Rogue Now Owns Green Dragon
One Nation Under Rogue.
The papers have been signed. Rogue has purchased what was the Green Dragon pub and bistro. Lorren “LoLo” Lancaster says “Ed offered me a fair shake and when we went in to talk to the Rogue guys, he caved.” Lancaster, a minority owner in the original Green Dragon undertaking says of majority owner Ed Schwartz: “He never truly cared about this business. This culture we built here, he didn’t build it.” Lancaster says that Schwartz told him “‘If you put liens against your house I accept your conditions.’ He got nervous about a bunch of stuff.” Lancaster said that Brett Joyce of Rogue disallowed the idea of more time to work out a deal with others to keep the Green Dragon a non-corporate enterprise. Lancaster says Joyce kept with “If it goes two more days this offer doesn’t stand (conditions). They had (Schwartz) him over a barrel.” According to Lancaster, Schwartz “said one thing and did another. (Saying stuttering) ‘this is my only way out'” So what now? Lancaster feels disappointed, but not deflated. After papers were signed before him, Lancaster told friends and employees back at the Green Dragon. “In fear of there jobs, they were really bummed out” says Lancaster. ” I have been fighting as hard as I can. This is our house. We built it.” He also says that prominent people approached him with offers to save it . “If they really have it, we are going to open our own place and (utilize) all the artwork available.”
What appears to distress Lancaster and other Green Dragon loyalists is that Schwartz and Rogue tried to “make it seamless like no one knew, but we blew it up.”
So what now?
“I don’t know” admits Lancaster. “A good friend of mine who will be GM is gonna make it the same. You have dough and longevity. They only wanted it all.”
As for Schwartz, Lancaster says “He’s gonna get a big bag and go to his cabin and watch a bunch of movies and chill out.”
“Something like 30 people employed by this place. Rogue offered people to move to places like Eugene…made them offers they have to refuse. Many of these people have families and can’t just move to places like Newport and San Francisco. They’re not seventeen years old.”
What about Lancaster and his brewing? He says “This isn’t the end of me making beer. Right now I’m just having a beer and gettin a hundred phone calls. We’re going to open another place. Our declaration of war is going to the (Portland) Mercury and possibly the Willamette Week and the Oregonian. We’re gonna build another place. I am totally focused. I didn’t get to where I am by worrying.”
About The Author
Angelo
Angelo grew up in Maine and is proud to call New England his original home. Cascadia is now his home. He fell in love with great beer in Oregon, Washington, and Northern California. He has been a correspondent for the Portland Tribune's Guest on Tap column, LivePDX.com, and has been featured in publications such as Beer Northwest and PDX Magazine. Angelo also has a great interest in independent music, and has been a booker and organizer for shows around the Portland under the name Pop Tomorrow! Angelo garnered much knowledge regarding beer from his experiences homebrewing, working at Belmont Station, Pyramid Brewing, Upright Brewing, By the Bottle, Beer Revolution, Olde Depot Public House, Falling Sky Brewing, Cascade Brewing, and from many many knowledgeable, passionate, and loving people along the way. It is Angelo's mission to bring "infotainment" and "edumation" to the readers of this website. If you have any questions or comments, or would like to contribute, please contact me at angelo@brewpublic.com
Man, that sounded tragic. All our fears are beginning.
-Bo
So will it keep the “Green Dragon” name and all that or is it becoming a Rogue public house? That has remained unclear to me…
I suppose Roots will be happy to have me as their regular, now. Or maybe HUB?
Ahh shucks. I guess all we can hope is that things don’t change…while we wait for Lolo and his new creation.
I can’t believe all this stilted crap. Angelo, you are one gullible dude!!! Check yourself on this, bro. There are plenty of industry people out there that will set you straight on this. Do a little fact-checking!
Will we be paying $5 for run-of-the-mill Rougue beer now? Looks like I can go elsewhere…
Rogue Stinks
@ jorge: Stilted crap? Gullible? What more fact checking can I do? Ed and LoLo confirmed the sale. I am using quotes for the rest. Tell me who can “set me straight” and I will gladly speak with them. Rogue hadn’t been available for comment on any of this since their vague letter from their lawyer. Please be more specific when criticizing via contents, or cease to do so. Thanks.
Honestly though, where was the money going to come from if it wasn’t coming from Rogue? Why wasn’t funding secured before all of this ridiculous drama started happening? Why haven’t the owners been able to make it work in the years leading up to this mess?
Don’t get me wrong, the Dragon is a great place and a fantastic concept. But it’s insane to suddenly give it a pass on a number of very significant problems, not the least of which being it simply couldn’t pay bills. From where I’m standing, the Dragon was never going to make it anyway. Shutdown and/or transferal of ownership was inevitable.
Demonizing Rogue because they saw an opportunity to save a sinking ship (and make some cash in the process) seems shortsighted and petty.
