Portland Loses Century-Old Homebrew Institution F.H. Steinbart Co. After 108 Years

The tap handles went dark at 234 SE 12th Ave on April 3, 2026. F.H. Steinbart Co., the 108-year-old institution that owner James Ameeti called "a gathering place for more than a century," served its last homebrew customer on a Friday, held a Wake and Farewell party the following afternoon, and closed for good.

The final week moved fast. Starting March 30, the shop dropped everything to 75 percent off (liquid yeast excepted), triggering a blowout sale that drew homebrewers, commercial operators, and longtime regulars for one last run through the grain bins and hardware aisles. The April 4 farewell ran noon to 6 p.m. at the Southeast 12th Avenue address, with beers on tap from several Portland commercial breweries, a food truck outside, and jockey boxes set up across the floor. All the beer was complimentary.

Ameeti, who founded Perfect Pour Services in 2008 and acquired Steinbart in August 2024 from the DeBenedetti family, described the economics as "the perfect storm of challenges for small, independent homebrew shops." The pressure was structural and relentless: major wholesale suppliers began selling directly to consumers online, gutting margins on products that were already heavy, bulky, and low-margin. "When the companies you buy from can undercut you online, it becomes incredibly difficult to compete," Ameeti said. Rising rent supplied the final pressure.

Steinbart survived Prohibition, outlasted two world wars, and helped John DeBenedetti establish the Oregon Brew Crew, the state's longest-running homebrew club, in 1980. Monthly Brew Crew meetings were still held in Steinbart's warehouse until the very end. Founded by Franz Steinbart, a Prussian immigrant who opened the shop in 1918 near SW 1st and Oak in downtown Portland, the business eventually settled at its Southeast 12th address and accumulated a staff carrying over 100 years of combined brewing and winemaking experience.

Lisa Morrison, co-owner of Belmont Station, put the loss in plain operational terms. "They fix our taps. They have every part we ever need. If something breaks, we just run down there and get it. It's going to be a really big miss when we can't do that anymore," she said.

The retail side is gone, but Ameeti's Perfect Pour operation will continue out of a new warehouse at 3651 SE 21st Ave, preserving gas exchange, draft parts, and commercial draft services for the bar and brewery accounts that Steinbart spent decades building. The 234 SE 12th Ave building is now listed for sale.

Steinbart's closure lands in a broader moment of attrition for Portland's food and hospitality sector. For homebrewers, the more immediate question is sourcing: liquid yeasts, specialty grains, packaging hardware, and the kind of counter-level troubleshooting that no shipping algorithm replicates. Ameeti acknowledged that gap plainly: "So many people who went on to shape the craft beer industry started as curious home brewers who walked through our doors looking to learn something new." That particular door is now permanently closed.