Function PDX will pour its last pint in Portland on Nov. 16, when the business closes its taproom at 2006 N.E. Alberta St. — the final Oregon location for a company that built its name hosting out-of-town breweries one month at a time. Owner Casey Armstrong is shifting his focus well beyond city limits, with projects taking shape in Idaho and Wisconsin.
A Nine-Year Run Through Several Identities
Function launched in 2017 under Armstrong, who has owned the business throughout its many changes, according to OregonLive. It began as a catch-all event space before transitioning into local and semi-local beer pop-ups, the outlet reports. When the pandemic hit, Armstrong pivoted again, this time launching a beverage delivery concept called Road Beers.
It was in May 2021 that the business found its signature format, becoming what Armstrong described as a “long residency platform,” per the same report. From there, Function PDX built its identity around hosting non-local brewery brands for about a month at a time, giving Portland drinkers access to beers they otherwise couldn't find on tap. The company expanded its original venue on Northwest 23rd Avenue in 2024 and opened the Northeast Alberta Street location that same year, eventually hosting two out-of-state breweries at once.
Portland Locations Wind Down
The original Northwest Portland flagship already closed in March 2026, according to OregonLive's reporting, with the Alberta Street taproom now set to follow on Nov. 16. New School Beer separately reported on the closure of the original 919 N.W. 23rd Ave. location. Function PDX sold its three-story Northwest Portland building, and Armstrong used that capital to help bring the business to his new hometown in Idaho, where he relocated with his wife and three children halfway through 2024.
A Hospitality Campus Takes Shape Near Boise
Armstrong's next big project is a planned “mini hospitality campus” just outside Boise, built around Function's rotating beer program along with a separate event space, a bar and two on-property Airbnbs. OregonLive reports the venture will likely open in fall 2027, though New School Beer's earlier coverage of the Garden City campus gave a target window of spring or summer 2027 — the two outlets differ on the timeline. Armstrong is also working on a second Idaho location in downtown Boise, OregonLive notes, though no opening details have been confirmed for that site.
Residency Model Heads to Wisconsin Too
Beyond Idaho, Armstrong is launching an out-of-state Function concept in Milwaukee that uses a similar residency model, partnering with different distributors and taprooms to showcase their products in a new market, per OregonLive's reporting. That expansion echoes a partnership already underway at Havenwoods Taproom and Beer Garden, which kicked off a residency series on July 31 featuring Fonta Flora Brewery of Morganton, North Carolina, as its first guest brand, according to OnMilwaukee. Those residencies are designed to give breweries a focused presence in a new market while letting local drinkers sample beers they typically wouldn't have access to, OnMilwaukee reports, with additional month-long residencies expected to be announced throughout the year. Armstrong told OregonLive he plans to identify other “residency nodes” around the country and potentially bring the Function model to even more states.
Why Oregon's Beer Scene Keeps Shrinking
Function's Oregon exit comes as the state's craft-beer industry works through a rough stretch. Oregon saw 29 breweries, taprooms and cideries close in 2025, according to KPTV — a decline from 35 closures in 2024, even as national craft-beer production dropped 5% after years of growth. Lisa Allen of the Oregon Brewers Guild attributed the losses partly to a period of rapid industry expansion that created, in her words, “a little bit of a bubble,” compounded by broader economic uncertainty weighing on small businesses. KPTV also reports that craft four-packs now run between $13 and $25, pushing some consumers toward cheaper alternatives like seltzers and CBD-infused drinks.
Those pressures aren't new. Oregon brewers were already grappling with depressed draft-beer sales and rising costs in 2023, according to OPB, which reported that draft sales were down nearly 30% nationally and that the state lost around 30 breweries, brewpubs and taprooms that year alone. Laurelwood Brewing Company closed its last retail location in 2023, per the same report, as brewers across the state faced growing competition from canned cocktails, seltzers and nonalcoholic beer options.
Armstrong Leaves the Door Open
Despite pulling Function's taprooms out of Oregon, Armstrong said the focus is outside Portland only for the time being, according to OregonLive's reporting. He credited the city with giving him and Function the chance to build something unique, and he said a future return to Portland is still possible. For now, the company's energy is pointed toward Idaho and Wisconsin, where Armstrong hopes the residency model that defined Function's Portland era can take root in new markets.
