USA, OR: Alameda Brewhouse to close on November 3

Alameda Brewhouse, a Northeast Portland brewpub that dates back to the early days of Portland's craft brew scene, is closing Nov. 3, owner Matt Schumacher confirmed to OregonLive.

The restaurant, in the 4700 block of Northeast Fremont Street, has been a neighborhood fixture since opening in 1996. The Beaumont Business Association announced the closure on October 25.

Schumacher, reached by phone, said legal reasons prevented him from commenting on why the restaurant was closing, but he said he and his staff of 20 employees were devastated.

"We're all pretty sad," Schumacher said. "We're pretty much one of the original Portland brewpubs. Us, Lucky Lab, Raccoon Lodge."

Schumacher said he informed his employees, about half of which have been with Alameda Brewing for more than 15 years, about the closure.

"I can't tell you how grateful I am for them," he said. "I let them know I'm not going to be the type of guy who puts a piece of paper up on the window. I told them, and they all voted to stay on till the end."

Schumacher said Alameda Brewing, the pub's brewery, will continue to operate for a short period, but he couldn't say when it would close. The brewery has operated a 5-barrel brewhouse in the Beaumont Village pub but done most of its brewing in a 20-barrel facility in Southeast Portland.

Alameda Brewing, which began distributing across the Northwest a few years after opening, has won four medals at the Great American Beer Festival for perhaps its best-known beer, Black Bear XX Stout, including golds in 2003 and 2005 and silver in 2006 and 2008 in the foreign-style stout category.

It has had four brewmasters in its more than two decades, the first being Craig Nicholls, who is now a beer industry consultant. Others included John Eaton, who is at Widmer Brewing, and Carston Haney, who left to open Ross Island Brewing, which is now Dirty Pretty Brewing owned by the Chefstable Group.

Schumacher said he didn't know what the future held for current brewmaster Marshal Kunz.

Trevor Thurston was Nicholls' assistant brewer when Alameda opened. He said it could be a hectic place to work, much like most small breweries trying to make a go of it. He doesn't know what went wrong, but he said "the neighborhood was supportive -- they always were."

"I feel bad for Matt (Schumacher," Thurston said by phone Wednesday afternoon. "It was one of the originals. It was one of the early ones."

Shumacher said he couldn't offer more details on what went wrong.

"All I know is there's some sad neighborhood people right now," he said. "Twenty-two years is a long run."

25 October, 2018