ForeLand Beer negotiating move from McMinnville to Upright Brewing
ForeLand Beer owner David Sanguinetti pulls a cask beer at Upright Brewing
ForeLand Beer, a McMinnville, Oregon based brewery with a taproom in Portland, is closing their brewery and center of operations later this year. Located at 777 NE 4th St, the ForeLand Beer real estate has been sold to a new owner and the brewery will exit when their lease is up leaving the brand in a temporary limbo pending a big move. ForeLand Beer is in negotiations at the Leftbank Project development in Portland to take over the former Upright Brewing location at 240 N Broadway which closed in December 2024.
Foreland, which was founded in 2020 by brewer Sean Burke and McMinnville brewery and taproom owner David Sanguinetti (The Bitter Monk, Allegory Brewing) won the Oregon Beer Awards Best New Brewery of the Year in 2021. In September 2021 ForeLand opened The Study in an old southeast Portland craftsman house, The Study closed in December 2024 only to reopen one year later in January 2026 with a refreshed concept including a bar, TV’s, and an incoming pizza kitchen.
ForeLand Beer’s homebase in downtown McMinnville is just 1 block off of 3rd Street, the main downtown business strip in town. This 5,855 sq. ft. space not including the parking/outdoor lot is a production warehouse with a beer garden, food trucks, and a small taproom that is listed for $18.00 /SF/YR on loopnet. Here, current brewer Jamie LeResche crafts West Coast hoppy beers, continental and adjunct lagers, and English and American pub beers.
In September 2024 the ForeLand building in McMinnville was sold to a new group of investors when the family that owned it moved out-of-state and were offered a cool $1 million for it that the brewery could not match within 30 days of closing. At first ForeLand’s future still seemed secure in the building as they had a 5-year lease renewal option with no new plans for a new tenant.
“Now here is where you need to review your lease with your old landlord and lock down certain things (if they're cool),” says Sanguinetti. “Previously our yearly increases were built on CPI but the new landlords exercised the "market value" language and came back to us at the end of the year that they were requiring a 96% increase in base rent, a newly installed NNN, and $8,500 more in security deposit! After they tried to sneak a zoning change in without informing us, and given this lease rate, it became obvious we weren't in their long-term plans for the building so we informed them we would not be renewing.”
Sanguinetti hopes that another brewery will move into their McMinnville space and they can sell or lease the equipment there back to them. The brewing equipment in the basement at Upright Brewing would be all but impossible to remove without completely disassembling and destroying much of it at the cost of the building owners or Ganum, and thus it also wouldn’t be possible for ForeLand to move most of their brewing equipment from McMinnville into the basement. So for both Ganum and Sanguinetti the best possible scenarios are to leave their respective Brew houses, tanks, etc. in place for a new owner.
“Operating as a working brewery has real value. While equipment might not hold much value these days, labor and materials costs have only increased. Therefore, the true value of our equipment is that it is installed, permitted, and ready to go,” says Sanguinetti. Adding that he hopes interested parties will reach out to the listing agent for their current McMinnville location about taking over after their lease ends on June 30th. “I still think McMinnville can support more breweries and lord knows it doesn't need another winery!
Inside the industry circles it’s been an open secret that ForeLand has been hoping to take over the space at 240 N. Broadway where Upright Brewing was founded and operated for nearly 16 years before closing on December 30th. The space, and the brewing setup there is unique and carries a lot of history, respect, and also many challenges.
That said, Upright’s unique open fermentation room and close quarters basement brewery aren’t necessarily conducive to many brewing operations.
“Any brewery worth its salt in Oregon has a special place in its heart for Upright and has been inspired by Alex and team,” says Sanguinetti. “Obviously the equipment is a little different but we're excited about utilizing aspects that make the space so unique. The open fermenters in particular offer a chance to further delve into English beers while also using them with newer brewing techniques, products, and methodology. There are some cool ideas we're kicking around!”
For the past few weeks ForeLand has quietly been popping up for one-off tap takeovers at the former Upright Brewing space. These single evening/happy hour only pop-ups have been under OLCC special event permits to try and capitalize on the huge crowds that show up at the nearby MODA Center for Portland TrailBlazers games and large concerts. When Upright Brewing reopened in June 2021 following a lengthy pandemic related closure, the brewery moved their intimate basement level tasting room up to the main floor of the building lobby to make it easier to find with more space, more light, outdoor seating, and even a cafe/deli initially ran by Portland Bottleshop.
LeftBank Project cafe, former Upright Brewing taproom, current ForeLand Beer pop-up space
“The taproom equipment and supplies were still there (Upright beer was still on tap!) so we've been looking at the schedule and picking days to check the natural flow of attendees to the taproom,” says Sanguinetti.
The permanent move to the Upright Brewing space is not a done deal, but appears to be likely. The potential conflicts surround Upright owner Alex Ganum’s ability to get the existing lease on the space free and clear.
“I've made it clear from the beginning that ForeLand won't do anything until Upright is settled and clear and Alex can walk away. I want him to feel at peace and I care about my friend. I can say that if/when we take over the brewery, we won't be owners of any of the equipment. It will belong to the Landlord,” says Sanguinetti. “ForeLand has a preliminary lease in place for the production brewery and the upstairs cafe that should (needs to be) made official by the middle of April or we walk.”
Assuming the deal goes through, the question remains of what will an urban ForeLand taproom inside the Jazzy and industrial design and branded Leftbank Project lobby look like? While the space is pretty as is with some incredible golden hour light at sunset and a lot of history and class, it still needs to evolve into more of a brewery space with ForeLand’s signature designs featuring natural landscapes and cool calming colors. The goal will be to separate it from the rest of the Leftbank Project office/project building atmosphere to make it move inviting with a ForeLand theme. They will also likely add new food options, maybe even a full bar.
Those plans are still gestating, but if you missed the original Upright tasting room in the basement that was more intimate, rustic, and speakeasy-esque you will be happy to hear that Sanguinetti does hope to revive it for special events.
“We take being in that space very seriously. It's sacred ground! The lore of the basement is basically Oregon brewing history. We'll always pay homage with a beer here and there or by leaving design aspects. It also presents a challenge: how can we be ForeLand in that space and separate that in people's minds? We've got some ideas and while they are daunting, it's exciting. And no, we won't be bottling beer or brewing Engelberg...unless Alex comes in and makes us.”
