QuickTake:
A more competitive brewery market, aftershocks of the pandemic and rising costs all played a role in the decision. But the owner is open to prospective buyers who could potentially carry the company forward.
Oakshire Brewing, a homegrown Oregon company, is shutting down its brewery and taprooms, a closure that affects customers in Portland, Springfield and Eugene.
“After 20 years, Oakshire is closing its brewery and taprooms,” the company said in a Facebook post. “This is painful news to share with the people who have made Oakshire a part of their lives.”
Oakshire Brewing, a privately owned company, was founded in Eugene in 2006. In the last two decades, it’s become a company with a wide regional footprint. It operates a 4,000-square-foot production brewery in northwest Eugene, the Oakshire Public House in Eugene’s Whiteaker neighborhood and the Oakshire Beer Hall in northeast Portland. It also operated the Oakshire Commons in Springfield.
Jeff Althouse, a founder and chief executive officer, was a public school math teacher who spent summers brewing as a hobby until a group of family and friends provided the backing for him to open a brewery.
In an interview with Lookout Eugene-Springfield on Sunday, Sept. 27, he said the business grew from there, beyond the production side.
“We started the taproom business out of necessity at the brewery in 2007,” he said. “We opened in 2006, and people just started showing up. We never really intended to be in the bar and restaurant business. It just kind of happened. That enthusiasm for Oakshire continued.”
The Eugene Public House opened in 2013, and the Portland beer hall opened in 2019, followed by Oakshire Commons in Springfield in 2025.
The closures for three facilities are spaced out: Oakshire Commons in Springfield was serving its last customers Sunday. The Beer Hall in Portland will close after service ends this Wednesday.
As for the Public House in Eugene, the company has not set a final closing date. It is working with food carts regarding the schedule. Brewers will continue packaging the beer currently in production, the company said.
“We’ve faced years of rising costs, increasing competition, the financial damage of COVID, and changes in how people gather to eat and drink,” the company said in its announcement. “We worked hard to adapt, but we can’t continue operating Oakshire as a whole.”
There’s a final grand chance to say goodbye: The company’s 20th anniversary is still scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 3. It’s also doubling as a going-away party at the Oakshire Public House in Eugene.
Despite the closure, Althouse is hoping that a future owner can carry that work forward. The company owns the brewery location in Eugene, which is for sale with the equipment, as a package, hopefully for an owner who wants to operate a brewery.
“We would love to have somebody take over that, buy the real estate and the building, and the equipment all together, and keep operating it,” he said.
The company also is selling the Portland building. The sale means that a buyer could theoretically come in who wants to carry the Oakshire brand forward, Althouse said, adding, “We’re open to those conversations.”
“We would welcome any strong company that’s interested in any of our locations or our brand,” he said.
The company leases space for its operations at Oakshire Public House in Eugene and Oakshire Commons in Springfield.
Tara Duncan shops the T-shirt rack at the Oakshire Public House in Eugene on Sunday, Sept. 27. Duncan said she is regular and appreciates the friendly TV-free gathering spot. She was saddened to learn of Oakshire’s impending closing. Credit: Bob Passaro / Lookout Eugene-Springfield
Dining and Cooking