News of even more brewery and cidery closures came down the wire this past week, even after the announcements of Lompoc, Bent Shovel’s tasting room, and Rock Bottom in Portland.

First, Defeat River Brewery of Reedsport announced its imminent closure on Facebook:

We are saddened to inform you that the Defeat River Brewery will no longer be operational after November 24th. Please observe our new hours until then. We had a dream that came to fruition in 2016 where had an incredible opportunity to help revitalize Reedsport’s Old Town and act as a foundation for other businesses and to do what we love. Since we’ve opened, more buildings are occupied with new businesses, and Old Town has become more of an interest.

If you haven’t been to the brewery or know someone who hasn’t been, please take this opportunity to visit this incredible place that was passionately built with the smallest details in mind and enjoy yourself. We have the largest variety of beer we have ever had and it is the BEST it has ever been since we opened.

This is a great opportunity to redeem any gift cards you may have burning a hole in your pocket.

Thank you to everyone who came in to support us one pint at a time as that mattered most. Thank you to our wholesale accounts who kept us on and all of our sponsors and volunteers.

Thank you to all of our loving family, friends, and investors who believed in us and accepted us from day one. You have accepted us and it is our time to Accept Defeat.

I had just visited Defeat River for the first time this summer, so this is particularly disappointing. I don’t know if it was the struggle of maintaining a brewery in small town, conservative Reedsport, or the general direction of the economy, or just the way the industry seems to be trending in general, but it’s a shame to see this close.

Cider Riot, Portland

Jeff wrote about the upcoming closure of Portland’s Cider Riot:

Six weeks ago, Portland cidermaker Abram Goldman Armstrong sent out a press release seeking investors for his cidery, Cider Riot! I am sad to report that he was unable to find any and has announced the closure of Cider RIot effective November 9th.

Abram launched a successful Kickstarter in 2013 and began operating Cider Riot in his garage.

In 2016, he expanded to a pub and production facility on NE 8th and Couch, taking on debt to fund the move. “It was profitable in the garage,” he said. “Cider was gaining 39% in 2015 when we signed that lease.” Unfortunately, the cider market went through a correction, going flat and then declining in 2017. Local cider continued to grow, but not enough to pay Cider Riot’s bills. “We had a great pub and great cider that was beloved by the community. We just didn’t have enough money to keep going.

There’s a lot more detail in Jeff’s article you should read in full. It’s a big loss to Oregon’s cider scene.

Coalition Brewing, Portland

And then on the same day Jeff published the article about Cider Riot, we learned that Coalition Brewing closed. Here’s the Facebook post:

Dear Friends, Colleagues, and Patrons –

Over the last nine and a half years, we have had the distinct privilege of brewing and serving beer in one of the greatest cities and craft beer cultures in the world. This chapter has been one of the most exciting, challenging, and gratifying experiences of our lives…and like all chapters, it must have an ending. So today, with a decade of fond memories to smile back upon, we are announcing that Coalition has closed our doors, and we will be pursuing new adventures to honor changes in our personal lives. We are extremely happy to say that friends and colleagues will be taking over our location, so you can look forward to more great beer coming out of the brewery for the neighborhood and beyond.

At Coalition, our motto is “Community Through Beer” and it is truly the community that has allowed us to live this dream. We want to say our most heartfelt thank you to everyone who has supported and inspired us throughout the years…

– To our colleagues in the beer industry – your incredible friendship and knowledge that you so openly shared with us has been invaluable and a driving force behind our efforts, thank you.
– To all the bars, restaurants, markets, and stores that supported us by buying our beer and graciously hosting events, thank you.
– To our friends and partners at the hop fields, yeast labs, farms, metal fabricators, plumbers, electricians, lawyers, and all the related industries who worked with us, we could not have done it without you, thank you.
– To our partners in the hemp and terpene industry whose knowledge and help allowed us to innovate and create one of the first commercial CBD beers, thank you.
– To our employees, friends, and families whose unwavering support sustained us through good times and bad, thank you.
– Most of all, to the fans and patrons of Coalition and to the Oregon beer community at large, you have been our inspiration and it has been one of the great honors and pleasures of our lives to make beer for you, thank you.

We made beer for the community, but it is the community that truly made this a Coalition. We love you all, and hope to see you all to hoist a pint.

Cheers,

Team Coalition

However in its place, Gorges Brewing will be opening up in the same location, having purchased the hard assets of Coalition including the brewery and taproom. One of the principals of Gorges, interestingly enough, is Bryan Keilty, the former head brewer of Lompoc. New School has an in depth article.

Gorges Beer Co. is a new brewery from Bryan Keilty, longtime Lompoc Brewing head brewer, with partners Travis Preece, founder of Tap & Table; ex-Goodlife Brewing sales manager Steve Denio; and general contractor/builder Willis Boyer. For now, the brewery will be based in Portland, but the ultimate plan is to move it east, up Interstate 84 to Cascade Locks.

Today, Gorges Beer Company signed an agreement to purchase the brewery and taproom from Coalition Brewing. The closure of Coalition is effective immediately, and the location will be closed temporarily before Gorges Beer Co. moves in.

All four of the Gorge Beer Co. founders live in Portland, but plan to center Gorges Beer around Cascade Locks for good reason. They hope to start construction soon on a 1.9 acre plot of land on a hill just below the Cascade Locks Elementary School, and looking down upon the Columbia River.

Avid Cider, Portland Taproom

Finally, Matt Wastradowski posted this photo from Bend-based Avid Cider‘s Portland taproom on the 1st:

Not much more detail about it, but OregonLive posted an article about it shortly afterward. In essence, Avid is looking to focus on the production side of things which no longer supports the Pearl District location. I’m sure there will be more to come about this one.