Big news from the Great Frontier camp today. If you’re a plugged-in Northwest beer aficionado, you’ll remember that Great Frontier was formed in 2023 when Eugene, Oregon’s Ninkasi Brewing Company merged with Wings & Arrow. You might even remember that, shortly after that seminal event, Great Frontier purchased Ecliptic Brewing.
Buoy Beer Company of Astoria, Oregon, is now part of Great Frontier’s portfolio and the brewery, but not the brand, is saying goodbye to its hometown. Like Ecliptic Brewing, Buoy’s beers will now be brewed at the Ninkasi (Great Frontier) facility in Eugene. The merger/acquisition includes Pilot House Distilling, Buoy Beer’s sister company. No word yet on how many employees are impacted.
Buoy’s Astoria home has seen its share of drama, most memorably back in June 2022, when part of the building — which sat on aging pilings above the Columbia River — gave way and collapsed into the drink. Thankfully no one was hurt, but the damage wiped out a chunk of the operation: the canning line, packaging materials, and some tanks. The brewery spent the next year rebuilding and shifting production across the Riverwalk to keep the beer flowing. That event proved a difficult hurdle to clear.
“We’ve faced a lot of the same challenges that many of our friends in the industry have over the last handful of years, but the previous collapse of our main facility and iconic restaurant has proved to be too much for us to fully overcome,” said Dave Kroening, who was instrumental in the founding of Buoy Beer back in 2012. “Partnering with the good people at Great Frontier to take on the production, sales, innovation and growth of our beer brands will ensure that Buoy Beer will continue to be available to everyone for years to come.”
Kroening says that the past 14 years have been rewarding and also challenging. “I’m extremely proud of everything our team has accomplished over the years and look forward to the future in partnership with Great Frontier.”
The brewery is leaving, but Buoy Beer is not. Under Great Frontier, the Astoria tasting room (Buoy Beer + Pilot House) will remain open. So will the Pilot House tasting room in Cannon Beach.
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