BridgePort Brewing Celebrates 21 Years of IPA With Hoptoberfest PDX

Now of legal drinking age BridgePort Brewing will celebrate a day honoring its iconic IPA, the beer that truly put Oregon’s Oldest Brewery on the map. On Saturday, October 28th, BridgePort Brewing will host Hoptoberfest PDX honoring its classic English-style IPA along with two new variants.

Twelve years after opening its doors in 1984, BridgePort Brewing brought in Phil Sexton from Australia to assist in developing an IPA for the brewery. This is also the same time that the brewery’s original brewer Kark Ockert returned to Portland after a short stint at Anheuser-Busch in Newark, NJ.

Back in 1996, an IPA was not a common beer in the US. New BridgePort owner Carlos Alvarez of The Gambrinus Company was searching for a way to invigorate that brewery his company purchased one-year prior.

This newfound IPA that Sexton and Ockert came up with forever changed the brewing world as we know it. IPA continues to be the largest category in all of craft beer and doesn’t seem to be slowing down.

“It was a fun thing working on this new style with Phil. He pointed out that this is the biggest hop growing section in the world, so we should make a big, big hoppy beer. In 1996, 50 BU was huge. (The IPA) had a lot of flavor in addition to aroma. I remember when (John) Foyston came by and said ‘I can smell that from here.’ There wasn’t anyting on the market like it.” – Karl Ockert (July 2010)

BridgePort Hoptoberfest PDX will take place at the brewpub int Portland’s Pearl District from Noon-6:00pm on Saturday, October 28th. Attendees can expect to find an Oktoberfest-style beer fest on the original craft brewery’s patio (tented in case of inclement weather), a DJ, photo booth, and more.

Advance Tickets are currently on sale for $15.00 each and can be purchased at Signmeup.com/122627. Tickets will also be available at the door for $20.

Ticket includes:

• Three 10oz pours of newly released fresh hop beers including the Hop Harvest IPA, the Original IPA Wet Hopped (with Idaho 7), alongside the Original IPA.
• A slice of birthday cake
• Snacks
• BridgePort Brewing stainless steel tumbler

BridgePort IPA Descriptions provided by the brewery.

Hop Harvest India Pale Ale 2017 
Big Brew annual release made with Centennial and Mount Hood Hops from Crosby Hop Farm (1 hour from harvest to bottle!).

This brew changes slightly every year to take advantage of the wide variety of fresh hops available in the Northwest.  The team at BridgePort Brewing drives straight to the hop fields in the middle of harvest to pick up several hundred pounds of freshly harvested hop cones and then drive these hops right back to the brewery, where the brewers are waiting to incorporate the green hops into the beer immediately.  With this simple process, they capture fresh flavors and aromas that would normally be lost in the drying process.  This translates to a unique annual treat that their customers eagerly look forward to.

For the 2017 version, BridgePort returns to their original fresh hop recipe with a twist, by using their base pale malt, caramel malts, and some wheat for a smooth drinkability.  For something special this year, they made a “double” fresh hop IPA using fresh Centennial hops in their hopjack on the day that it is brewed, followed by a big dose of fresh Mount Hood hops near the end of fermentation.
Alcohol: 7.0 % by vol.
Original Gravity: 16.7 % by wt.
Final Gravity: 4.00 % by wt.
Real Degree of Fermentation: 63.8 %
Bitterness: 60 IBU
Color: Golden

The Original IPA Wet Hopped India Pale Ale (with Idaho 7) 
BridgePort’s Original IPA with wet hopped Idaho 7 hops.  This is a special edition fresh hop beer featuring a new variety of hops grown only in Idaho.

This beer is similar to their original IPA with one difference: they forgo the usual hopjack full of dried hops. Around the 4th day of fermentation, a load of 250lbs of fresh Idaho 7 hops driven straight from the farm is added. They then fill the bottom of the tank with the fresh hops and pour the warm brew of IPA directly onto the hops.  The result is a beer with an intense “wet” hop character that drinks very easy.
Alcohol: 5.6% by vol.
Original Gravity: 14.0% by wt.
Final Gravity: 3.5% by wt.
Real Degree of Fermentation: 61.2% by wt.
Bitterness: 50 IBU
Color: Golden

BridgePort Brewing
1313 NW Marshall St.
Portland, OR 97209