USA, NH: Earth Eagle Brewings to close its original downtown Portsmouth location

Earth Eagle Brewings is closing its original downtown Portsmouth bar and restaurant at month's end, ending an era that all began with a small homebrewing supply business on High Street, Seacostonline.com reported on December 9.

But owner Alex McDonald, betting on the growth of his Somersworth location that opened in April 2021, will turn his staff's attention and energy toward operating the business in the Hilltop City.

It was becoming “increasingly difficult” to run the two locations, McDonald said. With the success of the Somersworth location, he said, he chose to close the Port City location. This means moving on after more than a decade of memories in Portsmouth of small-batch beer production, connecting with aspiring brewers and serving original brews.

“It was just the right time,” said McDonald, now Earth Eagle's sole owner. “It made more sense to try and focus on one location. Portsmouth is an awesome town, and we’re certainly going to miss being there. We hope someone takes the time to make the space home to another thriving business.”

McDonald and his wife, Gretchen, opened A&G Homebrew Supply on High Street in 2010. Two years later, Alex McDonald partnered with Butch Heilshorn to open the inaugural Earth Eagle Brewings adjacent to A&G Homebrew Supply. The business went on to offer a beer garden, a “Hall of Wieners” hot dog-eating challenge and live entertainment in Portsmouth.

Beginning as a nanobrewery with small pours, Earth Eagle’s Portsmouth spot later became a bigger brewpub operation, paving the way for the Somersworth location to open. But now the facility in Somersworth, known as Earth Eagle North, accounts for nearly all of the business’ beer production, in addition to a restaurant and the homebrew supply store.

In Portsmouth, Earth Eagle sells West Coast-style and New Zealand India Pale Ales, a curry pumpkin porter, hard cider, American lagers, Kolsch and more on tap, alongside a cocktail and wine list.

The fermentation tanks installed in Somersworth produces “99%” of Earth Eagle’s beer each year, McDonald said. Roughly 500 barrels of beer are produced by Earth Eagle Brewings annually.

“It’s actually a positive thing for us,” McDonald said of the Portsmouth closure. “We decided that it just made sense for us to take the plunge and put it into Somersworth, focus on one location.”

The Somersworth space has since been expanded to include a 50-seat restaurant and bar and regularly hosts musical acts, comedians and trivia nights.

A final hurrah on High Street in Portsmouth will be held in the weeks to come prior to the closure, according to McDonald. Gift cards to Earth Eagle, in addition to the business’ mug club memberships, will be honored at the Somersworth location.

“In the interim, it’s business as usual (in Portsmouth),” McDonald added. “Everything will still be there, and we hope people come out and celebrate our final days down there."

Earth Eagle beer will continue to be sold in area stores through Bayside Distributing, as well as in riverside restaurants in downtown Portsmouth and throughout the Seacoast.

The restaurant’s equipment, tables, chairs and the lease for the 175 High St. space in Portsmouth will be listed on Wednesday, Dec. 11 through Keller Williams Coastal Lakes and Mountains, according to Earth Eagle.

Earth Eagle announced the upcoming closure of the Portsmouth pub via social media on Friday, Dec. 6.

Earth Eagle is open in Portsmouth on Wednesdays and Thursdays from noon to 9 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays from noon to 10 p.m., and Sundays from noon to 6 p.m.

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