Dignitaries of Newport, Oregon were on hand at the Rogue Ales brewery as Rogue Ales founding owner Jack Joyce and brewmaster John Maier broke ground to kick off the brewery’s 30,000-foot expansion project.
The brewery expansion project will cost $1.5 million and increase brewery floor space by 30,000 square feet, in what Joyce called the “final culmination of a major mistake” that began in 1989. Back then, the brewery was housed in cramped quarters in an 800-square-foot building on the Newport Bay front with seven employees. Rogue Ales has grown to employ 180 workers, and the expansion will grow the brewery’s floor space to 55,000 square feet. Contractor Craig Hoffman of Toledo, Oregon, is guiding the expansion project, which will include construction below the Brewer’s on the Bay restaurant, converting the gift shop space and coolers into the restaurant’s first level. A new bottling line will be housed in the southwest corner of the brewery facility. Expansion will include larger cooler space and storage space for empty glass. Joyce projects that a distillery will eventually be installed to produce Rogue Rum and upcoming offerings of Rogue vodka and gin. A museum and gift sho! p will be added on the east end of the building. Joyce expects the expansion to add 15 new jobs, with full benefits, to Newport’s local economy.