Maybe that will finally get the website updated, I think the last update was in June. Hecky, I would have gladly updated their website for them for some beer script.
I’ve really appreciated the website at Bailey’s Taproom and always wished the GD could have kept it current.
Fuck Rogue. Lost a customer for life with this greedy foolishness.
@da — hear, hear! The Horsebrass and Belmont Station also do a decent job keeping their online taplists up to date. Never understood why this was such a challenge for the Green Dragon.
Lucky Lab is a 5 minute walk up the road. Later.
jaysus, with 20 beers on tap one might just have assumed there’d be something tasty on the taplist, rather than being miffed at their lack of intarwebs, twats.
Way to steal the best name for a pub that Rogue never thought of…
@ninj – with several places to get interesting beers scattered around town, its kind of nice to know who’s got what before heading out. But I guess to you, one beer’s as good as another.
Ninj, my comment wasn’t just about the tap list on the website. It would have been nice to know which events were happening, but I guess you probably don’t care about events either. All meet the brewer info had to be found in other Portland beer blogs.
Maybe think about things for a second before you start calling people twats, you just end up looking stupid.
So there’s suddenly a surfeit of beer blogs to get the info from? No. If they chose to avoid the kill-me-please-stop-talking beer nerds and cater to people who just enjoy the stuff by not twittering every sodding keg that arrived in the door…. maybe that was why the atmosphere was more convivial than a lot of places? Shrug. Enjoy rogue franchise #154.
First of all I would never call anyone twats, because that’s just rude and distasteful and shows a great lack of breeding. But I also don’t really get the obsession with a bar having an active twitter feed or whatever. I don’t think it follows logically that: me not checking the web before going to the bar = one beer being as good as another to me. E.g., I know that if I walk into Lucky Lab or Roots, there will be a beer on tap that I’ll enjoy.
@Lucas – I never meant to imply that _not_ checking the web before going out for a beer means you don’t appreciate quality beer. You’re right, both Lucky Lab and Roots are always worth a visit. But I also really enjoy experiencing the rare and unusual beers that come briefly to the various rotating taps around town, and knowing who’s got what when is very useful in this regard.
You’re still not addressing the idea of updating you website with stuff other then the beer, such as events. It would be nice to know which bands were playing in a given week wouldn’t it?
And I’m with you, I’d hate to see the Dragon turned into another Rogue pub. As you can see by my other posts I was a big Green Dragon fan and a regular there.
Angelo: maybe talk to someone other than the protagonists to get an outside view? Pretty much any industry person will talk to you about it — off the record — and give you some backstory. You’ve been trusting LoLo’s word on this, and Ed’s, for that matter. I know you don’t have the full scoop, so I’m encouraging you to get educated on the real deal, because I think you’ve been unintentionally unfair. Face it, you were quick to rush to judgement here. Live and learn.
To all of my friends running other establishments – The family that has built the dragon are good workers, and some of them may need jobs. I will support the people that have cared and worked their asses off and will give recommendations in their behalf. Call me if you need someone that needs to pay their bills and cares about our community. 541-350-8863. Cheers and Civil Disobedience! LoLo.
@ jorge should I trust you. you won’t even own up to who you are. Hiding behind a fake email with no link. You speak in vague terms like you have something to hide. It would be nice if folks would stop hiding behind laywers and double speak and speak the truth from their heart. If you are going to tell me how to act or how to write, you could at very least quit hiding behind a fake name and email.
Drug tests, names tags, uniforms, retraining, a “no swearing” policy, loss of shifts to Rogue employees…anything else I forgot to mention that would change the unique personalities of the GD staff into Red Robin employees. YES- your beloved pub will be changing dramatically!
These friends of our need jobs. Good one’s that let them be the superior professionals that they are. But if that job isn’t available, please let us know where you will be so I can continue to support you…NOT Rogue!
Speaking as someone who has to drive at least 40 minutes out of the way to drink a beer, I wholeheartedly appreciate establishments letting me know what’s on tap and/or who’s a guest brewer or if there’s a guest brewer at a given location at a given time before burning a couple gallons of gas… sure, I could find something to drink on any given night, but I can do that
just… almost as easily closer to work/home.As much as I love(d) the Green Dragon for its eclectic atmosphere and constantly variable selection, I can love Bailey’s/Belmont/Horse Brass for similar reasons… and I can be assured ahead of time that I’m more likely to find something I have to try; for the
ecocost-conscious among us, that’s a useful resource.But I’m sure we’re a small, insignificant portion of business… most of the regulars (read: cool kids) don’t care what’s on tap, so long as it’s plentiful and freely flowing (read: $$$); the “kill-me-please-stop-talking beer nerds” (read: social outcasts) are less likely to drink indiscriminately and/or in large quantities (read: $); why cater to them?
