Rogue Ales & Spirits
Phone: (541) 867-3664
Website: http://www.rogue.com/
Biography
Established: 1988
Owners: Rogue Ales was founded in Ashland, Oregon, in 1988 by three Nike, Inc. executives: Jack Joyce, Rob Strasser, and Bob Woodell. The company relocated to Newport in 1989 and opened its flagship brewpub on the town’s waterfront. Brett Joyce is the president.
Brewers: Brewmaster Joel Shields
Location: 2320 OSU Drive, Newport, OR 97365
Status:
Still gloriously, defiantly Rogue. Based in the salty winds of Newport with brewpubs spanning the West Coast, Rogue continues to ferment its legacy into cans, bottles, barrels, and beakers. It’s a full-throttle agri-fermenter operation now—brewer, farmer, distiller, mad scientist—with over 2,000 awards to prove that rebellion, when brewed properly, tastes phenomenal.
The Story:
Founded in 1988 back when “craft beer” meant “homebrew in your cousin’s basement,” Rogue Ales & Spirits declared war on the status quo from a tiny pub in Ashland, Oregon. The founders—visionaries with more beard than business plan—soon moved operations to Newport, and from there, began brewing liquid declarations of independence.
Their philosophy is carved into the bone: If a beer, stout, lager, porter, or spirit isn’t unique, uncompromising, and laced with actual character, it has no right to exist. This isn’t branding. It’s scripture.
By 2019, Rogue had earned its 2,000th award, including golds from every beer championship that matters, platinum from the World Beer Championships, and international nods from Australia to Brussels. Oh, and Rogue isn’t just brewing—they’re growing their own world: hops, malts, jalapeños, cucumbers, pumpkins, marionberries, and yes, botanicals for their spirits, across two dedicated farms in Tygh Valley and Independence, Oregon.
Awards & Accolades (a mere taste):
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World Beer Championships:
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Gold, Dead Guy Ale (2015, 2012, 2011, 2009…)
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Gold, Chocolate Stout (2012)
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Gold, Beard Beer (2015)
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Gold, Hazelnut Brown Nectar (2014, 2013)
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Gold, Double Dead Guy Ale (2014)
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Gold, Marionberry Braggot, Oregasmic Ale (2015)
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Platinum, Old Crustacean (2014)
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World Beer Awards:
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World’s Best Oatmeal Stout, Shakespeare Oatmeal Stout (2014)
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Gold, Yellow Snow IPA (2015)
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Beer Tasting Championships:
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PNW Champion, Big Ass Blackberry (2015, 2013)
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Mondial Biere Fest & European Beer Star:
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Gold, Brutal IPA (2015)
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Australian International Beer Awards:
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Gold, Double Chocolate Stout (2015)
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This list barely scratches the wax seal on Rogue’s achievement scroll. For every major style, there’s a medal with their name on it.
Five Notable Beers (and there are so many more):
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Dead Guy Ale – The legend, the myth, the malted middle finger to conformity.
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Batsquatch Hazy IPA – Foggy with tropical mysticism and Pacific Northwest cryptid energy.
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Hazelnut Brown Nectar – Oregon’s favorite nut, liquidified and glorified.
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Chocolate Stout – Creamy, rich, an aphrodisiac in a pint glass.
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XS Russian Imperial Stout – A brooding, barrel-aged beast best consumed with velvet and thunder.
Fun Facts & Beautiful Madness:
🌱 Rogue is a fully integrated agri-brewery—they grow their own barley, hops, marionberries, pumpkins, cucumbers, and actual beer philosophy on Oregon soil.
🍸 They now distill gin, rum, whiskey, and have added canned cocktails and CBD seltzers to their arsenal of rebellion.
🏭 They operate 11 brewpubs and restaurants throughout Oregon and California, a Newport-based production brewery, and a 300+ person crew that may or may not moonlight as revolutionaries.
🥜 They birthed Hazelutely Choctabulous, a Frankenstein’s dessert dream fusing Chocolate Stout and Hazelnut Brown Nectar.
📦 Rogue’s reach spans 50 states and 54 countries, and if Jupiter had bars, they’d be pouring Rogue.
Philosophy (quoted and tattooed):
“Rogue is a small revolution, which expresses itself through handcrafted Ales, Porters, Stouts, Lagers and Spirits… a desire and a willingness to change the status quo. If it’s not innovative, unrelenting, and full of character—it simply should not be made.”
Rogue doesn’t just make beer. Rogue is the beer. The kind that starts fires, breaks conventions, and makes you believe that maybe, just maybe, barley can change the world.
LINK: Rogue Ales archives