Craft brewery fans have a new choice in Bridgeport: Berlinetta Brewing Co.
But beer snobbery is far from the norm at the facility, which opened at 90 Golden Hill St. on June 12. Emphasizing “easy-drinking beers” — in the moderate alcohol by volume (ABV) range — Berlinetta eschews the heavier and hoppier brews being poured at so many of its competitors.
“I’ve spent a lot of time in the Czech Republic, because my wife’s Czech,” said Rich Ruggiero, who with his brother, Chris, operates Berlinetta. “The quality of the beer there, which is usually in the 5% range, lets you have a few glasses without getting completely drunk.
“I like that European style,” he continued, “where you can sit down and converse and spend some time and it’s not all about the beer. Plus I think people are starting to get tired of strong beers. And we think we can draw in people who may be interested in craft beers but are more used to drinking something like Coors or Budweiser.”
As such, Berlinetta offers five beers — including a signature “Velvet Pilsner,” a Kölsch-style ale, and a Vienna-style lager — and a hard seltzer in its 2,000-square-foot space.
Also setting Berlinetta apart is an inventory of classic vinyl LPs available for sale, carefully curated by Chris.
“We’re both music lovers,” Rich said, “but he owned a recording studio in Bridgeport that he sold to help start this, and he is a real record collector.” While much of the inventory, which can be listened to before purchase, is of the “obscure and esoteric” type, “there’s also a big Rolling Stones section.”
“I think people are starting
to get tired of strong beers.
And we think we can draw in
people who may be interested
in craft beers but are more used
to drinking something like Coors
or Budweiser.”
– Rich Ruggiero
Having spent the last 15-plus years as a freelance video director and editor, Rich Ruggiero said he decided to turn his passion for home-brewing into a profession about three-and-a-half years ago. He and Chris “had done some work on the same projects together, but never been in business with each other,” he said. “We had loosely discussed, ‘Wouldn’t it be great to do something together?’ but had never known what it would be.”
When they finally decided to start a brewery in 2018, the brothers focused on the Interstate 95 corridor. Rich, a Weston resident, and Chris, who lives in Stratford, ultimately decided upon Bridgeport as “we grew up in the area and liked it.”
The search took about a year, Rich said, and roughly another year for the landlord to make the necessary improvements to the building. And then, of course, Covid hit.
But Berlinetta is now up and running, he said: “Our opening weekend was great, with long lines on Saturday, and we had a really well-attended Sunday, so we’re off to a promising start.”
For the present, Berlinetta will stick with slinging suds at the brewery, although Ruggiero noted that they also offer a small number of cans for sale.
“Probably about a sixth of our sales during opening weekend was cans,” he said. “But canning on a large scale can be pretty difficult, time-consuming and expensive. We’ll probably end up with a manufacturer eventually.”
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