The Life, Death, & Potential Resurrection of Rogue Nation
The Long Life, Quick Death, & Potential Resurrection of Rogue Ales
It’s been more then 2 months since Rogue Ales broke apart like a jigsaw puzzle, scattering pieces of Oregon’s most widely distributed brewery across the state. Creditors, landlords, distributors, vendors (and even a few industry veterans) are now scouring the dark corners of the empire for the pieces which spanned retail, merchandising, to licensing, facilities, and included perhaps Oregon’s most valuable craft beer intellectual property (IP.)
In addition to being one of Oregon’s largest breweries and the only one distributed in all 50 states and many countries across the globe, Rogue’s legacy was also one of the most storied with 37 years of history wrapped up in people, branding, and locations. Cost cutting and streamlining of Rogue’s production business was already underway before the company collapsed under its own weight. In August 2025 Rogue announced a partnership with U.S. Beverage to outsource all of their sales and marketing to position them for growth in chain stores and big box retailers.
With Rogue’s November 24th 2025 filing for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy revealing atleast $16.7 million of debt, collectors are circling the inevitable liquidation of assets. It's easy to imagine U.S. Beverage (or someone like them) snapping up Rogue Ales IP like the Dead Guy brand itself (US Beverage acquired Utah’s Uinta Brewing in 2022 for the express purpose of contract brewing brands in their portfolio.) There is a list of big and small companies Rogue owes a lot of money, from the $1,355,291.54 to Northrim Bank to $47,473.43 to Portland’s Brewery Branding Co. Former Rogue employees are also hovering, with a newly filed lawsuit claiming breach of the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN Act). Selling off their equipment, office furniture, and old malt and hops isn’t going to come close to covering the bill, but the Rogue brand and locations could still hold a ton of value.
On December 31st 2025 the bankruptcy court gave notice that the trustee anticipated receiving funds which may be sufficient to pay a dividend to creditors, with a March 31st 2026 deadline to file a proof of claim. Floyd Holcom, landlord of Rogue Ales Pier 39 Public House doesn’t anticipate being reimbursed for his property and broken lease agreement, but he does intend to reclaim the original spirit of the Rogue Nation as envisioned by late founder Jack Joyce.
Floyd Holcom behind the bar at XRogue, the former Rogue Pier 39 Public House in Astoria, Oregon
Floyd Holcom, a lifelong Astoria, real estate investor, and an Army Special Forces veteran was ready to retire in 2025 when he put his iconic property Pier 39 up for sale. But today Holcom is back behind a bar, not one of Astoria’s bar pilots, but the bar formerly home to Rogue Ales Pier 39 Public House (100 39th St, Astoria, OR 97103.)
Holcom was out of town when Rogue President Steven Garrett called to inform him that Rogue was shutting down the Pier 39 location along with all of the other Rogue’s at the end of the day. Although many industry watchers weren’t surprised Rogue wasn’t doing so well, the sudden closure was a shocker to most everyone including Holcom.
“I was totally surprised I had no clue, we had just signed this 10 year lease in May and we had other people who wanted that space.,” says Holcom. “The last time I spoke with anyone from Rogue Steve Garrett promised to call me back, that was the day that he told all the managers that they werent going to open the next day. I never got that call back, a letter or anything.”
Holcom was out of town when he heard the news. By the time he returned Rogue Pier 39 it had already been partially looted as the backdoor was never properly secured.
“They owe me $30k in rent and they destroyed the place. By the time I got back from Arizona on a trip it was stinking,” adds Holcom.
Holcom didn’t mind the missing kegs of beer, food, and dead guy whiskey, he gave away the remaining Rogue Spirits to the former staff laid off without notice at Pier 39’s annual holiday party and the food had to be dumped. But Holcom was shocked to see the state of the pub. The grease traps were full, the kitchen hoods hadn’t been cleaned in a long time, maintainence didn’t appear to have been kept up. It was a sad and disappointing state of affairs, especially for Holcom, who was one of the first to get onto the Rogue bandwagon when they first launched in 1988. Once an ardent supporter of Rogue, according to Holcom the company had lost its way a long time ago.
“I built this space out for Rogue when Jack and I started, we were the first franchisee for Rogue. 2 years into it Jack decided he wanted to expand all the pubs and instead of doing a franchise he wanted to go corporate. So they started doing the pubs and Jack got sick with cancer, I talked to him the day before he died,” says Holcom. “I may be the last of the original guys with Rogue, as you know, it changed when Jack Died.”
Rogue Pier 39 Public House was the second satellite Rogue location following the original locations in Ashland and Newport and the Isaquaah brew house which closed in 2019. There was never any brewing on-site because the 150+ year-old Pier would never sustain the weight of a brew house let alone the trucks and equipment it would take to install it. That’s ok with Holcom, who is committed to preserving the legacy both of the original Rogue mission and of the historic Hanthorn Cannery of which the pub will be renamed in honor of.
The Hanthorn Cannery was opened by J.O. Hanthorn in 1875. It was not the first cannery, but has outlived all the earlier operations, and now holds the proud title of the oldest cannery pier on the entire Columbia River according to the Hanthorn Cannery Foundation which operates a small museum on Pier 39. The facility grew to 8 different buildings on the Pier, and at one time had a copper shop, butchering room, fillet room, liver picking area, net wharf, and a Chinese mess house. The Hanthorn Cannery would eventually become Bumble Bee Seafoods, which still exists today though the brand relocated to San Diego following a fire in 1993.
