Portland-Area Brewery Closures you may have missed
With summer in the rear view mirror and dry January less than two months away breweries and taprooms are falling off like fresh hop ales in the fall. The turning of the season means change, not all of it is bad news as much as it is metamorphosis of a saturated beer culture always looking to the next thing whether that’s a winter warmer or a non-alcoholic IPA. But while we were distracted by the latest triple double hazy release and brewery pop-up, a few Portland-area breweries and taprooms succumbed to their wounds.
Second Profession Brewing stepped into the turnkey former BTU Brasserie restaurant and brewery space at 5846 NE Sandy Blvd in 2017 with a focus on Northwest ales and midwest-style bratwurst and German pub food. Second Profession was founded by Charlie Goman, who’s day job started off selling office essentials and moved into IT trade shows, after 8 years as a homebrewer he was ready to go pro and turn his hobby into a second career. Initially running a pub that was contemporary German/Midwest with heavy emphasis on bratwurst, Second Profession pivoted into subleasing out the restaurant/taproom space to Arrowood kitchen kitchen instead. In 2019 the brewery vacated their original space for the turnkey former “The Labrewatory” taproom and showpiece brewery at 668 N Russell St.
Second Profession Brewing Company is now seemingly closed for good despite google still listing it as open. Repeated attempts to contact Goman to confirm were made but never answered. But a listing for a “Plug & play opportunity with all brewing equipment available for lease” is posted on property leasing/sale website Loopnet. The 3,367 sq. ft. former Second Profession space is carved out into 2,157 sq. ft. for the brewery with a 25’x25’ ft walk-in cooler, and 1,210 sq. ft. for the taproom in an appealing plant filled space with built-in-bar with wood front and tiled and LED lit glass backsplash area. The leased area does not have a kitchen but even better, it is located in the same building with Tamale Boy right next door offering authentic Mexican cuisine. Check out the listing here for more info.
Ridgewalker Brewing
Ridgewalker Brewing opened in 2016 in a shuttered post office building about a half an hour west of Portland in Forest Grove. The brewpub is a great space, from the distinct architecture on the exterior to the heavily wood focused interior with large live edge wood slabbed tables, and comfy couches, even a back patio and beer garden. However the brewery launched making 1-bbl of beer at a time off-site in a detached garage in unincorporated Washington County. Over the pandemic years the Ridgewalker Brewing brand merged with Yakima, Washington’s Hop Capital Brewing on their SW Portland location in John’s Landing, but that deal ended up falling through with the location closing and Hop Capital shuttering completely a short time later.
Ridgewalker Brewing soldiered on, striking up contract brewing arrangements with Cooper Mountain Ale Works after they purchased the Max’s Fanno Creek Brewpub in Tigard. In Spring of 2023, Cooper Mountain took over the management of Ridgewalker Brewing and tried to take it back into solvency.
“We've done our best to steward the brand for the last 18 months, but we're at the end of our ability to continue funding the site in Forest Grove,” says Cooper Mountain owner/brewer Chris Sjolin. “I'm writing specifically to cast as wide a net as possible to find a new tenant/operator/whatever. The building and land will be for sale, which would be an optimal option for a tenant looking to potentially transition into a food cart pod.”
Sjolin said at times business was good, but that a taproom or bar with a food truck would likely do much better. However, he says there is space with drains and utilities for a brewhouse up to about 4bbl in the basement if someone was inclined to take it on.
Creekside Brewing is a nano brewing operation established in Beaverton, Oregon in 2021. The family run and operated brewery has put a lot of effort in to show up at events and introduce their Pacific Northwest ales to the community at fests like the Nano Beer Fest, Oregon Trail Brewfest, and Beaverton Lager Festival. In 2023 the Creekside found a brick-and-mortar home and took over the lease at one of their best accounts by turning Iron Tap Station beer bar into the brewery taphouse. Operating with their own beers pouring alongside guest taps, Creekside taphouse seemed to find success until their recent announcement of closure after Black Friday November 29th, 2024. Announcing on their Instagram, Creekside said:
“We've met amazing people, made new life-long friends, and learned a lot along the way. Unfortunately, this location is no longer sustainable. Our lease is nearly up, but we were unable to come to a favorable lease agreement with our new landlord. Pair that with the constant roadwork over the last two years and the changes in people's drinking habits since the pandemic, and we just can't afford to keep the doors open beyond the end of our lease.”
The brewery itself is not closing, only the taproom. Creekside intends to refocus on increased production and keg distribution, canning their beers for the first time via a new contract brewing partnership with Occidental Brewing.
Hair of the Dog Brewing building For Sale or Lease
Speaking of brewery spaces for lease, Hair of the Dog Brewing recently held their last docksale to clear out the remaining vintage inventory. HOTD founder Alan Sprints still owns the building at 61 SE Yamhill St, and briefly leased it out to Dylan VanDetta for the short-lived Labyrinth Forge Brewing. Now that the building is no longer in use for anything but a storage space, it is back on the market for a new tenant or building owner. The pretty much turnkey 10k sq. ft. warehouse/retail-restaurant space is priced at a cool $3 mil for purchase of the entire building and contents, or leasing at $12,500 NNN. The features include a 3,000 sq. ft. restaurant/bar space with a kitchen and hood; commercial dishwasher; Full HVAC: Seating up to 100. The additional 7,000 sf is in production space/storage; Other characteristics are 18' ceilings; 2 grade loading doors; Substantial 3 Phase power; Skylights; Floor drains with a new roof installed last year. More listing info here.
Will Brewery 26 rise again?
Brewery 26 was a once promising nano brewery from Andy Shaw, which revved up to canning and distribution just before the pandemic began. Pivoting into a taproom on SE Powell Blvd. and bringing in new ownership partner Keith Hattori, Brewery 26 made the most of a difficult situation and even managed to grow and expand to a full size 7bbl Brew House, production space, and taproom at 818 SE Ankeny St, Portland, OR 97214 just behind the Jupiter Hotel. But the business has struggled since then, with Shaw exiting the company and Hattori struggling with a full-time brewer.
In July of 2023 Brewery 26 announced they were for sale and would be closing by the end of that summer. But when the time came to close up operations that September they instead announced the brewery would stay alive with some major TBA changes. What those changes were/are is unclear; and on August 16th 2024 they announced a “temporary” closure due to a licensing issue. Three months later and there have been no updates, and we assumed that was it for Brewery 26 for real this time. But apparently another reprieve is in their future. Recently contacted for comment, Hattori said, “Brewery 26 will reopen in the next few months with exciting new additions! It’s been a long road but the story doesn’t end here.”
Chuckanut Brewery P-Nut space rumored to become a new brewery taproom
Bellingham, Washington lager-centric Chuckanut Brewery opened a Portland taproom called “P-Nut” located in the same building as their Oregon distributor Day One in late 2021, and closed it in October 2024. Beloved for their world-class lagers, Chuckanut Brewery lives on at their production brewery and tasting room in Burlington, Washington and will now see increased production of packaged product. The Portland taproom never caught on, even if people loved the beer, but the space has not been publicly relisted for lease and rumors suggest another brewery in Day One Distribution’s portfolio is likely to succeed it.