Rogue Ales Shutters as Oregon Craft Beer Industry Continues to Struggle

NEWPORT, Ore. (Nov. 14, 2025) — Rogue Ales & Spirits, one of Oregon’s most recognizable craft beer brands, abruptly shut down its sprawling Newport brewing operations and all remaining restaurants on Friday, the Lincoln Chronicle reported.

Company officials met with leaders Friday morning to announce the immediate closure. Rogue had leased 47,000 square feet of brewery, warehouse and restaurant space at South Beach from the Port, a site the company has occupied for more than three decades.

Rogue, founded in Ashland in 1988 and relocated to Newport the following year, has long been a staple of Oregon’s craft brewing scene. But the business has faced mounting financial trouble, including declining beer sales and what sources described as hundreds of thousands of dollars owed in rent and back taxes.

The shutdown comes on the heels of other recent contractions. Rogue closed its distillery operations earlier this year, and the Port last month moved to re-lease roughly 4,800 square feet of that building to a seafood processor. The brewery also previously shuttered its Pearl Public House in Portland in September 2020 during the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Friday’s closures included the company’s last four pubs in Astoria, Salem and Portland. The South Beach facility, where Rogue produced its beers, ales and spirits for distribution in all 50 states and more than 50 countries, employed roughly 60 people. According to the company’s website, its canning line produced 13,800 cans per hour — the equivalent of about 2,500 six-packs.

Rogue had been one of Oregon’s top 10 craft beer producers and a major presence in the state’s once-booming beer sector. But the industry has struggled recently: six of Oregon’s 10 largest craft breweries saw sales drop in 2024, according to Brewers Association data.

Despite receiving offers to sell the company over the past two decades, Rogue’s owners consistently declined. The company also maintained strong community ties in Newport, sponsoring events and serving as one of the Port’s high-profile tenants.

Rogue had also operated a seasonal summer patio at the Bigham Knoll campus in Jacksonville, though its future there now appears doubtful. The company’s overall financial condition remains unclear, and officials have not yet announced their plans for the massive South Beach property.