Very sad news out of Ashland, Oregon, yesterday, as Standing Stone Brewing announced that after 25 years, it will be closing its doors at the end of this month. From the blog post:

It is with heavy hearts that we announce, Standing Stone Brewing Company will be closing the doors of our family-owned brew pub permanently.

As you all know, we as a community have recently experienced some especially challenging years here in the Rogue Valley. Starting with heavily smoke-filled summers in 2018 and ‘19, coupled with the start of a global pandemic and the devastating 2020 Almeda Fire, we have found ourselves in an arduous position. A challenging job market (in which many hospitality workers chose to leave the industry), increased cost of goods and a vast decline in tourism, are all contributing factors to this difficult but carefully considered decision.

We are beyond grateful to the unwavering support of our community and hope you will join us for a farewell celebration on our final day of operation, Sunday, May 29th from 11:30 AM – 8 PM. In the spirit of “bringing it full circle,” on this closing day we will sell $3 pints, priced just as they were on opening day back in 1997!

We’ve been to Standing Stone a number of times over the years, but it looks like the only time I reviewed it on this site was back in 2007, though I do have a couple of other random photos from the brewery I’ve shared here:

I wish I had more recent ones to share. The brewery has a prime location in downtown Ashland so it’s a real shame that circumstances have led to its closure; I had no idea that the economy of the town (business and tourist both) was struggling that much.

On the other hand, the last couple of years during the pandemic, draft-only and on-premise beer drinking took a big hit and it was the breweries that were able to pivot to packaging (particularly, cans), which certainly must have hurt Standing Stone as a draft-only brewpub.

Regardless, Ashland will be a little poorer for its absence.