On a trip to Alaska with friends, Scott Lawrence dreamed of opening a Portland brewery. But he never could have imagined that over a decade and a half later that his company, Breakside Brewery, would have five Portland metro locations, expand into Washington, and acquire a controlling interest in a Willamette Valley winery.
Lawrence’s dream opened in 2010. But it was four years later when Breakside made a name for itself by winning a gold medal at the Great American Beer Festival for American Style IPA for their signature Breakside IPA. The Portland brewery went on to win Brewery of the Year at the Oregon Beer Awards in 2017, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022.
Breakside now has eight locations — five in the Portland metro area, as well as a coastside tasting room in Astoria, Oregon. Its most recent openings are a new space in Vancouver, Washington, as well as a tasting room at Alit Wine in Dundee, Oregon.
This is impressive enough. But Breakside Collective may become Lawrence’s most groundbreaking endeavor. Breakside has obtained a controlling interest in Willamette Valley winery, Alit.
Lawrence was an Alit wine club member, and knew Alit managing partner Ian Lombar. There are a multitude of wineries in the Willamette Valley making exceptional wines (most notably Pinot Noir), but it was Alit’s unique wine club that drew Lawrence’s attention. Instead of the traditional wine club that requires members to buy a certain amount of cases a year, Alit has an annual membership fee and members get perks like a 50% discount per bottle of wine. Members can buy as much or as little as they like. Lawrence compares this to a Costco membership or a ski pass. “I liked the membership plan,” says Lawrence. “When I learned about it I wondered ‘how does this work’ and ‘How am I getting this for so cheap’? If you drink six bottles a year the membership pays for itself.”
Allowing Alit wine club members to pick up their wine at any of Breakside’s eight locations opens up more opportunity for the business and their members. In addition, there’s an option for a beer and wine membership. For an additional fee ($30 per year), members of this combined club get discounts and perks on purchasing Alit wine and Breakside beer. In addition, Lawrence is in talks with a champagne house to import champagne that would be available to club members.
Will Breakside expand its reach into spirits? Not at this time, with a new brewery opening, a wine business and a barbecue program that has begun at the Astoria location. But it wouldn’t be surprising to one day see the Breakside Collective include one of the Pacific Northwest’s distillers entering into the fold. “I like variety. I like a good margarita, champagne, wine, beer. I started Breakside because I like eating and drinking with friends,” says Lawrence.