“Convivial…” that’s a laugh.
-anónimo
Due to replacements, the slashing of various positions and shifts, but mostly toward a regard of loyalty to home and family, the original staff of the Green Dragon is now down from 30 to 3. Because the majority of us refuse to work for anyone who has a no swearing policy, who requires us to piss test (and pay $45 for it),tuck in our shirts, wear a name tag, and ask every customer we’re unfamiliar with if they are part of “the rogue nation”, we’ve chosen to leave. I’ve been employed by the dragon from day one, and though it’s difficult to walk out on work given the times, it was much more unappealing to suffer through this transition. Those who are jumping ship are the most quality human beings I’ve ever had the pleasure to work beside, and more importantly, befriend. If any of you good folks know of, or yourself have work opportunity of any trade, please get in touch with us.
“A man is rich in proportion to the number of things he can afford to let alone.” Thoreau
““Convivial…” that’s a laugh.
-anónimo”
No shit. Hardly the word I’d use to describe the GD, although it was a great place to have a good beer and be left alone. Or be ignored by the bartender while he tried in vain to charm the few ladies in the place.
Man, maybe I have been tuned out, but I don’t get what was so evil about Rogue. I thought they were pretty well liked as a brewery. Is this anger and sadness more about the Green Dragon being “sold out” by an owner that folks trusted?
“a no swearing policy, who requires us to piss test (and pay $45 for it),tuck in our shirts, wear a name tag, and ask every customer we’re unfamiliar with if they are part of “the rogue nation”.”
HA! All they need is to require 15 pieces of flair.
@Bruce
15 pieces of flair… minimum 😉
civil disobedience said “If any of you good folks know of, or yourself have work opportunity of any trade, please get in touch with us.”
CD, how would anyone with a potential position in mind go about reaching the 27 out of 30 Green Dragon employees who left?
Said H: “CD, how would anyone with a potential position in mind go about reaching the 27 out of 30 Green Dragon employees who left?”
Good point, my friend. For starters, I should state that I was misinformed as to how many employees walked. Some were given a grace period to think on their future w/ the establishment, and that was initially viewed as part of the loss. The number isn’t quite so drastic, although still in double digits. If anything the switch has had a far greater impact on the front of house staff than on the kitchen crew. That said, those seeking employment at this time would more than likely be looking into server/bartender positions, but absolutely grateful for any lead. All are qualified, hard-working, good natured, four letter wording human beings 🙂
You can contact me here: civil_disobedience88@yahoo.com
Tell me who you would like to speak with, and I’ll put you in touch.
Thanks so much for your concern!
With all due respect: FUCK.
I’ve been trying to find a job in the independent beer industry in Portland for months. It’s been a humiliating and terrible process which has involved getting the runaround from the Green Dragon, getting turned down at Laurelwood for an apparent lack of love for the kiddies, and showing up to my interview at Lompoc only to find the position had already been filled.
So. Is someone going to open an amazing new brewpub in these dark days and employ all of Portland’s down and out beer geeks? Or do I now have 30 more people competing for the same nonexistent jobs?
@ For Fucks Sake
Your gripes are heard. I found a very interesting answer proffered by Rock Bottom’s Van Havig in an interview I conducted with the brewmaster in 2007 when asked “What words of wisdom would you offer to an aspiring brewer?” Havig said:
“…Portland is a great town. It’s a fantastic town. It’s hands down my favorite city in the country. It’s a great town to be a brewer in. The problem is, every aspiring brewer in the country knows that. And I would say that even though there are a lot of breweries here and a lot of brewing jobs, they happen to almost all be taken. The problem is that you have a great number of people in this tiny town who are trying to be a brewer than probably anywhere else in the country. My honest advice: Move somewhere else. I’m dead serious. If you really, really want to do this, you have to make a decision: Do you want to do this, or do you want to live in Portland? I moved here in 1988 and got lucky enough to move back. But the fact of the matter is, you can get a job much easier in the Mid-Atlantic, probably much easier in a place like Chicago or Minnesota, or places like that where there are breweries, but it’s not the coolest thing in the world and everyone doesn’t think about beer all the time. It’s tough. It’s really, really tough to get a job in this town. It’s brutal! I tell people all the time to go to D.C. There’s a bunch of freakin’ breweries (there) and nobody thinks it’s cool to be a brewer…no-bo-dy! Everyone thinks its cool to work on the Hill or be a lobbiest or work for an NGO or be an engineer or work for a software company. Nobody freakin’ wants to be in brewing, therefore, if you really want to do it, you can get a job. I’m not trying to be a jerk. That’s the truth. It’s not like I started in Portland. I started in Minnesota and went to Maryland.”
I’m certainly not advocating that anyone leave Portland. I am currently taking on part time jobs I don’t want to continue living here with aspirations that someone will want to sponsor this website.