USA, OR: Von Ebert Brewing buys Ecliptic Brewing’s North Portland production facility and taproom
Embarking on a major expansion, Von Ebert Brewing has purchased Ecliptic Brewing’s North Portland production facility and taproom, aiming to grow from producing 4,000 barrels annually to potentially 20,000, with a significant boost in distribution, Oregon Live reported on January 9.
Even amid a downturn in the beer industry, the award-winning brewery is betting on the cachet attached to the Von Ebert name, having won numerous prestigious awards since its founding in 2018, including five Great American Beer Festival medals. Its beers have grown in popularity and demand, but capacity at its two brewhouses has been maxed out for years.
“Our mood right now is humbly excited,” said Sam Pecoraro, Von Ebert’s brewmaster. “Obviously during COVID things have been a little bit more difficult, but we’ve had a plan for a number of years to increase production.”
Von Ebert plans to open a taproom at the new location, 825 N. Cook St., but it likely won’t fire up what was Ecliptic’s kitchen. Instead, Pecoraro said the Von Ebert team is looking to reimagine the exterior area into a “really creative outdoor space,” with food carts, a small dog park and a permanent structure all being considered.
Ecliptic’s astronomical theme will give way to Von Ebert’s branding and aesthetic.
“We certainly want to make it — I’ll call it the Von Ebert way. Make it feel like ours,” Pecoraro said. He added that Eric Ebel, director of brewing operations, expects to begin brewing in the new facility Thursday, and the taproom is expected to open in the spring or summer.
Von Ebert will maintain its Pearl District and Glendoveer breweries and restaurants. Pecoraro said the Pearl District 10-barrel brewhouse will be used for research and development, and Glendoveer’s seven-barrel will continue its smaller batch brewing but reduce its production of sour and farmhouse beers, styles that have widely seen a dip in popularity in recent years.
Instead, he said, Glendoveer will focus on seasonal and “heavily fruited and local fruit beer — we’ll be pushing big in that direction.” Pecoraro also said Jason Hansen, Von Ebert’s director of “sensory & innovation” who oversees Glendoveer’s innovation program, will “bring on a spirit barrel-aging program” along with maintaining and improving the fruited mixed culture beers and wine-beer hybrids.
Von Ebert has not been free of post-pandemic struggles, and in fact they pushed the brewery in this new direction, Pecoraro said. The leaders of the business, founded by Tom S. Cook and his father, Tom M. Cook, decided to go find more customers rather than idly wait for people to return to the brewery’s retail spaces, which also include pizzerias in Beaverton and Northeast Portland’s Cascade Station retail cluster.
“COVID definitely pushed us into a different strategy, where we were very pub-oriented,” Pecoraro said. “Then ownership and everybody at Von Ebert realized we needed to be more competitive in this market. We needed to grow.
“That was a lot of the original motivation for us,” he said. “Times are tough. We’ve got to figure out how to do it differently and do it right.”
That new direction led Von Ebert to buy a 30-barrel system from Pelican Brewing’s Tillamook production facility. Von Ebert’s team had planned to set it up and move production to Beaverton, but then the Ecliptic location became available.
“From day one we’ve wanted to be a Portland brand,” Pecoraro said. “Portland has recognition across the world as a great beer city. And the idea of possibly moving outside Portland wasn’t something that we felt fit.
“Then when this popped up we thought, not only can we stay in Portland, grow in Portland, but also be what we’ll call a keystone Mississippi Avenue spot.”
Von Ebert’s relocation to North Portland became possible when John Harris, founder of Ecliptic Brewing, decided to sell the brand and shut down operations, both at the main brewery and the Moon Room satellite brewery and taproom in Southeast Portland. Harris sold the brand to Great Frontier Holdings, a “collective of brands” that was formed in the spring through the union of Eugene’s Ninkasi Brewing and California’s Wings & Arrow.
Great Frontier is producing Ecliptic beers at its Eugene production brewery. But Pecoraro and Harris, who sat down this week to discuss the Von Ebert sale with The Oregonian/OregonLive, said they are considering pursuing the possibility of Von Ebert contract brewing some Ecliptic beers in North Portland.
The sale to Von Ebert constitutes the last of three parts in Harris’ sale of the brand and its two properties. Part two was the recent sale of the Moon Room brewery and taproom to Bauman’s Cider, which took over the nearly three-year lease and will move production from Gervais to Southeast Portland, along with opening its first taproom in Portland.
“I pulled three rabbits out of three hats and I don’t know how I did it,” Harris said, “but I did it.”
Harris said Ecliptic’s sale was forced by issues the U.S. beer industry faces emerging from the pandemic. Production and sales were down 3% nationwide in 2022, as breweries face slowing demand, supply chain issues, rising competition from across alcoholic beverages categories and a shifting retail environment, as the pandemic is widely seen as changing the public’s habits. Portland and Oregon have seen widespread closures of breweries and taprooms, with more likely on the way.
The Brewers Association, which represents the nation’s craft and home brewers, in its final 2023 report said the year was the first this century to see as many closures as it did openings, rather than the historical constant gains.
Harris said the timing was fortunate for all three of his sales, concluding with Von Ebert.
“It was interesting, because of the spot Ecliptic got to and my decision that I had to find a sale opportunity in order to get out of this situation,” he said. “I didn’t know what I was going to do with this plant that has been built out to make 20,000, 24,000 barrels on a two-week turn.
“So I’m really happy. I’d been thinking about these guys for a while,” Harris said. “I was like, the only brewery that I can think of that might want something like this is Von Ebert.
He anticipates it will be a great fit for the new owners.
“It’s going to be awesome,” Harris said. “This is a place for them to grow into. And I’m excited that Ecliptic is still being made and it’s not a dead brand, it’s just this physical plant that just was not sustainable any longer.”
Pecoraro said he recognizes the challenges and competition involved in expanding Von Ebert’s distribution footprint from mainly the Portland area to across Oregon and Washington, with eventually possibly adding Idaho and parts of California. But he sees a promising chance to grow.
“Obviously there’s some concern with beer being down nationally, but I think there’s also a lot of opportunities,” he said. “Our flagship beers, we won silver at GABF for Pils, gold at World Beer Cup for Pils. We haven’t been able to make enough of that to satisfy demand for a year and a half now. And then Volatile Substance, winning gold at GABF, the same thing.”
But he said Von Ebert, whose packaged beers are distributed locally by Point Blank Distributing of Portland, will grow thoughtfully, not just in big bounds as capacity increases.
“We have a long-term plan in place to not just send beer as far away as we want,” he said. “We don’t want to do that. We need to send it strategically to the closest places that we can while also possibly going into 19.2-ounce cans and going into 12-ounce cans. We’re definitely going into 12-ounce cans.”
“We’ve never been in six-packs before, and we’ve been very Portland local,” said Pecoraro, adding that later this year Pils will move into 12-ounce six-packs rather than Von Ebert’s traditional 16-ounce four-packs. “So I think there’s not only packaging opportunities, but also geographical ones.”
That plan, along with Von Ebert’s reputation for excellence, gives the brewery’s team confidence.
“Our identity is continuous improvement and just being ruthlessly objective with one another and working together to find the next way to make the littlest improvement together,” he said.
Beyond that, honoring the community and what has come before is a high priority as well.
“Something I in particular want us to concentrate on is being a great Mississippi Avenue community member,” he said, “and honoring John and his legacy.”
10 January, 2024
