Say Goodbye to N. Portland community hub ‘Mayfly’ and Hello to upcoming ‘The Watershed taproom & bottle shop’ — New School Beer + Cider

The Watershed taproom and bottle shop

Chris Stonebreaker and a consortium of friends and neighbors will take over the Mayfly space and hope to reopen it in October as The Watershed Taproom & Bottle Shop (not to be confused with The Watershed Pub in Seattle). Stonebreaker owned and operated the Beer Stop in Redmond, Oregon from 2018-2023, but has been living part-time between Portland and Bend since 2021. For the past 3 years he has been working at Mayfly and since learning it was closing began working to align a group of investors, including Ryan Avenatti, Sara Walker, Ryan and Gloria Pittel, Chris DeLap, and Reed Homan all with ownership stakes in the new taproom.

“Something I’ve kept with me from my roles with Beer Stop and Mayfly has been just how much I love this industry, from the brewers to the distributors to the vendors and customers I’ve built relationships with,” says Stonebreaker. “There’s remarkable creativity, collegiality, and place-based connection, which is something that The Watershed will offer an opportunity to build on. Not only strengthening relationships in those domains, but also being part of an ownership group for this endeavor.”

Stonebreaker and his partners have a vision to create a homey atmosphere with the same community outreach that Ryan Born and company brought to Mayfly events like their regular neighborhood trash clean-up, local food pop-ups, trivia, drag, and music.

“Like many taprooms in the area, we are developing a slate of programming that will build on collaborations with our neighborhood businesses and also with the wider Oregon and Washington beer, wine, and cider community,” says Stonebreaker.

Also like Mayfly, The Watershed will cultivate a selection for cross-drinkers from craft beer (on tap and in cans and bottles), plus local cider, wine (individual pours or whole bottles for purchase), and a wide variety of non-alcoholic beverages with snacks and food pop-ups. 

“We chose the name The Watershed as a nod to our local geography and the Columbia River Slough, as well as a reflection of this watershed moment for our group and the community. It’s a term that reflects multiple streams coming together in the same direction, which is a sense we will endeavor to curate in the space,” adds Stonebreaker.

You can follow their progress on Instagram (@thewatershedpx).