Last call has come for a beloved, nearly four-decade-old Oregon brewery founded in part by three former Nike executives.
Oregon Brewing Company, the parent company of Rogue Ales & Spirits, filed for Chapter 7 liquidation proceedings in the state’s federal bankruptcy court this week.
The Monday bankruptcy filing follows the craft beer and spirits maker’s abrupt shutdown of all its brewing and restaurant locations across Oregon, according to local news reports.
The court papers indicate that the brewery’s revenue has declined in recent years, dropping from $23.5 million in 2023 to $19.6 million in 2024 to $14.9 million in the first 11 months of 2025.
Representatives for the brewery and its bankruptcy attorney did not immediately respond to requests for comment by Business Insider on Wednesday.
In its bankruptcy filing, Oregon Brewing Company reported that it and its subsidiaries — Rogue River Brewing Company and Yaquina Bay Beverage Company — owe nearly $17 million in liabilities and have $4.9 million in assets.
Among the liabilities listed in the bankruptcy filing is a disputed $10 million “dram shop negligence claim” filed in 2022 by the estate of Nancy Vickstrom.
The documents show that the brewery owes more than $594,000 in rent to the Port of Newport, where its massive production facility was headquartered, and over $510,000 in property taxes to Lincoln County. Nearly another $66,000 is owed to the federal government for alcohol taxes, according to the legal filings.
Port of Newport deputy director Aaron Bretz told Business Insider in a statement that the loss of the brewery “is a financial hit to the Port, but it’s also an emotional impact to the community that Rogue was such a large part of.”
“One of the Port of Newport’s main functions is economic development, so we are going to quickly seek to regain those lost jobs and fill the empty place this bankruptcy created in our regional economy,” Bretz said.
He said the Port of Newport has worked with the brewery for several months as it tried to pay down its back rent, but “will now focus on recovering what was lost and look to the future.”
The bankruptcy filing lists 1,300 “work in progress” barrels of aging whiskey among the brewery’s assets. The brewery reported in the court documents that the whiskey is valued at over $2.8 million, but estimated it could only be liquidated for $975,000.
More than $1 million worth of hops, malt, grain, and other raw brewing materials were also listed as among the brewery’s assets.
The Rogue Ales brewery, known for its Dead Guy brew, has been ranked by the Brewers Association trade group as among the 50 largest craft breweries in America.
It was founded in 1988 by a trio of Nike veterans — former executive Jack Joyce, Bob Woodell, the company’s first president, and Rob Strasser, Nike’s first head of marketing, who has been described as the “man who saved Nike” — along with their friend Jeff Schultz.
“For over thirty-plus years, Rogue has been at the forefront of Oregon’s booming beer industry,” the brewery’s website says. “By offering an ever-changing product lineup, Rogue has developed a fan base that never knows what to expect other than the unexpected.”
The brewery, which distributed its products across the US and in more than two dozen countries, won more than 2,000 awards for taste, quality, and packaging, according to its website.
