BridgePort Brewing Company
BridgePort Brewing Company was a brewery in Portland, Oregon, in the United States. It operated from 1984 until 2019. Brewery operations ceased in February 2019, and the brew pub closed March 10, 2019.[1]
 BridgePort Brewing Company's complex viewed from the southwest in 2019 | |
| Industry | Alcoholic beverage |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1984 |
| Founder | Richard and Nancy Ponzi |
| Headquarters | Portland, Oregon, United States 45.5311°N 122.68474°W |
| Products | Beer |
Production output | 100,000 bbls |
| Owner | Carlos Alvarez |
| Website | www |
History
BridgePort was founded in 1984 by local winemakers Richard and Nancy Ponzi, and the brewery claims in their trademark to be "Oregon's Oldest Craft Brewery." Their first brewer was Karl Ockert.[2] The initial brewing facility, the Columbia River Brewery, had a 600 barrel per year capacity. BridgePort was acquired by the Gambrinus Company, owned by Carlos Alvarez, in 1995, which expanded its capacity in 2001 to 100,000 barrels. BridgePort's beers are distributed in 18 U.S. states. BridgePort beer production in 2005 ranked 41st in the nation;[3] for 2009 beer sales, this ranking fell to number 47.[4]
The building used by BridgePort was built in 1887 and originally housed a rope factory. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Portland Cordage Company Building.
A fictionalized version of BridgePort appeared in the fifth season of the heist series Leverage in 2012. In the show, the brewery was a front company for the protagonists' elaborate cons. On-location filming included the exterior and some internal transition scenes.[5]
Beers
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The BridgePort India Pale Ale, perhaps the brewery's best known beer,[7] has won a number of awards in the United States and abroad, including a Gold Medal at the 2005 Brewing Industry International Awards, in Munich, Germany; a Gold Medal and Category Champion Trophy at the 2000 Brewing Industry International Awards in London, England; and a Gold Medal for Classic English Style Pale Ale at the Great American Beer Festival, in Denver, Colorado, in 1997.
Blue Heron Pale Ale, named after Portland's official city bird (the great blue heron), was first brewed in 1987 as a special release for the Audubon Society of Portland.[8] The pale ale features Northwest ingredients, such as hops from the Willamette Valley and malted barley from Eastern Oregon, and won a gold medal at the 2006 World Beer Cup.[8]
Bridgeport brews a barleywine named "Old Knucklehead" where a "Knucklehead" is inaugurated every few years. Bottling "no. 11" features Portland, Oregon beer writer Fred Eckhardt.
See also
References
- Meunier, Andre (February 12, 2019). "BridgePort shutting down in latest Portland brewery closure". The Oregonian. Retrieved 2019-02-12.
- "Richard and Nancy Ponzi with BridgePort Brewmaster Karl Ockert". Multnomah County Library.
- "Five Oregon Brewers Among the Largest", Portland Business Journal, April 4, 2006
- "Oregon brewers make Top 50 lists", Portland Business Journal, April 15, 2010
- "Kung Fu Monkey: Leverage #508 "The Broken Wing Job" post-game", November 19, 2012.
- Craft Brewing Industry Statistics Archived 2006-05-05 at the Wayback Machine.
- Merrill, Jessica (January 13, 2006). "In Oregon, It's a Brew Pub World". The New York Times.
- "Bridgeport Blue Heron Pale Ale Takes Gold At World Beer Cup 2006", BeerAdvocate, April 18, 2006.
