Bend’s RiverBend Brewing announced today that the five-year-old brewery would close the pub and restaurant portion of its business. I got the word today from Chasen Schultz, the head brewer:

It comes as sad news that, as of 11/19/2018, our original brew pub will be closing its doors because of health reasons. The brewery will remain open and continue to produce draft, bottle, and can favorites as well as future seasonal and one off releases. There are currently plans in the works to open a taproom, or small brewpub in the Bend area, as well as expand distribution to other regions.

Riverbend Brewing started in 2013, offering classic and innovative beers served across the Pacific Northwest. Recently excelling in niche and unique beers, we will strive to maintain our image as a brewery and produce quality beer. A small passionate staff takes pride in finding new ways to be out of the box, and will continue to be a no limits style company.

The company also posted a notice to Facebook this morning.

RiverBend has been garnering attention over the last couple of years for its milkshake IPAs: hazy IPAs brewed with fruit, lactose, and vanilla. The brewery began releasing the beers in cans at the beginning of this year.

Back in September of 2013 I had a post detailing the “coming soon” brewpub; and in my book Bend Beer I wrote:

RiverBend Brewing was pouring beer by the end of October from their location on the north-central side of Bend. Formerly Rivals Sport Bar, owner Gary Sobala wanted to shed the Texas Hold’em tournaments that Rivals was known for and instead add a brewpub component. Accordingly he installed a ten-barrel brewing system in a separate building on the property, and hired brewer Dan Olsen to craft the beers. Olsen came from 10 Barrel Brewing (and Deschutes Brewery before that) and he planned to first brew traditional beers before beginning “to experiment with herbs, fruits and spices,” as he told The Bulletin. The first two beers from the new brewpub debuted in late October, RiverBend IPA and Blonde Ale.

It’s been an interesting arrangement: the sports bar itself is just that, while the brewery is set up in a building across the parking lot. With the closure of the pub—the primary draft outlet—RiverBend will essentially be a production brewery. I’ll be watching for news of a possible future taproom or pub (not sure if the brewery itself has room for one) and will update accordingly.

Update: I followed up on the “health issues” cited above and Schultz got back to me:

Our owner, Gary Sobala, finds that operating a brewpub is more than he wants to take on, as he his almost 70 years old. His wife, Linda has had some serious health issues as of late, including multiple back surgeries. The current location of the pub will be leased out for another business. We are actively searching for another location with hopes to open a smaller tasting room/brewpub that the brew staff could manage themselves. There will be no changes to the brewery itself and we have big plans for some new packaged beers in 2019. While we are deeply saddened about the closure of our pub, we are excited for what the future holds for our brewery.

Interesting enough, the KTVZ News Channel 21 story on the closure included the fact that the RiverBend pub apparently “barely sells any of its brand of beer. It primarily sells in the Portland and Seattle markets.” I suppose that’s a risk of running a full-service bar, with spirits and cocktails also on the menu.