After ten years of creating some of the most acclaimed beers in the city, Culmination Brewing is to close its taproom in Northeast Portland this month.
“With great appreciation and thanks to everyone who has supported Culmination Brewing Company, we have decided that now is the time to close both the tap room and the brewery,” the firm wrote on Facebook on Friday. Craft beer has been an extremely difficult industry since COVID.
According to Culmination, February 15 will be its last day. A message on Sunday asking for more information about the events leading up to the brewery’s shutdown was not immediately answered.
Culmination has earned numerous accolades for its beer since its 2014 launch, including the Best New Brewery Oregon Beer Awards in 2015, Medium Brewery of the Year in 2020, and the gold medal for best beer in Classic UK Styles in 2024.
However, since the pandemic, Culmination had been having financial difficulties.
In 2021, the company used a crowdfunding site to borrow $400,000 from small investors. It had budgeted $50,000 for operations and $350,000 for new equipment.
However, the brewery found itself in a dire situation by 2023.
At the time, co-founder Tomas Sluiter told The Oregonian/OregonLive, “We’re circling the drain.” This cannot be resolved.
Culmination attributed its problems on the pandemic closure and the termination of its agreement with Columbia Distributing, which significantly reduced the number of establishments that sold cans of Culmination beer.
For a while, the brewery stuck with it.
To enhance the brewery’s operations and branding, Culmination recruited business expert Steven Shomlerin in 2023. However, the trade publication New School Beer revealed last week that Culmination was ten months late on its bond payments. According to the website, Culmination was sent to collections by the crowdfunding platform in December due to its failure to reimburse its funders.
–Mike Rogoway writes on the business and technology in Oregon. His email address is [email protected].
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