffic downtown since COVID-19 was the primary reason that Ascendant Beer had not reopened since the 2021 winter freeze on dining/drinking operations. In that time, Zoiglhaus’ larger production brewery continued to make some of the core Zoiglhaus brands like Seismic IPA, Rip Saw Red, and Awesome Sauce Hazy IPA. They expanded distribution to Washington in 2022 and kept the brand alive.
“The brewery has been dormant for the most part,” says Taylor. “When draft started to come back in 2021, we fired up the brewery for a few weeks, producing some one-off beers for both Ascendant as well as for the sister brewery Zoiglhaus. All of the available brewers who had been trained at Ascendant had moved out of the area during the darkest days of COVID. The amount of time it took to train staff to be able to run the 3.5 bbl brewhouse while we were ramping up production at Zoiglhaus again was too difficult for us.”
Ascendant Brewing had a few small projects brewed in-house in 2021, but focused their main production to Zoiglhaus which is currently undergoing a big expansion to increase capacity from around 6,000 bbls per year to about 30,000 bbls per year. This will allow both brands to produce more of their mainstay beers and new seasonals, one-offs, and experiments. The Ascendant brewhouse is not yet needed as they reopen and test the waters for how busy they will be.
To no ones surprise, the Old Town/downtown Portland base of customers from workers to tourism is not what it used to be. But it’s still a busy area in need of solid craft beer options. Ascendant ownership was holding out for their long awaited opening and say they feel like some of the issues like the sidewalk camps and city services in the neighborhood have gotten much better.
“It is a combination of timing and optimism. Even though our Old Town customer base is less than pre-COVID, we have desired to have an outlet for the fans of the brand to be able to meet up and enjoy the beers and beautiful space at Ascendant,” says Taylor. “Old Town is more accomodating that it has been for the last three years. We look to help make a push for more activity that will draw folks back to what should again be a vibrant part of Portland. I personally miss the sounds of the patrons enjoying themselves at Ascendant. It is a great space.”
Ascendant grand reopening beers include: Seismic IPA (West Coast Style), Awesome Sauce Hazy IPA (Bronze medal last year at OBA), Rip Saw Red (NW style, hop-forward Red Ale), Unwaivering Approach (Unfiltered IPA from Zoiglhaus/Ascendant Head Brewer Clint Reed), Team Lift Porter (rich Munich malt-forward Porter from Assistant Brewmaster Nick Velasquez). Plus seasonals of Helles Lager and a Bavarian-style Hefeweizen to start, with more of them coming in the days, weeks, months ahead.
Ascendant Brewing will reopen on April 12th with a Grand Reopening on April 14th with beer and 21+ seating only indoors, all-ages street seating. The celebration includes a free slice of Humdinger Pizza (which is just down the street from Zoiglhaus and from the same owners) with the first pint purchased but the full kitchen has not yet reopened. Hours are Wednesday through Friday from 4 pm to 9 pm-ish depending on how busy they are.
412 NW 5th Ave
Portland, Oregon 97209
Phone: (503) 564-BREW