By SHAYLA ESCUDERO/Lincoln Chronicle
NEWPORT– Rogue Ales & Spirits, which has seen its beer sales drop and owes hundreds of thousands of dollars in rent and back taxes, abruptly shut its massive Newport operations and all of its restaurants Friday, the Lincoln Chronicle has learned.
Rogue officials met with Port of Newport officials Friday morning to tell them they planned to close their operations immediately. Rogue rents its South Beach space – 47,000 square feet for its brewery, warehouse and restaurant – from the Port.
Rogue, which has been in business for 37 years, had recently shut its distillery operation and the Port agreed last month to re-lease a portion of the 4,800-square-foot building to a seafood processor.
Rogue is drastically behind on rent and taxes – owing $545,000 to the Port of Newport and up to $30,000 in taxes to Lincoln County.
Rogue officials told Port executive director Paula Miranda on Friday morning they were shutting down.
“All they told us is that they will keep three staff members to help properly shut down the brewery,” Miranda told the Chronicle.
The 47,000-square-foot South Beach building is where the company’s beers, ales and spirits are produced before they make their way to distributors in all 50 states and more than 50 countries.
For over 30 years Rogue has been one of the better-known brands in Oregon’s vibrant beer industry, one of the Top 10 of the state’s craft beer companies. But its owners have declined offers to sell the company several times in the past 20 years.
Rogue first began in Ashland in 1988 before relocating to Newport a year later. In addition to its business, the company has been active in helping promote and sponsor Newport-area community events.
The space is one of many large properties the Port owns, sandwiched between the South Beach marina and the Yaquina Bay bridge and employs about 60 people. According to the company’s website, the canning line runs 13,800 cans an hour, which equates to about 2,500 six-packs.
But, lately the company hasn’t been paying its rent. Rogue Brewery owes $545,000 in back rent to the Port.
Although Steven Garrett, the president of Rogue Ales and Spirits, initially responded to the Chronicle’s request for comment in October, neither he nor company officials replied to further requests for an interview.
The port also has more than 40 other renters who are also behind more than six months in rent, although Rogue owes the most by far, according to the Port’s monthly financial reports. The company is also behind on property taxes to Lincoln County and owes more than $30,000, according to tax assessment records.
Friday’s closures also included Rogue’s pubs in Astoria, West Salem and Southeast Portland.
Miranda said without the $37,000 monthly rent Rogue is supposed to pay for the main building, the Port would be losing almost $500,000 a year. And with such a large space it may be difficult to find a tenant, she said.
Tough times for craft brewers
It is uncertain what the financial state is of the company, but breweries have been a difficult market lately. Six of the 10 biggest craft breweries in Oregon saw sales decline in 2024, according to data from the Brewers Association. In 2024, Rogue Ales saw a drop in sales by 18 percent – one of the lowest drops that year.
Oregon has lost nearly 75 breweries, taprooms or brewpubs since the pandemic.
Breweries nationwide have seen a decline in sales too. In 2024, the craft beer market declined by 4 percent. The downturn is largely attributed to supply chain issues, inflation, labor shortages and a downward trend in drinking. Small breweries have been hit especially hard.
In October, Port of Newport commissioners approved an amendment to Rogue’s lease to lease a portion of its distillery building to West Coast Seafood.
Rogue’s 4,800 square foot distillery building is separate from the main brewery building. It sits close to the marina and across the street from Oregon State University’s Hatfield Marine Science Center and is adorned with murals of sea life.
“Rogue is moving away from the distillery business and requested assistance from the Port on finding new tenants to the building,” said a Port staff report for the commission’s meeting last month.
The Port is looking for two tenants and has already found one to fill some of the former distillery space – Newport-based fish processor West Coast Seafood. The company’s owner, Xia Zhao, buys live Dungeness crab and fish wholesale from fishermen and distributes them to buyers.
“So far I just have my truck and I don’t have any other capability to do further processing,” Zhao said. “I’ve been in Newport for two years and business is doing good.”
The space would allow her to process the product and expand her business, Zhao said.
Some customers don’t want the seafood right away and the space would give her a place to process and store them temporarily, she said.
Mainly, the building would be used to store crab during the height of the season in winter and would be used to process fish in the summer, Zhao said at the Port’s October meeting.
Commissioners unanimously approved of the two lease changes, allowing West Coast Seafood to take up a portion of the building.
