BY WILLIAM DEAN
There have been lots of changes to Astoria’s craft brewing scene lately, complete with closures, openings and downtown properties trading hands.
But it’s OK, beer fans. In fact, the outlook is good.
We’re poised to have six breweries again in the city, producing the most beer and biggest variety ever.
Before looking ahead, let’s recap what’s been going on.
The upheaval started in January, when Reach Break Brewing closed its Duane Street taproom and brewery, leaving a gaping hole in the heart of the downtown beer zone.
Eight months passed before Buoy Beer Co. swooped in to lease the vacant property as its new taproom and future small-batch brewery and distillery.
But there was a catch: Buoy announced that it was leaving the Astoria Food Hub building on Marine Drive at the end of the year, closing its brewpub in a cost-cutting move.
Worse, Buoy said it no longer intends to rebuild on its waterfront property, where the original taproom, restaurant and pilot brewing system were knocked out in a devastating partial building collapse in June 2022.
For Astorians longing for a revival of the iconic space, Buoy president and co-founder Dave Kroening punctured that dream in a recent interview.
“We don’t have any plans to rebuild or anything,” he said.
Popular with both locals and tourists, the historic building boasted old growth timbers, a long bar, wrap-around deck, sweeping Columbia River vistas and a sea lion-viewing window built into the floor. It would be later determined that old pilings supporting the structure failed, causing the collapse.
While Buoy looked into whether new pilings could be driven and another building raised, Kroening said the cost to do so would be astronomical.
“It’s a low priority at this point, just due to the magnitude of the project that would be required,” he said.
That wasn’t the only bad news.
Also in September, Astoria Brewing shuttered its downtown 12th Street taproom – a prime spot for tasting new releases and holding small events – for undisclosed reasons. (The brewery and 11th Street restaurant weren’t impacted).
The setbacks left local beer aficionados reeling. Fortunately, the gloom didn’t last long.
In late October, the parent company of Seaside-based Sisu Brewing, sorely in need of space in which to grow, bought the Food Hub building with plans to install a 30-barrel brewhouse and open a brewpub.
Sisu is planning expanded seating, plus river views from the rear of the building once it’s remodeled. The brewery as envisioned would be the third-largest in Astoria.
The brewhouse and canning line will be in the spacious basement, with the fermentation tanks visible through a large cutout on the main floor, according to preliminary plans. A construction timeline hasn’t been released.
The addition of Sisu brings the number of Astoria breweries to six, joining Fort George Brewery, Buoy, Astoria Brewing, Obelisk Beer Co. and Hondo’s Brewery & Pub.
There’s more good news: Buoy hopes to install its warehoused pilot system this winter or early spring in the Duane Street space. That means the brewery will be back to making more special, limited-release beers, including some you can’t get elsewhere.
Finally, Astoria Brewing’s taproom recently reopened on a Thursday-through-Saturday schedule.
Whew. Time to take a deep breath and a gulp of something cold and frothy.
Cheers!
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WILLIAM DEAN is a novelist and former investigative journalist who enjoys writing about the art of craft brewing. Astoria Beer Zone is his blog.
This column originally appeared in the Astorian.
