Portland's premiere English soccer bar the Toffee Club recently announced their closure. Footy fans and classic British food and beer aficionados were devastated. There are surprisingly few places left in town to get a proper English Ale and enjoy a hand pie while catching Liverpool throw down with Manchester United. But Toffee Club owners Niki Diamond and her husband Pete Hoppins are kicking the ball down the field to their adjacent related beer destination Away Days Brewing.

Closed since March, the Away Days Brewing taproom will reopen on Friday September 4th for on-premise pints at the taproom and at Toffee Club's extended outdoor parklet seating along SE 10th.

Away Days Brewing was opened in June of 2019 by Diamond and Hoppins in the space directly behind Toffee Club at 1516 SE 10th off of Hawthorne Blvd. If Toffee Club is closer to the English pubs that your fathers and grandfathers congregated at, then Away Days was the brewpub their kids would open today. Away Days trades the polished wood beer hall feel of Toffee Club for a bright and breezy Euro beach vibe with modern English-inspired ales and lagers.

Since day one, Away Days brewer Marshall Kunz has gotten busy on updated English-style Bitters, ESB's and Pale Ales. Pub staples like lager beer, Porter and IPA have not been forgotten. But since the governor mandated closure of bars and restaurants in March, Away Days Brewing has not reopened for service but their beers were available in crowlers from Toffee Club's pickup window and home delivery.

Toffee Club had began slowly easing their draft beers into Away Days Brewing beers since reopening for on-premise pints in late June. Instead of trying to staff and operate both taprooms with social distancing requirements, Diamond and Hoppins had opted to focus on Toffee Club. But with the continued cost of operating a full service pub at less than half the capacity and schedule it ultimately has fell on the chopping block for now.

"It's been such a hard decision but really the only option we have with the pub for the foreseeable future," says Diamond on her decision to close Toffee Club.

With the shift on focus to Away Days, the brewery plans to can more and move that production from in-house tiny production levels to scheduling runs with Craft Canning. That will see an immediate output of higher quality packaged product of Away Days flagships Post Match Pilsner, Bus Stop Bitter, Away Days IPA, and a special run of People's Pint - a golden ale with proceeds going to benefit the Oregon Brewers Guild. Cans will be self-distributed to local bottle shops.

Away Days Brewing taproom will reopen on weekends Friday - Sunday as they ease back into operations. Hours may be expanded, and food trucks will provide the on-site food. The reopening on September 4th will kick off with two new beers:

• Festbier - a malty, deep gold party lager brewed once a year to celebrate Oktoberfest. Rich, smooth malts and moderate strength usher in the change of the seasons. 5.9% and 25ibu

• Fresh Hop Deadline Day Pale - A classic Northwest Pale loaded up with Mosaic and Centennial on the front end. Then crammed with 100lbs of fresh picked Centennial hops from Goschie Farms on the back end. Racing against time, the hops made the journey from field to beer just before the deadline! 5.1% and 40 ibu.

As for Toffee Club, the pub remains open through this Sunday August 23rd and there is still a chance the beloved pub will get back to business some time in the future.

 "We would love to reopen when it's safe to do so and when our capacity can responsibly be increased. We're working with our landlord to see if there's a way to keep that option open," says Diamond.

Away Days Brewing - 1516 SE 10th Ave, Portland, OR 97214