Rogue Ales abruptly closes Newport operations and restaurants; owes hundreds of thousands in rent and taxes
NEWPORT– Rogue Ales & Spirits, which has seen its beer sales drop and owes hundreds of thousands of dollars in rent and back taxes, abruptly shut its massive Newport operations and all of its restaurants Friday, the Lincoln Chronicle has learned.
Rogue officials met with Port of Newport officials Friday morning to tell them they planned to close their operations immediately. Rogue rents its South Beach space – 47,000 square feet for its brewery, warehouse and restaurant – from the Port.
Rogue, which has been in business for 37 years, had recently shut its distillery operation and the Port agreed last month to re-lease a portion of the 4,800-square-foot building to a seafood processor.
The brewery shut one outpost in Northwest Portland, the Pearl Public House, in September 2020 amid the economic fallout caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Rogue Hall, another pub near Portland State University, shut last year.
Friday’s closures also included Rogue’s four remaining pubs in Astoria, West Salem and Southeast Portland.
A sign outside Rogue’s location in Southeast Portland on Friday, Nov. 14, 2025.Mike Rogoway
Carinna Stanton, a manager at the West Salem location, told The Oregonian/OregonLive on Friday that an all-employee message announcing the closures went out at 8 a.m. on the company’s scheduling app, saying it applied to all locations, immediately.
“There was no warning, no heads up, just an announcement that said we were going to be paid until the end of today,” she said. “They wished everyone well…two weeks before Thanksgiving.”
In Newport, Rogue is now drastically behind on rent and taxes – owing $545,000 to the Port of Newport and up to $30,000 in taxes to Lincoln County.
In October, Port of Newport commissioners approved an amendment to lease a portion of Rogue’s 4,800 square foot distillery building to West Coast Seafood. Rogue’s distillery is separate from its main brewery building and sits close to the Port’s South Beach marina.Shayla Escudero / Lincoln ChronicleRogue’s Newport headquarters overlooks Yaquina Bay, sandwiched between the Port of Newport’s South Beach marina and the Yaquina Bay bridge.Shayla Escudero / Lincoln Chronicle
The 47,000-square-foot South Beach building is where the company’s beers, ales and spirits are produced before they make their way to distributors in all 50 states and over 50 different counties.
For over 30 years Rogue has been one of the better-known brands in Oregon’s vibrant beer industry, one of the Top 10 of the state’s craft beer companies. But its owners have declined offers to sell the company several times in the past 20 years.
Rogue first began in Ashland in 1988 before relocating to Newport a year later. In addition to its business, the company has been active in helping promote and sponsor Newport-area community events.
The space is one of many large properties the Port owns, sandwiched between the South Beach marina and the Yaquina Bay Bridge and employs about 60 people. According to the company’s website, the canning line runs 13,800 cans an hour, which equates to about 2,500 six-packs.
But, lately the company hasn’t been paying its rent. Rogue Brewery owes $545,000 in back rent to the Port.
Although Steven Garrett, the president of Rogue Ales and Spirits, initially responded to the Chronicle’s request for comment in October, neither he nor company officials replied to further requests for an interview.
The port also has more than 40 other renters who are also behind more than six months in rent, although Rogue owes the most by far, according to the Port’s monthly financial reports. The company is also behind on property taxes to Lincoln County and owes more than $30,000, according to tax assessment records.
It is uncertain what the financial state is of the company, but breweries have been a difficult market lately. Six of the 10 biggest craft breweries in Oregon saw sales decline in 2024, according to data from the Brewers Association.
In 2024, Rogue Ales saw a drop in sales by 18% – one of the lowest drops that year.
Rogue Ales & Spirits shut its Newport operations and all of its restaurants Friday. Shown here in 2017, a guided tour takes visitors behind the scenes at Rogue Ales and Spirits in Newport..Jamie Hale/The Oregonian/2017Rogue Ales & Spirits shut its Newport operations and all of its restaurants Friday. Shown here in 2017, a guided tour takes visitors behind the scenes at Rogue Ales and Spirits in Newport..Jamie Hale/The Oregonian/2017
Oregon has lost nearly 75 breweries, taprooms or brewpubs since the pandemic.
Breweries nationwide have seen a decline in sales too. In 2024, the craft beer market declined by 4%. The downturn is largely attributed to supply chain issues, inflation, labor shortages and a downward trend in drinking. Small breweries have been hit especially hard.
In October, Port of Newport commissioners approved an amendment to Rogue’s lease to lease the distillery building to West Coast Seafood.
Rogue’s 4,800 square foot distillery building is separate from the main brewery building. It sits close to the marina and across the street from Oregon State University’s Hatfield Marine Science Center and is adorned with murals of sea life.
“Rogue is moving away from the distillery business and requested assistance from the Port on finding new tenants to the building,” said a Port staff report for the commission’s meeting last month.
The Port is looking for two tenants and has already found one to fill the former distillery space – Newport-based fish processor West Coast Seafood. The company’s owner, Xia Zhao, buys live crab and fish wholesale from fishermen and distributes them to buyers.
“So far I just have my truck and I don’t have any other capability to do further processing,” Zhao said. “I’ve been in Newport for two years and business is doing good.”
The space would allow her to process the product and expand her business, Zhao said.
Some customers don’t want the seafood right away and the space would give her a place to process and store them temporarily, she said.
Mainly, the building would be used to store crab during the height of the season in winter and would be used to process fish in the summer, Zhao said at the Port’s October meeting.
Commissioners unanimously approved of the two lease changes, allowing West Coast Seafood to take up a portion of the building.
– Shayla Escudero covers Lincoln County government, education, Newport, housing and social services for Lincoln Chronicle and can be reached at Shayla@LincolnChronicle.org
– Mike Rogoway, a staff writer for The Oregonian/OregonLive, contributed to this report
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