Day One Distro celebrates milestone 10th anniversary as Oregon’s essential beer nerd distributor

If it wasn’t already crystal clear how distributors determine how, who, and where our favorite beers and ciders are found or discovered it is becoming increasingly relevant with the disappearance of many classics and smaller brands from the tap handles in the wake of big buyouts and corporate acquisitions. Fortunately here in Oregon we still have a couple boutique beer wholesalers like Day One Distro which are more essential then ever in the success of the industry.

For nearly 200 years distributors have built every recognizable beer brand we know today. Most breweries or cideries don’t have the ability to deliver and distribute their product not the desire to strain their focus to a different business model. Not to mention the assets such as trucks, warehousing, cooler space, delivery drivers, and account sales people, plus so much more.

A good account buyer is responsible for some of the best beer nerd friendly selections but often are only filling that role on the side of their regular duties bartending or managing the day-to-day operations. There are not many places like Belmont Station, The Beermongers, Wildwood Taphouse, or ABeer Club that have a dedicated expert to spend hour upon hour every week researching and curating their offerings. Most of the time the bar that always has a tap dedicated to your favorite lager, IPA, or amber ale is likely because of the distributor, and the same goes double-fold for cans or bottles at the big box grocery store and corner bodega.

So when a huge company like Columbia Distributing, Reyes, or Anheuser-Busch scoops up another smaller distributor like Columbia Distributing did with Point Blank in January it is usually an attempt to find the next brand to fill aisles in a Walmart or Target and not your local taproom or craft beer store. Smaller breweries or cideries that don’t have the capacity or even the desire to make that much product end up left out in the cold as does the mom and pop shop or the small restaurant who doesn’t have a huge cooler and is only able to stock a few kegs or racks of cans at a time. And contrary to popular belief, a brand does not have a free option to leave a distributor just because another distributor purchases it, no matter what the contract says the law will almost always leave the power in the wholesaler to choose if and how a brewery can depart the relationship. Following the legalization of 3.2% alcohol beer post-prohibition on March 22, 1933, the three-tier system was established, separating producers, wholesalers, and retailers.

“The three tier system and the statute that governs distribution relationships in the State of Oregon do lean heavily towards distributors,” admits Day One founder Robby Roda, a refreshing aside and something much different then you would hear from one of the big guys. “We have always sought to be true partners with our producers. Day One is made up of people that have worked for and supported small breweries, we have been on the other side of the coin. Working closely with our brands to make contracts that benefit everyone is something we are proud of. Our brands are our partners.”

The beer business is a chain and distributors are the link, if the system breaks down that directly correlates to the consumer. Grocery stores and so-called c-stores are often stocked not by staff but by the distributors themselves. So how those cans are treated on the racks and delivered by keg really matters in how they are perceived. And that is precisely why we need small locally owned distributors like Day One that have that personal one-to-one relationship not only with the account they are selling beer to, but also to the brewery/Cidery/CBD/seltzer maker and even on to the individual drinker.

Day One Distro will celebrate servicing Oregon’s favorite beer nerd breweries, taprooms, and casual establishments for a decade later this year. Over that time they have become the go-to for small, boutique, sought after and up and coming brands. Based out of Portland they offer state-wide service. Although Day One has a reputation for bringing in hyped brands for limited rops like Highland Park, Green Cheek and Ghost Town, they have steadily built up an even larger book of long-term partners from the Pacific Northwest like Chuckanut Brewing, Hetty Alice, Grains of Wrath Son of Man Cider, Great Notion and Ruse.

“It has been a great partnership and friendship,” says Ruse Brewing co-founder Shaun Kalis of working with Day One. “We have grown together and truly value what they do for craft beer and us.” Ruse, which started out as an alternating proprietorship inside Culmination Brewing, really took off after they partnered with Day One and more people were finally able to discover their beers.

Great Notion Brewing, a household name since helping popularize and perfect NE-style Hazy IPA as well as fruit and dessert-inspired flavors in beer, still really needed Day One’s help when it came time to get their beers into stores and taps in Oregon. After pioneering the home delivery service via their own signature mobile app, tackling distribution was a task they weren’t prepared for.

“It’s been amazing working with the whole Day One team the past couple of years. I feel like we’ve both been around business-wise about the same amount of time and it’s great to see each other grow. Their team is awesome to work hand and hand with as we both make some larger power moves in 2026.” - Paul Reiter, Great Notion Brewing.

Day One co-founder Robby Roda

Robby Roda was born in Oregon, but moved to Fullerton, California in High School and later joined the beer business first as an avid homebrewer and a beertender at The Bottle Room in Whittier, California. It was there that he got to know some of SoCal’s hottest young breweries from Beachwood Brewing to Monkish Brewing and El Segundo as he transitioned into a sales position with a small Los Angeles beer distributor.

Eventually Oregon called Roda back and he became Cascade Brewing’s sales manager at the height of their influence on new American Sour Ales.

It was at the The Bottle Room where Roda first met Ryan Evans, Day One’s current General Manager and one of the prime reasons why Day One has become such a breakout success. “I was a delivery driver for Stone Brewing at the time,” says Evans. “We did not really connect as friends though until I was the sales rep for Smog City Brewing a few years later. Every time I would come to visit Portland he would meet me at Cascade and give me recs for the best spots in town.”

In 2016 Robby Roda and his partner Jimmy Han launched Day One Distro with just a few SoCal brands: El Segundo Brewing, Noble Ale Works, Phantom Carriage, and Smog City Brewing. The name “Day One” was inspired by El Segundo Brewing’s program of kegging a beer and getting it out to draft accounts on the same day, which is mostly unheard of.

