The New School’s New Breweries & Cideries 2026 Block Party
The New School’s annual New Breweries & Cideries Showcase is back this Saturday, June 20th after taking a one-year hiatus.
This free to attend event will be an indoor/outdoor block party at Imperial Bottle Shop & Taproom featuring a one-day closure of the street outside the taproom from 2-10pm on Saturday. Come get your first taste of breweries and cideries and that have just launched in the Pacific Northwest, a chance to try their beverages and meet-the-brewers and owners in-person from 4-7pm.
The New Breweries & Cideries Showcase is continuing our mission to highlight 12+ small breweries from all over Oregon and Washington. Each participant has a distinct creative vision and flavors, either creating new spaces in underserved areas or popular destinations, others reviving old spaces and defunct breweries to breath new life into them. Its an exciting lineup of newcomers coming to Portland, many of them for the first time outside of their hometowns and taprooms.
The very first New Oregon Breweries Showcase was held in 2015 at Bailey’s Taproom in downtown Portland with 10 brand new breweries to have opened in Oregon. The event continued every year as a tap takeover and meet-the-new-brewer event at Bailey’s, introducing such breweries as Great Notion, Wayfinder, Buoy, Ruse, and Alesong, to name just a few. The event moved to Imperial Bottle Shop & Taproom in 2020 after Bailey’s Taproom closed, the new venue allowed the party to expand with a much larger outdoor area.
Featured New Breweries & Cideries:
Tall Trees Brew Lab (Hillsboro)
Homebrewers Dan Schlegel and Nathan Roszina have been making beer under the name Tall Trees Brew Lab since about 2019. Up until recently the Tall Trees beers were mostly shared in hushed circles of beer aficionados at bottle shares and brewfests, and in limited drops into an underground beer club. In 2025 Schlegel and Roszina made Tall Trees official by opening a taproom in Hillsboro and a commercial brewing partnership with ForeLand. Recently Tall Trees Brew Lab has been featured at Brujos 2nd Anniversary Fest, and Mikkeller Beer Celebration in Copenhagen, though they are still searching for a permanent brewing location.
Arcane Cider (Portland)
Evan Reedy and Brendan O'Connor, officially launched in October 2025 after changing their initial name from Pantheon Cider to Arcane Cider. Located in Clackamas, Oregon, Arcane Cider draws inspiration from a shared passion for fantasy novels and tabletop games, as well as the region’s rich agricultural heritage, all while embracing modern techniques and unexpected flavor profiles.
O'Connor previously served as head cidermaker at Portland Cider Company before deciding it was time to strike out on his own and bring his creative vision to life. Co-founder Evan Reedy, after spending time outside the industry, felt the pull to return and help build a brand rooted in quality, community, and bold ideas.
“Starting Arcane Cider was about reclaiming the joy of creation,” said Brendan. “I wanted the freedom to experiment, to push boundaries, and to make ciders that feel a little magical, something you don’t find every day.”
Reedy added, “We wanted to build a cidery that feels welcoming, imaginative, and unapologetically creative. Arcane Cider is about more than just great drinks, it’s about storytelling, connection, and rediscovering what made us fall in love with this industry in the first place.”
Bear Kat Brewing (Sherwood)
Husband and wife team of Shawn Bayer and Jill Katsis opened their 7-barrel Bear Kat Brewing in Sherwood, Oregon in September 2025 focusing on drinkable styles at relatively low abvs. Bayer most recently brewed at SteepleJack Brewing Hillsboro but before that the couple moved from Denver, Colorado where he brewed at Jagged Mountain Brewing and Woods Boss Brewing. Bear Kat tapped into Portland Community College Small Business Development Center(PCC SBDC) to develop a business plan and raise funds. The name BearKat is a play off of Bayer’s last name pronounced ‘bear’ combined with Jill’s last name Katsis aka BearKat. The couple, and the brewpub, is just as affable and friendly as the name and branding is. Less than a year old, BearKat beers have been primarily only available at their own location which is serving a busy underserved Sherwood neighborhood and already become popular in the Tualatin Valley. Read their full story here.
Human People Beer (Seattle)
Former Modern Times Beer San Diego brewers Tim Kamolz and Andrew Schwartz, and industry supply veteran and hop expert Mallorie King, opened Human People Beer in Seattle in fall 2024. Originally planning a brewpub on the waterway, in June 2025 Human People settled into a European cafe-esque taproom highlighting their quaffable lagers, and contemporary and bright hop driven pale ales, alongside Schwartz long-time hobby Tavern-style pizza. How did San Diego expats end up opening a spot in the Pacific Northwest?
“We all have family up here and have been itching to move to the pacific northwest for some time,” says brewer/co-owner Andrew Schwartz. “Personally, I had my formative beer drinking years in Oregon and learned to love and appreciate the unique and ranged beer scene and that was 15 years ago! Since then, every brewery has evolved or changed in some way or another. Seattle has become one of my favorite and most uniquely characterful beer cities in America. We are extremely excited to be here and have felt only warm welcome since arriving. We hope to add something special to a nicely developed beer scene in Seattle.”
