Bridgeport Brewing Release Two New Beers…and had a dinner pairing!

What’s better than beer and food? To celebrate two new beers from Bridgeport Brewing, Oregon’s oldest brewery, they decided to have a brewers dinner for the release. Beer Peeps from around the area, and Santa Brad gathered at the Bridgeport Brew Pub to taste the new Cafe Negro and the King Pin Double Red Ale.

Brewer: Jeff Edgerton

Chef: Jack Henniger

Here’s the official release information from Bridgeport about the two beers:

CAFÉ NEGRO Coffee Infused Porter

BridgePort worked with a number of Portland area coffee roasters to formulate its own blend specific to CAFÉ NEGRO that was then infused with the base beer during cold conditioning. The cold conditioning process helps retain subtle coffee aromas otherwise lost during boil and fermentation. CAFÉ NEGRO is brewed with the strong dark flavors of roasted barley and chocolate malt.

BridgePort’s CAFÉ NEGRO Characteristics:
IBU’s: 30 ABV: 5.5% Color: Dark Brown OG: 13.4 Plato

KINGPIN Double Red Ale:
KINGPIN is a full-flavored, red-colored ale that uses a rarely-grown Willamette Valley Hop varietal known as Liberty Hops from fourth generation hop farmer John Annen of Annen Bros. Farm in Silverton, Oregon. Jeff and his team of brewers also used rye and caramel malt leading to a unique flavor profile; triple-hopped for bitter aroma and a unique dry-hopped character.

BridgePort’s KINGPIN Characteristics:
IBU’s: 65 ABV: 7.5% Color: Red OG: 17 Plato

Dinner Pairings
1st Course

Beer: Bridgeport IPA
Food: IPA BBQ Meatballs, Cocktail Weenies, Cheese and fruit

2nd Course

Beer: Blue Heron Pale Ale
Food: Roasted Acorn Squash Soup with Blue Heron, toasted Hazelnuts and maple

3rd Course

Beer: Hop Czar Imperial IPA
Roasted pear, blue cheese and bacon salad with a honey, Hop Czar Vinaigrette

4th Course

Beer: Night Cap Winter Ale
Food: Braised short rips with nightcap, whiskey and dates. Mashed sweet potatoes and brussel sprout leaves

5th Course

Beer: King Pin Double Red Ale
Food:Pork 2-ways–Ancho chili rubbed loin and cumin braised shoulder with black bean puree and braised kale

6th Course

Beer: Cafe Negro coffee infused porter
Food: Chocolate porter cake with ganache and coffee cream

Overall this was an amazing dinner. With a table of around 30 beer lovers it’s not hard to see how this could go wrong, but the beer and the food were top notch. Portland is one of the beer destinations of the world and their unique combination of food and beer culture is second to none. Bridgeport Brewery has been providing quality beer the longest there and these two new beers are right on target with some of the current “hot” beer styles. Look for a full review of the beers in Beer Magazine!
www.breidgeportbrew.com