Ninkasi Interview
The Belmont Station blog has a very cool interview with Jamie Floyd and Nikos Ridge of the newly-founded Ninkasi Brewing in Eugene. Before Ninkasi, Nikos was a NY stock broker, and Jamie was the award-winning brewer at Steelhead. I've been wanting a little more info about Ninkasi, and the interview has lots of good stuff:
The name Ninkasi is that of the ancient Sumerian goddess of beer who is believed by many to have created the original recipe for beer some 4,000 years ago....Go read the full interview there. And by the way, anyone know where Ninkasi is pouring?
Currently leasing and brewing from the space at Sofia’s restaurant in Springfield’s Gateway district, the group plans on relocating in the not so distant future to downtown Eugene on Van Buren Street in the Vos Plumbing building....
[Floyd] I wanted to offer something different like our Lady of Avalon Münchner Dunkel and our Helles Lager, not just the standard American-styled beers—though that is also a big part of what we do. Taking risks and being different is important. I knew that I wanted to be more independent. I have believed in longterm dedication to the community and wanted to be “Eugene’s brewery”; something people of my town could feel proud of and identify with as their own. There are a lot of breweries in Portland, but not so much in Eugene.