From Tavern to Stronghold: Castle Wyrd Rises
Over the past eight years, Wyrd has grown from a spark of an idea into a thriving community hub for storytellers, adventurers, and mead lovers, and we couldn't have done it without the support of our incredible community. We’ve gone from a tiny retail shop in Milwaukie, Oregon, to a cozy tavern in SE Portland, to a full production warehouse, surviving challenges and setbacks from startup challenges to a worldwide pandemic because people like you believed in our vision for craft, story, and connection.
We've defied the odds time and time again.
Wyrd's current medieval fantasy tasting room in Portland, Oregon
WHY A NEW CASTLE
Our current home has served us well the past 6 years, but it limits what we can offer and our ability to grow even bigger. The new location features high ceilings, significantly more seating, reservable private rooms for any event or photoshoot, and the ability to host more patrons overall. With additional space to host markets for artists, live music and performances, more community events, and more space to for local artists on consignment, this stronghold will finally match the size and strength of the community that built it.
If you have been to any of our community event nights at our current space such as Pirate Night, Halloween, Comic Con Nights, Dark Age Masquerade, and others, you will know how packed we get and how fast we run out of seating.
Our current tasting room looked nothing like it does today when we moved in. Many of our followers may remember all of our updates when moving to the Holgate location, and the work we put in to transform it. It was abandoned for a decade, and we put hundreds of hours into cleaning, painting, decorating, plumbing, etc to make it operational after it was neglected for so long. This new space is already almost there, it just needs the magic touch to be decorated to fit the Castle theme we are aiming for. We can do it again!
With this new location, we are building a bigger drinking hall. The new drinking space will be about x3 times bigger than what we currently can offer. It will also featured separate room titled "The Armory" that will have many medieval weapons and decor and one that patrons can reserve, a perfromer stage, and even a hidden speakeasy door through a wardrobe into one of the rooms. There's a lot of fun options that we can do and provide!
You have believed in us for nearly nine years now. Rally with us.
We are more than just a business, we are a family.
A look at the outside of our new castle on the tower room. All the windows will have this ambiance.
Insider look at the entrance to the building.
WHY SPOTFUND
We chose Spotfund because, unlike “all or nothing” crowdfunding platforms, it allows flexible funding so we can put every contribution to work, whether or not we hit a specific target. This means your support directly helps keep Wyrd’s doors open to the community throughout the massive transition.
In the previous years we have been successful on both Kickstarter and Indigogo, but this option is more direct. We are pushing forward regardless if we hit our intended goal here, but your contribution will make our transition smoother. We want our community to know and see that their efforts and funds are being directly used for this new era.
A sneak peek at the new location castle floor. An even bigger drinking hall than our current location for patrons.
OUR GOAL
With this next phase for our business, we are calling upon the banners of our community worldwide to help build a "castle". (See update below in comments for a deeper look at costs!)
Your contribution will directly help us:
-Install the proper plumbing needed to operate. This is one of the bigger expenses. We've met with our reliable plumber at the location, and the estimate is around $20,000. This includes installing the sinks, digging trenches to tap into the main sewer line, floor drains, grease trap. It's a hefty expense, but this is the bigger one that is absolutely necessary to make this space operable.
- Cover several months of triple rent so we can operate our current spaces (the current tasting hall off Holgate and our warehouse production) while safely preparing the new one. Our current lease ends June of 2026. A majority of the funds raised here will be used to pay this. Funds will directly go into paying back any short term loans we took to acquire the space ahead of schedule.
- Secure and build out the new location, including licenses such as Department of Agriculture and the OLCC, fixtures, lighting, decorating, painting, and ambiance.
- Support the smooth transition of staff, inventory, and events so our community never loses its gathering place.
The turret room will have an interior dark stone vibe!
REWARDS FOR THE WARRIORS OF WYRD
To thank you for helping raise our new walls, all backers receive access to a private Discord channel where we will share updates, photos, and behind-the-scenes looks at the move; after donating, please reach out if you do not receive your invite. We are committed to full transparency and want you to see exactly how your support shapes the next chapter of Wyrd!
Reframing the new archway in the drywall.
TIERS
🗡️ $5 – Squire of Wyrd
- A personalized thank-you message.
🛡️ $20 – Warrior of Wyrd
- Your name written on a medieval-style banner hanging in the new Castle, honoring the Warriors of Wyrd who made this move possible.
- A personalized thank-you message.
🏰 $50 – Founder of Castle Wyrd
- Castle Wyrd Founder T-shirt (design featured below).
- Your name written on a medieval-style banner hanging in the new Castle.
- A personalized thank-you message.
👑 $100 – Eternal Ally
- Your name permanently listed as a digital thank-you footprint on our website.
- Castle Wyrd Founder T-shirt (design featured below).
- Your name written on a medieval-style banner hanging in the new Castle.
- A personalized thank-you message
💎 $500 – Inner Circle of Wyrd
- This tier includes all rewards from every tier below, plus an exclusive VIP experience. We will meet up with you at the castle for an hour and chat mead, nerdy and geeky topics, leatherworks, small business endeavors and experiences from ground up, etc!
- All rewards from the $100 tier and below, including:
- A personalized thank-you message.
- Your name written on a medieval-style banner hanging in the new Castle.
- Castle Wyrd Founder T-shirt (design featured below).
- Your name permanently listed as a digital thank-you footprint on our website.
$1000 - Hero of Wyrd
- This tier includes an exclusive VIP experience. We will meet up with you at the castle for an hour and chat mead, nerdy and geeky topics, leatherworks, small business endeavors and experiences from ground up, etc!
- Legacy Plaque: A custom physical plaque with your title and contribution, plus a matching plaque displayed permanently in the Castle.
All rewards from the $500 tier and below, including:
- A personalized thank-you message.
- Your name written on a medieval-style banner hanging in the new Castle.
- Castle Wyrd Founder T-shirt (design featured below).
- Your name permanently listed as a digital thank-you footprint on our website.
⚔️ $5,000 – Legend of the Realm
- Custom Mead Collaboration: Work directly with us to create a mead—choose the flavors, name, and label art. We’ll share the process and your story across all our social platforms.
Note: Due to Oregon law, alcohol cannot be offered as a prize or reward. - Private Castle Event: A three-hour private “castle” event for you and your guests—the Castle is yours.
- Legacy Plaque: A custom physical plaque with your title and contribution, plus a matching plaque displayed permanently in the Castle.
- A permanent digital record of your contribution on our website.
- Castle Wyrd Founder T-shirt (design featured below).
- Your name written on a medieval-style banner hanging in the new Castle.
- A personalized thank-you message.
If you pledge for an amount between the tiers listed, you will receive the tier below it (Example $85 will receive the $50 tier and so forth).
IF WE EXCEED OUR CAMPAIGN GOAL
In the event that we exceed our goal here, we will be putting the extra funds to work for more decor, increased ambiance, and any additional equipment we might need for smoother operations. This might look like a new bar tap system, or additional lighting, or more wooden long tables, carved statues, and anything you might spot in a medieval fantasy castle mead hall.
We will be 100% transparent with what we purchase, and we will post updates and take suggestions and ideas from backers in our private castle backer Discord!
Any amount you give—large or small—helps Wyrd rise again and ensures there is always a place at the table for the next adventure.
We are eternally grateful for every ounce of support.
Castle Wyrd Design by Brendan Elliott for our crowdfunding T-Shirts and Merch.
