Astoria’s Buoy Beer’s long, sad farewell

In the end, few Astorians thought the homegrown brewery’s exit was much of a surprise. There were too many warning signs and not nearly enough evidence of a turnaround. After 13 years, Buoy Beer Co. has stopped brewing. The name will live on in a few select beers, but the people who built Buoy will have nothing to do with it. The last drops drained from the tanks and barrels will be canned or consumed on draft over the next few weeks, then the brewhouse just across the trolley tracks on the south bank of the Columbia River will likely be mothballed. Same for the modern, high-speed canning line and lagering tanks housed next door. Great Frontier Beverages, the parent company of muscular Ninkasi Brewing based in Eugene, has quietly collected all the recipes and begun brewing Buoy’s most popular beers, keeping the brand alive but little else. The 25 or so remaining Buoy workers — down from 100-plus — will lose their jobs, with a severance check as consolation.

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