Foundational Portland Brewery Cascade Brewing Suddenly Closes

The New School, a publication focusing on beer and cider, reports that after 25 years in business, Cascade Brewing has ceased operations. With the shuttering, its barrel house on SE Belmont has also closed.

Cascade Brewing was founded in 1998 by Art Larrance on the bottom floor of his brewpub, the Raccoon Lodge. What started as a 10-barrel endeavor turned into an influential brewery known for its sours, and eventually the Raccoon Lodge was renamed the Lodge at Cascade Brewing.

In 2020, Cascade Brewing was sold to Mark Becker, Ramie Mount, Brian Kovach, and Greg Laird, four investors who also have stakes in other local breweries. In May 2024, Larrance died suddenly, but the New School reports that the investors never had a majority stake in the business, leaving the fate of the brewery in question. Larrance’s daughter Alissa also told the publication that she was unclear on the ownership structure of the company and that the liquor license ceased to be valid just 10 days after her father’s passing.

Cascade’s website says that the business is temporarily closed, but Alissa Larrance confirmed to the New School that she handed out final checks to Cascade Barrel House employees on June 18.

A new coffee shop is headed to South Waterfront

Bridgetown Bites reports that All Your Heart Coffee is slated to open in the former Oracle Coffee Company space in Portland’s South Waterfront. The new shop will take up the third-wave coffee mantle from Oracle by serving a variety of roasts in addition to selling single-origin beans. According to Bridgetown Bites, the owners posted a note on the door sharing the story of the coffee shop from a coffee cart in 1988 to now. All Your Heart Coffee will be located at 3875 S. Bond Avenue.

A block party from Kann and chef Gregory Gourdet

The Oregonian reports that James Beard award-winning chef Gregory Gourdet is reviving his block party, Electric Summer, this August. Gourdet and the team will be closing off a block of SE 6th Avenue and bringing in an 18-foot smoker to cook all-you-can-eat chicken and ribs. Collaborating with Gourdet for the event will be pitmaster Bryan Furman and Kann chef de cuisine Varanya Geyoonsawat, as well as Sousòl and Salt & Straw. The event will be held on Sunday, August 4 and tickets will go live on Resy starting Tuesday, June 25.