One of Ridgewood’s neighborhood breweries is getting ready to party, with two special events coming up in the next few weeks.
Bridge and Tunnel Brewery will be celebrating the release of their very first canned beer on Saturday, Jan. 28, and on Feb. 18, the brewery will be hosting the second annual Rock’em Sock’em Robots Boxing Championship tournament.
Starting at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Bridge and Tunnel Brewery — located at 15-35 Decatur St. — will be selling 600 cans of their signature coffee cream ale called “20 Spot and a Switchblade.” The 600 cans will be packaged into 150 four packs and sold for $15, with a maximum of two packs per customer to ensure their beers make it out to as many people as possible.
“Since the start of the brewery in 2012, we’ve only kegged our beer,” said Rich Castagna, owner and operator at Bridge and Tunnel Brewery. “We’ve developed about 30 regularly returning styles over the past four years, and now by canning those styles, each beer can be that much more accessible to our patrons. Now people will be able to enjoy Bridge and Tunnel beer at home, at a party, beach, wherever. We are a small bootstrap brewery, so to be able to now offer that as an option is a big step forward for us.”
Then, on Feb. 18, starting at 6 p.m., Bridge and Tunnel will invite 12 competitors to get behind robot fighters to see who will be crowned the Rock’em Sock’em Robots boxing champion. The last one standing in the tournament will be awarded an ornate championship belt, that only he or she will be able to access whenever visiting the tap room, showing off their robot-fighting skills to all that enter the brewery.
During the tournament, Ridgewood Grove Oak Aged Golden Ale will be on tap, a style of beer that was created specifically for this event and is named in memory of the former Ridgewood Grove Arena that used to hold boxing and professional wrestling events in Ridgewood.
“This will be our second tournament. The idea is that the final champ becomes holder of the belt for the next year. The problem was that last year’s champ enjoyed it all of two weeks, then moved to China,” Castagna said. “The belt is up for grabs. If you want it, come and compete for it on Feb. 18.”
As an added bonus, friend of the brewery, former Middleweight Champion John Duddy, aka “The Derry Destroyer” will be on hand during the tournament for contenders to meet and share stories over beer.
He even stared in this promotional video for the tournament:
Bridge & Tunnel Brewery: Ridgewood Grove Rock’em Sock’em from Direct Narrative on Vimeo.
For more information about both events, visit the Bridge and Tunnel Brewery website.
