Pioneering Portland Brewing to Close
Portland Brewing Company, founded in 1986 and one of the founding fathers of Portland’s early brewing scene has announced that they will close.
“It has been an amazing journey helping to shape the Portland craft beer scene! Over 34 years, we have made lots of interesting and creative beers that showcase the heart and soul of our brewers,” the company posted on their Facebook page. “So, it is with a heavy heart that we will permanently close our Portland brewery doors in early February.”
Portland Brewing Company was founded by Fred Bowman, Art Larrance and Jim Goodwin in the heyday of the early craft brewing days. Motivated by the first craft brewers just to their south in California, a new crop of breweries emerged in the Pacific Northwest such as Widmer Brothers, BridgePort, McMenamins, Full Sail, Deschutes, Portland and others. After shareholder Robert Malcolm “Mac” MacTarnahan invested heavily in the company by buying $3.5 million in debt in exchange for stock, the brewery named a beer in his honor, MacTarnahan’s Amber Ale, which became their flagship brand at the time.
In 2004, MacTarnahan sold the company to Pyramid Breweries of Seattle. In 2008 Pyramid was acquired by Magic Hat Brewing Company which was subsequently bought by North American Breweries in 2010 and by Costa Rican company Florida Ice & Farm Co. in 2012.