“I saw a clear hole in the craft distro market in Oregon and decided to fill it,” says Roda. “The focus was on bringing in limited drops of exciting breweries from outside of Oregon by leaning into the relationships I built working in craft beer in Southern California, as well as while I was traveling the country as Cascade Brewing's national sales director.”

They only had enough cash to pay for the wholesale license and the first month's rent. Day One wouldn’t even have been able to afford their first keg/can imports to begin with so they had to pre-sell the first shipment of El Segundo Brewing beers just to continue and then had to reinvest those funds just to afford the next drop of beer and so on and so on.

That predicament highlights why distribution services are so limited and so dominated by big corporations as the old mom and pop family distributors continue to sell-out as the founders age-out. Just to get in to the business to begin with usually requires a vast reserve of cash or big investment. Day One started and still has none of those things, but built it piece by piece.

“I thought that there would have been more pushback from the market due to the fact that we were bringing in craft beer from Oregon into a state that was historically focused on hyper-local beer,” admits Roda. “Fortunately the craft beer bars/bottle shops and their customers were receptive to the new hard to get out of state beer.”

The unique (or crazy depending on how you look at it) Day One business plan not only worked out but also helped launch one of Portland’s most unique taprooms own business model which has since been replicated by others. Casey Armstrong founded Function PDX in NW Portland as a pop-up events space, later turning to focus on beer, and really only finding success after pivoting to featuring specialty out-of-state breweries beers that were only able to obtain thanks to Day One Distro.

“Honestly speaking, Function wouldn’t be where it is today without Robby and the entire Day One crew,” says Function owner/founder Casey Armstrong. “We’ve worked with countless breweries that have given us a seat at the table because of the relationship they have with Day One; while at the same time, I’ve made numerous calls to Robby asking for his support in bringing in brewery “x” or “y” with little-to-no pushback from Robby. Not only is it the access to amazing national beer brands, but their deliberate approach to building relationships with their accounts and truly servicing their day-to-day needs continues to keep them above the rest (in my opinion).”

Robby Roda’s old friend from the SoCal beer scene, Ryan Evans, moved to Portland in 2019 after living in LA for 12 years and working in beer for 9. The day after he arrived he started at Day One as their fourth employee and the only sales representative beside Robby himself.

“Once Covid hit, things really changed for us. All of these sought after breweries that previously did not have enough beer to send out of their home markets, suddenly had availability for us!” says Evans about one of the few positive things to come out of the pandemic for the small craft beer business.

“We leaned in hard on working with the brands everyone had been trading for and made them accessible to the Oregon market. As we started to need more people and space, Robby and I worked together on how to plan expansion and manage a growing team. I was doing sales, warehousing, routing, deliveries, and some bookkeeping so it made sense to take on the title of General Manager,” says Evans who up until last year was managing warehouse/drivers, brand management, and shipping logistics. As Day One has expanded they have been able to add people and take some of the work off Evans and Roda’s responsibilities so that they can focus on some of the big picture plans.

“I believe we are unique,” says Evans. “Our perspective and background are from the view of small breweries and wanting to see them grow and succeed. The majority of our employees have previously worked at breweries and were fans of our brands before starting at  Day One and being able to work with them.”

Small and nimble, but also not too small is just the way Roda, Evans, and the team likes it. Every week suppliers get an email with the latest drops and a first-come-first-serve opportunity for highly limited deliveries like Beachwood Brewing and Parish Brewing that appeared in the 2/9 and 2/16/26 mailer and also can peruse the equally sought after local brands from the new Tiny Giants Brewing to Living Haus and Oak Union Brewing that are available on the regular and now make up the majority of their sales.

“What makes us special is our unique approach to the market and the well curated selection of brands we supply. In many ways we operate just like the brands we distribute: small and nimble, with an eye toward people and quality products first,” says Roda.

Nearly every illusive appearance of a rare sought after brands from across the country appears briefly in the Oregon market it is most likely because of Day One’s reputation on relationships and flexibility. Instead of leaning on the lopsided three-tier-system that allows some larger distributors to leverage contracts against their suppliers, Day One has become the go-to for those who would love to show our local market some love without entering into a forced marriage. So if anyone’s wondering why everyone from 3 Floyds Brewing to Monkish and Weldwerks is working with Day One it’s not because of money or assets - it is reputation.

“Many of the suppliers in our book I've become friends with through other contacts in the beer industry or by word of mouth. We're always looking for brands that offer quality high-end releases within the styles they offer, a variety of products that will move well in the Oregon market, and brands looking to stay relatively small and/or grow at the pace we're at. As for staff, most of our employees are either friends of ours or friend of friends. Our relationships within Oregon craft beer's circles keep us informed of folks looking for work and opportunities for new hires on a regular basis.”

That relationship and reliability for support that extends beyond customer service and flexible deliveries and into becoming a resource for supporting pop-up events, and bringing in special requested kegs for breweries that aren’t even partners or accounts such as Brews for New Avenues and the upcoming Brujos Brewing 2nd Anniversary fest.

Roda credits right time and right place for Day One’s success, as well as “being small enough to curate the best brands & foster relationships that last in the market. Our positive and unique approach to distribution is how Day One has built its name and how we will continue to grow by maintaining the same standards of excellence.”

With only a handful of real distribution options in Oregon wholesale businesses like Day One Distro are essential to the local beer ecosystem that keeps Beervana alive.