- Shayla Escudero covers Lincoln County government, education, Newport, housing and social services for Lincoln Chronicle and can be reached at Shayla@LincolnChronicle.org
Wow. Over $500,000 in back rent due?? What supposedly fiscally responsible policy was this allowed under? Which geniuses at the Port made that decision — month after month? Or was it just a quiet backroom sweetheart type of deal? When you about think how many people in this town and elsewhere get evicted after being 6 days late paying ONE month’s rent? What the heck?? At least the county tax office’s leash was much shorter (no real surprise there). Don’t get me wrong — I am very sorry to see the Rogue close — I was a fan. But I am appalled at the debt that was allowed to be run up at the Port. I doubt the Port will ever recoup any of that money and that — in my opinion — reflects really poor management. Would be interested in how this was allowed to happen.
There’s another story here. Please look in to what’s going on with the Port of Newport. They let a tenant get 1 year behind on rent? Who else owes them money and how are they panning to collect? What are the terms of these lease agreements and what are they going to change going forward?
It would be interesting to see an analysis of how successful the Port has been regarding efforts (any?) to collect past due rent, and what proactive steps they take to avoid the taxpayers having to cover these losses. For instance, if a bankruptcy is involved, where does the Port land in the long line of creditors hoping to get some money? The landlord is often just one of dozens (if not hundreds or thousands) of creditors owed. The lower you are on the “pay back” list, the lower your chances are of getting your money.
They are collecting it by jacking up moorage fees and launch fees on us boaters, the saps that have no other choice in Newport. Launch now 12.00, was 9.00. Didn’t seem too bad until the place you pass on the way is rent free and a packed parking lot.
The Port of Newport will get its money back after the liquidation process, the larger issue is going to be finding new tenants.
Ultimately the amount of expansion that Rogue did over the years has improved the Port facilities greatly but that’s 60+ jobs lost and no $ coming in for the Port to pay for its many other needs as well.
It’s real easy to point fingers but I don’t see a whole lot of solutions being offered up which is what we really need.
The idea that the Port will somehow be lucky enough to get its back rent “paid” via liquidation is very speculative. Pennies on the dollar (if that) for equipment, maybe a bit more for intellectual property. The Port’s bill will keep going up until everything is settled. There’s lots of rules reqarding bankruptcy and depending how far in advance you can plan it (ask our President) it can be oddly … shall I dare say … satisfying (perhaps even enriching) for certain of the players. However, as one would expect, most creditors (and the public, including consumers and taxpayers) simply lose. My hope is some cash has been saved to pay the front line workers and doesn’t end up in a big BOLI claim (for back wages). I do hope the Port had required a significant security deposit, but I do not know. It would be nice to hear from them via a public statement.
Absolutely, it’s a loss!
They charge too much for rent for 1 thing. Im charged almost 800 a month to park my 36 foot sailboat. That’s alot of dough for essentially a parking spot. I’ll be moving it to Seattle next summer. They also don’t let people pay annually for a cheaper price. My boat just sits there and they won’t take a couple thousand a year up front to park it? I can only imagine what Rogue was paying. Oregon isn’t a real good place for business. Tax happy liberals run things.
It explains why boat moorage has skyrocketed at the marina. A lot of boaters and fisherman are looking for other places to port because the moorage has risen so much.
Please explain the taxes and rent. How much did each increase? Is it about the west coast over taxation?
I believe that, in addition to market pressures currently roiling the craft beer industry, to a large extent, Rogue priced itself right out of its own market. Rogue’s beers are good, but if you’re asking $15 for a six-pack, they had better be consistently exceptional. And Rogue beers are not. When I’m shopping for beer, I skip right past Rogue beers and choose brews that are just as good, or better, for $2-$4 less.
They also may have strayed too far from the center of their model. Distillers have to play the long game, with significant capital outlay before any of those funds come back in sales. And gourmet sodas with gourmet prices?
It’s easy to sit here and speculate about this company’s demise, (and I used to be a regular at the brewery and the bayfront pub,) but I’m truly sorry that upper mgmt. has likely destroyed a good company with a good model and the livelihoods of dozens of working stiffs doing good work and making people happy.
The last six pack of Dead Guy Ale I bought actually made me physically ill. I gave up Rogue beer forever at that point.
Beer prices have gone through the roof.
If I can get top quality Two Towns hard cider for the same money as craft beer, it’s an easy call.
I’m guessing the high price of rent got them in the end.