Lotic Fermentation (Vancouver)
The newest brewery in the New Breweries Showcase is Lotic Fermentation, so new that the paint has barely dried after their June 2nd opening date in Vancouver, Washington. According to the Lotic website: “Lotic ('low-tick') is an ecological term that describes flowing water, such as rivers and streams. Using the term Lotic is our homage to water and its important role around the globe. It is the basis of life and of our beverages.”
Lotic Fermentation comes from industry veterans Levi Drake and Christopher Jennings. Drake is the Vice President of Glacier Tanks, a fermentation tanks fabricator based in Vancouver, before that he worked in the cellar at a winery, was a data analyst, and studied business. His partner Chris Jennings was one of the original mugs in Hillsboro’s Three Mugs Brewing and the Brew Brothers homebrew supply shop. Chris is also a previous guest at the New Breweries Showcase when he was the first brewer for The Horn Public House & Brewery in Depot Bay, Oregon.
Lotic is a taproom and restaurant at 1307 NE 78th St B10, Vancouver, WA, United States. Their plan is to make everything from wine and beer to soda pop, coffee, and kombucha.
Upp Liquids (Bend)
The most anticipated new brewery of 2025 turns one years old this June. UPP Liquids was founded by 10 Barrel Brewing brewers Tonya Cornett, Ian Larkin, Jose Ruiz and Ben Shirley, who were all laid off after the company was sold to Tilray Beverage in 2024. The new Bend, Oregon brewery was started in partnership with the former Immersion Brewing in Bend, and is now a popular brewpub with a huge breadth of styles. Cornett and company are arguably most known for sours and experimental beers, and they have promptly began winning awards for them straight out of the gate.
7Bev Brewery & Queen Orchard Cidery (West Linn)
The formerly named Willamette Valley Ale & Cider House is a downtown West Linn institution specializing in an old world European pubby atmosphere right at home inside a 100+ year old building with multiple bars, bottles hop, patio, and gardens. The Chay family has steadily grown the beverage and hospitality business from family friendly public house to artisanal cidery Queen Orchard Cider, and as of recently started brewing their own beers under the 7Bev label. Now with a food truck pod, a separate orchard and events venue, and beers, Italian bar, and many many more features this family run suburban hotspot is becoming a Clackamas county destination. Read our full story about them here.
Root & Rye Hop Farm & Brewery (Carlton)
Root & Rye is already one of the best places to take a beer break in Oregon wine country. Located in Carlton just across the road from the Abbey Road Farm & Winery, this farm-set brewery between Newberg and McMinnville is surrounded on one side by 15 acres of their own hop field and on the other by a private lake and pond, with a next door residential property set to become a bed and breakfast. Root & Rye was formerly Crowing Hen Brewery, a pandemic startup that lasted a handful of years before selling to Shelly Bigley the co-founder of Old Market Pub & Brewery as well as the Broadway Grill, both in Portland. I love this charming property that feels like a real discovery, outdoors appearing as a rustic farm and barn exterior, indoors a contemporary space with an open brewhouse floor plan. The back patio and beers garden may be the highlight and worth the visit. The New Breweries Showcase is an extremely rare opportunity to try their beers and meet-the-brewer in person in Portland.
Spotlight Brewing (Portland)
The brand new Spotlight Brewing space already has a storied history. The brewery and food hall is located in northeast Portland’s Hollywood neighborhood in the former home of the original Laurelwood Brewing, Old World Brewing, Columbia River Brewing, and briefly Pono Brew Labs. The building has been retrofitted, walls knocked down, the interior expanded to a big selction of micro kitchens, and the sunken brewery opened up forther and refurbished for head Brewer Kevin Hanny. Spotlight Brewing is part of the Zoiglhaus Brewing family, but with their own distinct beers from Hanny who hails from Trap Door Brewing, Migration Brewing and SteepleJack Brewing. Read all about Spotlight Brewing here.
Tiny Giants Brewing (Portland)
Portland, Oregon’s Tiny Giants Brewing opened one year ago, but only recently found a permanent home with their own brewery and taproom in the northeast Woodlawn neighborhood. Owner/brewer Steve Beaudoin is a veteran of Cascade Brewing, but was most recently the head brewer for Fracture Brewing before they shut down their brewing operations. Tiny Giants has a major debut, launching with cans and draft via Day One Distro and establishing a retro-pop culture like brand with eye catching colors. Check out our first look at Tiny Giants Brewing here.
Allgood Brewing (Portland)
AllGood Brewing opened at 2425 SE 35th Pl, Portland, OR 97214 in September 2025 but only recently received their brewing permits and released their first 3 house-brewed beers. Founded by Tiara and Derek Allgood, a former Fearless Brewing and Time Travelers Brewing veteran, AllGood is now open in the same space that once was the home to Division Wine Collective, and briefly Reverent Nat’s Hard Cidery, Logsdon Farmhouse Ales, and a Migration Brewing pop-up.
New Breweries & Cideries BLOCK PARTY
Saturday, June 20th 2-10pm, meet-the-brewer 4-7pm
Imperial Bottle Shop & Taproom, 3090 SE Division St, Portland, OR 97202