Today Pier 39 is home to the Arrow Tugboat & Tour Company, Fisherman’s Suites; a 6 Suite Luxury mini lodge, executive office rentals and artists lofts, the Vineside wine bar, beloved cafe Coffee Girl, Ole Bob’s seafood and raw fish market, Athena’s Mediterranean Kitchen, gift shop Ghost Ship Trading Post, Four Winds Canvas Works sail repair and maker of custom premium bags, Panache hair salon, and exploration company Astoria Scuba where you can rent a dive compressor or a kayak and explore the Columbia River.
Holcom and his wife Sheryl worked quickly to reopen the Pier 39 Public House under temporary 7-day OLCC permits obtained as an extension of Vineside Wine Bar’s alcohol license. Since December 16th 2025 Holcom has been behind the bar every day at the pub which he refers to as the “XRogue” pop-up and his role “CEO to bartender.”
“When Rogue changed their mentality, their vision, when Jack died, they pulled the guest taps out of the pubs,” says Holcom. “When I came in to take back over our pub all I saw were Rogue taps here, there was no Buoy, no Astoria Brewing, no Fort George -all Rogue. Jack was always a supporter of the other microbreweries and that was not his vision. So the first thing we did is we brought in Ft. George, Ilwaco Cider Company, Sisu, Seaside Brewing, and Bauman’s Cider to really give the breadth of the entrepreneurs in this industry.”
Now Floyd is determined to keep the classic Rogue Public House in Astoria alive in the same way that he has kept Pier 39 alive with constant love and maintenance. By day Holcom works on repairing the pub for its next phase, by night he gets behind the bar and pours beer for the locals at unbeatable prices $5 for pints and flights of tastings from 4-6pm and stays open until it slows down.
A liquor license to open The New Hanthorn Taphouse is pending, as is an announcement of a managing partner with 20+ years experience running restaurants in Portland and owning a taproom in Hillsoboro. When the New Hanthorn Taphouse officially opens Holcom plans to have a new kitchen and a menu showcasing Ole Seafood’s fresh live crab, oysters, and salmon- plus Montana Steaks. The 30 draft beer lines will be filled with Oregon and Washington beer and by request a Nitro Guinness tap and Michelob Ultra for the fishermen, Coast guard, and bar pilots that have long been regulars.
“There were a few early people back in the day who understood Jack’s vision,” says Holcom. “The Rogue Nation was made up of embassies, they didn’t have managers they had ambassadors. That is why Rogue was kicking ass in those days is that felt that they were ambassadors to craft beer. I think that’s why Jack chose us to put a Rogue here.”
Holcom isn’t the only Rogue Ales debtor looking to reopen a former pub location.
In Salem the newest Rogue Ales Salem Public House (555 9th St NW, Salem, OR 97304) is fresh as they come with only 8 months in operation before the company went belly up. The location is solid, off of a busy intersection and shares the lot with a dense shopping area. The restaurant and bar is fully built-out and new, with extensive outdoor seating area and a large fire pit. The warm, timber-accented build-out features an indoor fireplace, spacious dining area, and an expansive bar suitable for high capacity operations. Even the kitchen is ready-to-go, featuring a Class One commercial hood, a massive walk-in refrigerator, and comprehensive kitchen infrastructure—ideal for full-service restaurant operations, catering, or specialty concepts. “Simply turn on the lights and open for business,” says the listing for the 5,050 SF / $32.00 SF/YR building constructed in 2019.
Rogue Ales Portland Public House (928 SE 9th Ave, Portland, OR 97214) was once the hottest craft beer venue in town when it was known as the Green Dragon Pub. The storied taproom and gastropub opened by Lorren “LoLo” Lancaster and the late-legendary Jim Parker basically created the eventized meet-the-brewer concept and popularized secret taps, rare beer tappings, and delivering on food, music, coffee, activities and even house distilling. Rogue Ales controversially acquired Green Dragon in 2008 and for years kept it mostly the same, even adding an additional bar and a back wall of taps. In 2016 the pub was rebranded, gone were the guest taps and bistro food, the green and black speakeasy-style aesthetic replaced with Rogue’s red and white iconography. For awhile it was home to Rogue’s “Buckman Botanical Brewery” with experimental brews complementing Rogue’s classics. The Green Dragon Brew Crew still met and brewed small-batch beers on a pilot system releasing an average of one beer a month, until that relationship soured as well in 2022.
The former Green Dragon Pub / Rogue Portland Public House is back on the block, available turnkey and basically untouched since it closed for business in November. The spacious warehouse type space is full of cool books and areas, from the main bar and beer hall to a full kitchen, dining room, and merch room, there is even a private room with dining inside a huge oak foeder. Then there is the enclosed patio right on SE Belmont, kitty-corner to the Grand Central Bowl building and the former Cascade Brewing Barrel House. This patio used to be home to the quanset hut coffee shop and then an arcade, it also hosted amazing beer events back in the Green Dragon days, and then events like the Killer Pumpkin Fest in the Rogue days.
At $5,000 a month + NNN the lease looks like a decent price for such a large and promising space ready to be reopened with the turn of a key. All the furnishings are there, and an additional 5,000 sq ft. of warehouse space with brewing equipment can be added on for an additional cost.