Our Top 10 Stories of 2024
As the year comes to a close we are beginning to look back at the year that was. These were our top 10 most read articles on NewSchoolBeer.com in 2024.
#10 Fremont Brewing acquired by Pike Brewing’s Parent Company
One of Washington’s premiere breweries as well as one of the largest, was sold rather unexpectedly in April to growing holdings/management company Seattle Hospitality Group. In hindsight it wasn’t totally surprising as Fremont Brewing has struggled with operating two breweries under capacity, and their famed barrel-aged beers do not seem to have the draw that they used to. Under new ownership Fremont Brewing has operated largely the same with no obvious outward facing changes, and in July opened a new taproom in Seattle suburb Columbia City. Full story here.
#9 The Ale Apothecary is For Sale
Iconic farmhouse brewery The Ale Apothecary is one of the most unique breweries in the country. The Bend, Oregon nano brewery started out of a detached garage space in the woods next to owner/brewer Paul Arney’s home. The Brews were/are barrel-aged, often spontaneously fermented, and using foraged ingredients like grapes, leaves, berries, and fir tips. For a decade The Ale Apothecary flourished on tiny production size made in a costly hands-on craft that demanded and received a higher price point. Fans filled the ale club membership, pre-purchasing bottles for a year, and sustaining the brewery with guaranteed annual sales. But just as the fervor over farmhouse ales and sour beer was beginning to subside circa 2019, we were then hit with a pandemic that changed people’s drinking and spending habits. Faced with an uphill battle, tired and worn out owners Paul and his wife Staci, decided to look for a new owner to take on the brand or face closure. Luckily for us they did find new owners less than 2 months later.
#8 - Crux Fermentation Projects’ Bend, Oregon brewpub is for sale
Accomplished brewmaster Larry Sidor left Deschutes Brewery in 2012 to found Crux Fermentation Project with all-star partners Paul Evers a creative marketing master of branding, and beer sales exec Dave Wilson. The brewpub was a showpiece for Bend’s booming craft beer industry, sporting a shiny brass brewhouse and slick industrial build out that has since become the norm. Locals and tourists alike still flock to Crux for the wide assortment of beer styles and incredible sprawling beer garden on a hill with a view into the Old Mill District. However it was clear that the pub was struggling as new developers had shut off the main road to the brewery to visitors, and large scale development threatens the view. Meanwhile most of the brewing operations have moved off site to a larger facility, even as beer sales have been falling. To better stabilize the brand financially, Crux is selling off the land and plans to lease it back from the new owners. But if a sale goes through, would the new owners renew the lease after the deal expires? Read the full story here.
#7 Oregon Beer Awards 2024 Medal Winners & Recap
The premiere state-wide beer competition was held for the 9th year in March. The awards ceremony on April 4th gathered nearly 800 people into Revolution Hall in Portland, Oregon to announce awards in over 30 categories to a party-like atmosphere with comedy, sketches, and tributes. As always the New School was there to report the winners, analyze the results, and share memorable photos from the ceremony. Full story here.
#6 pFriem Family Brewers to open new Portland-area taproom in Milwaukie
The long kept secret that Hood River, Oregon’s beloved pFriem Family Brewers was finally opening a location in the Portland-metro area was first revealed on the New School on March 8th. The plans did not disappoint, as pFriem will open a restaurant and taproom just outside of inner southeast Portland inside of an old 2-story brick building in downtown Milwaukie that once was the city hall. The 1937 built building is currently being restored with plans to hold not only pFriem but a smaller coffee shop as well as some office/event space. The project is on track to be completed in Spring of 2025. Read the full story here.
#5 Astoria loses a brewery, a cidery, and further collapse of waterfront brewpub
One of the best small town craft beer scenes suffered some devastating losses in the last couple years. The fall began with Buoy Beer’s waterfront brewpub partially collapsing into the sea, shutting down production and closing the restaurant and taproom in 2023. In early 2024 it became clear that the Buoy waterfront brewpub was never going to be saved as pieces began collapsing further and the brewery successfully pivoted elsewhere. Around the same time, Astoria’s only cidery permanently closed, and the cult favorite Reach Break Brewing was also shut down without warning. Read the story here.
#4 RIP 30+ Oregon breweries, beer bars, & cideries that closed in 2023
Oregon craft breweries made big news in 2024 for all the wrong reasons. Our grim annual recap of the closures of 2023 showed that compounding issues were stacking up make for a record year of breweries, taprooms, and cideries that shuttered. The reasons for the closures are both simple and complex, from life changes and family to burn-out, disaster, to bad business. There are breweries you know and miss, and ones you never heard of or that closed up so quietly that you may have missed it. Full story here.
#3 The Most Anticipated New and Upcoming Oregon & Washington Breweries & Taprooms
Our most anticipated upcoming Oregon and Washington breweries and taprooms that we were looking forward to opening in 2024 highlighted an exciting slate of new projects across the pacific northwest. Some of the places on the list such as Wayfinder’s The Highlands, Bauman’s Cider on Oak, and the Canby Beer Library, are all now open. While others such as Brewery XO, and SteepleJack Brewing Hawthorne and Manzanita expansions, are still yet to open. Full story here.
#2 Tilray lays off entire 10 Barrel Brewing Innovation Team
There was some great optimism when Canadian cannabis giant Tilray decided to go big into craft beer by buying up some of the biggest names at cutrate prices from disinterested parent companies like Anheuser Busch. Bend, Oregon based 10 Barrel Brewing was one of the biggest and most visible brands purchased. No one saw it coming though when Tilray decided to enact mass layoffs of key staff across their newly acquired craft beer brands in September. The most high profile jobs lost were from 10 Barrel Brewing’s innovations brewing team responsible for creating nearly all of their biggest sellers and most award-winning beers. That layoff included Tonya Cornett, one of the most acclaimed Brewers in the country who just earlier this year had completed a never before accomplished feat in sweeping an entire category with bronze, silver, and gold medals at the World Beer Cup. Read the full story here.
The New School was first to break the news that Portland, Oregon’s house of sour Cascade Brewing was closing. The iconic brewery helped popularize sour beer and fruit beer in America, helping usher in contemporary sour beers as a viable category. Cascade pioneered blending and barrel-aging, sourcing of fruit and how and when to use whole and processed fruit in the brewing process to unlock natural flavors. Cascade Brewing’s closing was sudden, and made national headlines with beer lovers making the trek to Portland to buy up the last of the great breweries influential beers before they disappeared. Cascade may be gone, but their legacy will not be forgotten. Read the full story here.