Bridge and Tunnel Brewery in Ridgewood was recently voted the favorite brewery by beer lovers during this year’s NYC Beer Week, and was awarded the prestigious Ruppert’s Cup.
NYC Beer Week is a celebration of craft beer, shedding light on some of the city’s biggest and best breweries and their beers. This year’s event featured 23 breweries from right here in New York City, as well as 25 breweries from other states and international destinations.
Bridge and Tunnel beat out all the other breweries during the second-annual Ruppert’s Cup Awards at Barcade in Brooklyn on March 4, to claim the Ruppert’s Cup.
“With Bridge and Tunnel Brewery winning the cup for 2017, we’ve achieved the goal of retaining the cup in Queens, despite the 20 additional breweries from all over NYC trying to secure the cup,” said Rich Castagna, owner of Bridge and Tunnel Brewery. “The win demonstrates the driving force of Queens as a producer of outstanding craft beer and stand out breweries.”
The Ridgewood brewery will get to keep the trophy until next year when voting begins to crown a new champion.
Castagna is proud that his DIY brewery, which he started in 2012 with his wife, Lisa, out of their little garage in Maspeth, has come so far.
Bridge and Tunnel Brewery takes a very hands-on approach to their brewing process, and Castagna is very open about their brewing operations. Customers can even catch brewing or kegging operations happening right on site, just on the other side of the chain link fence separating the kettles and fermenters from Bridge and Tunnel’s tap room tables and benches, Castagna said.
“The win is a positive affirmation to the wide openness to the public at B&T on how beer is made and what effort is expended to bring beer from gain to glass over and over again,” he added. “And it’s being done day in and day out right in a small self-built brewery in Ridgewood. And Ridgewood now has a brewery trophy for the next year to call its own.”
One of the brewery’s bartenders was also voted Peoples’ Choice Favorites Bartender during the NYC Beer Week festivities.
To taste some award-winning brews, head to Bridge and Tunnel Brewery located at 15-35 Decatur St.
