Eugene brewery will fill Newport Bayfront space left vacant when Rogue Ales suddenly closed

By SHAYLA ESCUDERO/Lincoln Chronicle

NEWPORT – Inside the building that once housed Rogue Bayfront Public House everything looks just how it was left the day the Bayfront bar closed.

A long row of beer bottles sit on the window sill and there are corkboards filled with newspaper clippings, photographs and notes. At the bar, two skulls hover over the row of beer taps and chairs are stacked on empty tables.

“It’s like a time capsule in here, we haven’t done much to it yet,” said Claim 52 owner Jeremiah Marsden of Eugene.

Rogue Ales, Oregon’s third largest craft brewery, suddenly closed all of its locations and shuttered its brewing and distilling operations in November before declaring bankruptcy. And although its identity shifted over the years, the company, which imported beer internationally and was in the top 50 breweries in the country, was a blow to the beer industry and in Newport, where 47 employees lost their jobs.

But in just a few weeks, Marsden will take over the lease of the Bayfront building and begin making changes to bring Claim 52 Brewing in its place. Marsden says he hopes to open Claim 52 in early May.

Founded in 2012 in Eugene, Claim 52 Brewing began as a nano brewery before Marsden purchased the business in 2024 after selling his pharmaceutical chemistry company.

The building will get a fresh coat of paint, new art on the walls and new signs and branding. Although it will be under a different name, many of the previous Rogue staff will be working there.

Marsden has already hired Chris Garrett as a manager. Garrett and his wife, Samantha Sugar, worked at Rogue for years and reminisce about the company’s glory days when the business felt more like a family and Rogue was a community of its own with pig roasts, oyster boils, bingo and trivia nights.

“I’m excited to bring some of the energy of those days back,” Garrett said.

Marsden hasn’t committed to what exact activities Claim 52 may offer but with Sugar and Garrett at the helm, he doesn’t want to stray too far away from the feeling of Rogue.

There is also the creative aspect of craft brewing that Claim 52 hopes to bring back to Newport. In its heyday, Rogue had a reputation for being adventuresome.

Although it is perhaps most known for its iconic Dead Guy Ale, it revolutionized the market by making beers such as Shakespeare, an early oatmeal stout, and Old Crustacean Barleywine. Claim 52 manager Jeremy Zollman says former Rogue brewmaster John Maier is one of his idols. There was a time when Rogue was innovative and doing what no other craft brewery was doing.

The brewery scene has been hit hard in town – Newport Brewing Company closed within a week of Rogue’s closure in November.

Marsden is fairly new to brewing and got into the industry after he sold his pharmacy company, Cascade Chemistry. He has a doctorate from the University of Oregon and spent his years as a college student home brewing beer.

He has a home in Newport and had been thinking about bringing a brewery to the town for a while. He was sad when Rogue closed, but he also saw an opportunity.

“I want to bring craft brewing to Newport,” Zollman said.

• Shayla Escudero covers Lincoln County government, education, Newport, housing and social services for Lincoln Chronicle and can be reached at [email protected]