Rogue Ales & Spirits abruptly closed its Astoria brewpub on Friday – along with its Newport brewery and other operations – amid mounting debt and declining sales.
The Pier 39 location, offering stunning Columbia River views, opened in 2007 – the same year as Fort George Brewery. The pub quickly became one of the early anchors of Astoria’s craft brewing explosion. But on Friday morning, a handwritten sign taped on the front doors said it all: “Permanently Closed.”
Besides the Astoria location, the company also shuttered its last three Oregon pubs.
The surprise moves idle hundreds of workers less than two weeks before Thanksgiving. Company officials have so far declined to comment.
Newport-based Rogue owes huge amounts of money in rent and back taxes, the Lincoln Chronicle reported.
Rogue officials met with Port of Newport representatives on Friday morning to reveal their plans, according to the newspaper.
Carinna Stanton, a manager at Rogue’s West Salem pub told The Oregonian that an all-employee message went out at 8 a.m., saying the closure was immediate and applied to all locations.
“There was no warning, no heads up,” she said.
The shuttering of the 47,000-square-foot brewery is perhaps the single biggest blow to craft brewing in Oregon since the boom years began in the 1990s.
Rogue was established in 1988. The brewery quickly grew into a major brand with broad distribution.
But the company clearly was struggling behind the scenes.
According to news reports, Rogue owes $545,000 in back rent to the port and more than $30,000 in property taxes to Lincoln County.
Beer sales in Oregon and nationwide declined by around 4 percent in 2024. Rogue was particularly hit hard, with an 18 percent drop in sales, Brewers Association data shows.
In Astoria, Rogue converted the old Bumble Bee cannery space on the pier. The location quickly became a popular oasis for locals and tourists alike, offering a full restaurant menu along with beers and spirits.
Portland-based Breakside Brewery continues to operate a brewpub in Astoria.
