Photos courtesy the Bridge and Tunnel Brewery
A Ridgewood man who transformed an industrial space into a thriving brewery is now facing the possibility of closing his doors after a decade in the community.
Bridge and Tunnel Brewery, located at 15-35 Decatur St. in Ridgewood, has become a beacon for beer enthusiasts, achieving what many others dream of.
At its peak, the taproom boasted 16 beer varieties and earned several prestigious accolades, including the Ruppert’s Cup during NYC Beer Week, just two years after opening, and the New York State Governor’s Cup.
Yet, despite its success, founder Rich Castagna says one major event has placed his brewery in jeopardy: the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It disrupted what was probably the beginning of our real momentum as a brewery,” Castagna said.
During the pandemic, Bridge and Tunnel Brewery adapted, shifting to canned beer sales for the first five to six months of 2020 and offering outdoor seating when allowed. However, these adjustments were temporary, and the next three years severely strained the brewery, Castagna told the Ridgewood Times.
“In that first year, we weathered a lot of storms, but when winter came, they shut us down again, and all the gains we made, we lost,” Castagna said. “Every time there was a COVID spike or shutdown, we were in that fear environment. Our sales would contract to a point where every gain that we made was lost.”
In addition to COVID-related setbacks, many of Castagna’s longtime customers—who had supported him since his early days brewing in a single-car garage in Maspeth—left the city. With about 80% of his loyal customer base gone, rising costs became another looming challenge.
“There’s not a lot of customers, and they’re price conscious, they’re price sensitive, because everything is expensive now,” Castagna said. “You can’t just do a knee-jerk ‘okay, I’m gonna raise the prices’ to the point where now I’m making money…
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