We’re running at BridgePort Brewing on Saturday, February 25th! BridgePort, the oldest brewery in Oregon, opened in 1984 by local winemakers Richard and Nancy Ponzi. In 1995, it was acquired by a Texas-based company, who expanded it’s capacity and distribution capabilities. Located in the Pearl District in Portland, we’re thrilled to experience this venerable Portland establishment at the end of February.
I had the opportunity to sit down with Jeff Edgerton, brewmaster at BridgePort since 2010, and picked his brain a bit about all things BridgePort. In addition to being a “hop forward” brewery, he says they ‘re all about “taking pride in what [they] do and trying to make a really, really good product.” We also talked about how he got into the beer industry, and the changes he’s seen over the past 18 years.
Watch my entire interview with Jeff below, then join us at BridgePort Brewing on February 25th!
https://www.facebook.com/ORBrewRun/videos/737794019712124/
About BridgePort Beer
Jeff treated me to three BridgePort beers during our conversation. It was great to not only get the “ingredients” list but also some of the back story behind each beer.
The first beer was one of their newer creations, the Stumptown ORA – Oatmeal Red Ale. It’s made with oatmeal and a malt called “red X” which is supposed to give it a cool red color. “When we put [“red X”] in the beer, it didn’t create as much of a red color as we thought, but we loved the flavor.” Says Edgerton. “The oatmeal is designed to give [the beer] a smooth mouth-feel…[it] smoothes out the beer, not used for flavoring,” he told me. They also use a hop called “Mt Hoods” which is new to BridgePort beers.
The second beer he poured me was the Rukus Wheat Wine. This beer is almost 11% ABV, and blurs the lines between beer and wine.
“For this one, they said, just go crazy and do whatever you want to do. It’s a wheat wine, which means we used over 50% wheat and put A LOT of it in there. We also used 4 pounds per barrel of crystal hops (usually we only use 1 pound per barrel). We made it for the holiday ale festival this year.”
The beer was super smooth, maybe a little too smooth, considering the alcohol level. You may not want to drink too much of it as the alcohol can sneak up on you.
Finally, Jeff served me their Porter. I love porters, especially in the winter, and this one is fantastic; it’s very smooth and easy to drink. This beer was created because the brewers didn’t really like their current Porter. “It was sort of designed by committee,” says Edgerton. If you join us on February 25, be sure to try this one since it isn’t easy to find around Portland.
We’re excited to be at BridgePort Brewing in February! Join us for some great beer with great people at BridgePort Brewing on February 25!
