American Craft Beer The Best Craft Beer, Breweries, Bars, Brewpubs, Beer Stores, And Restaurants Serving Serious Beer.
In spite of the nearly 7500 craft breweries currently online in the US, we continue to receive new announcements almost daily.
And here’s just some of what’s been happening…
The Last Waltz for a Pioneering Craft Brewery
After 23 years in biz, Lompoc Brewing, one of Portland’s oldest craft brewers, has announced that it would be closing next week. The closure includes the brewery, as well as its 5th Quadrant and Sidebar venues.
Established by Jerry Fechter in 1996, Lompoc Brewing is part of the old-guard of craft breweries, and has been a longtime favorite predating Portland, Oregon’s most recent craft brewery boom considerably.
Fechter’s Oaks Bottom Public House, which will continue to operate as its own entity, will serve and sell all remaining Lompoc beer while it lasts. Lompoc Brewmaster Bryan Keilty has already moved on to another brewery.
And going forward Fechter will turn attention to making Oaks Bottom the best neighborhood pub it can be.
Legendary Pub Plans for New Brewery
Lionheart Pub, an iconic beer destination in Albany, NY will be expanding its operations with a new second-floor brewery according to the Times Union…
Due to weight issues second-story breweries are less common. And Lionheart’s owner, Jerry Aumand, credited new Albany zoning laws allowing second-floor commercial usage for the expansion.
Lionheart will celebrate its new brewery with 48 drafts with three lines of its own beer at ribbon-cutting ceremony will be held Nov. 1.
Bent Shovel Brewing Closes Taproom
Visitors to the popular Bent Shovel Brewing in Oregon City, OR, will find the Tasting Room’s doors closed this weekend due to the extensive traffic it has generated and the impact of that on its rural neighborhood location.
“We want to apologize to our customers for the abrupt short notice of the closure of the tasting room,” said Strauss who co-founded the brewery in 2015…
“We really wish that things could remain the same for our humble little brewery patio, but we have been forced to make this change. We have been working with our county officials for quite some time trying to avoid moving our thriving, local, family-owned business. Unfortunately, the county has forced us to change the way we operate.”
Bent Shovel Brewing, which doubled its capacity with a new 10 BBL brewhouse in a retrofitted red barn location on the outskirts of Oregon City, has experienced strong double digit year over year growth for the past three years.
