Sad news for Prineville, Oregon’s first brewery since 1906: Ochoco Brewing Company announced on Facebook this evening that this Saturday, October 10, would be its last day. Ultimately, it was the COVID-19 pandemic that took its toll, and Ochoco becomes the first Central Oregon brewery to close due to it.

Ochoco Brewpub Closing Saturday.

It is with a heavy heart that we are posting today to let you all know that this will be the last week that the Ochoco Brewing Company Restaurant & Tap room will be open for business.

Due to COVID-19 we have been unable to recover anything like a normal volume of business and can no longer sustain the financial burden of formal operations. We will be open this week Tuesday through Thursday 4-9pm, Friday and Saturday, noon to 10pm.

We will be holding a closing party on Saturday with live music from John Hite and the Lord Wally band from 7:30-10pm. We’ll have significant discounts on cases of our 22oz bottles and all growler fills will be $9 all week long.

We want to thank all of the community here in Prineville for their support and for all of our amazing customers. Many of you have become family. Please stop by to say good-bye; it’s been a wonderful 9 years!

Ochoco originally opened under the name “Solstice” in 2011, first as a pub before installing its brewing equipment in 2012. Originally located in the former Main Street Saloon building on Main Street, Ochoco moved and expanded in 2015. The brewery moved into an industrial space on the edge of town, and the pub relocated several blocks north on Main into the space that once housed the notorious Cecil’s Pastime saloon.

I haven’t been out to Prineville to visit Ochoco in ages (also due to the pandemic) so I’m incredibly sad to see this happen. Not much more to say, really; unfortunately, closures like this are going to be more and more likely the longer the pandemic drags on.