Longtime Eugene beermaker Oakshire Brewing will not shut down after all, but it will close one more facility.
Oakshire announced plans to close on Sept. 25. Its Springfield and Portland locations closed within days of the announcement, and owners committed to keeping its flagship Eugene taphouse open through its 20th anniversary party on Oct. 3.
“But once we felt the support and saw the numbers the following week and then at our 20th anniversary party, combined with just walking down the road a little bit and understanding what it would look like to operate with just one taproom location, the path forward started to become clearer,” said founder Jeff Althouse.
Althouse said Oakshire also found a way to stay afloat in that time by making its beer in another brewery’s production facility.
"We’re excited to be a brand that helps another facility gain some economy of scale and have some excitement added to what they’re doing,” Althouse told KLCC. “And it gives us the opportunity to eliminate some of the overhead, maintenance and the extremely high cost of operating a production facility."
Oakshire will sell its northwest Eugene production facility and equipment, but will continue to rent its Madison Street taphouse.
Althouse said the brewery hopes to announce which brewery it will be working with before Thanksgiving.
