By Tiah Edmunson-Morton
Title: Ninkasi Brewing Company Collection, 1999-2015
Predominant Dates: 2008-2015
ID: MSS Ninkasi
Primary Creator: Ninkasi Brewing Company
Extent: 52.27 gigabytes. More info below.
Arrangement: The Ninkasi Brewing Company Collection is arranged into six series: 1. Beer Branding, 2007-2013; 2.Events and Outreach, 2008-2012; 3. Marketing and Promotional Materials, 1999-2013; 4. Operational Records, 2004-2013; 5. Photographs, 2008-2015; and 6. Videos, 2011-2012.
Date Acquired: 00/00/2014
Languages of Materials: English [eng]
The Ninkasi Brewing Company Collection includes materials generated by the Ninkasi Brewing Company that document the various types of beer produced at the brewery. It is primarily an electronic collection, with a much smaller number of printed materials. The Ninkasi Brewing Company formed in 2006 in Eugene, Oregon.
There are elements of the website preserved by the Internet Archive. The digital folders in each series of this collection are available upon request.
The Ninkasi Brewing Company Collection includes materials generated by the Ninkasi Brewing Company that document the various types of beer produced at the brewery.
The Ninkasi Brewing Company Collection is primarily an electronic collection, with a much smaller number of printed materials, and consists of born-digital materials (video files, documents, photographs, Adobe Illustrator and other graphic design files). The majority of the graphic design files are related to packaging, promotion, and distribution. There are general company marketing materials, but also those that focus on individual beers, including Tricerahops Double IPA, Maiden the Shade, Sleighr Dark Double Alt, Spring Reign Ale, Dawn of the Red, Believer Double Red, Oatis Oatmeal Stout, Hazy Domination (Hazy IPA), Prismatic IPA, and Total Domination IPA. Ninkasi beer is available in 12oz bottle 6-packs, 22oz bottles, and on draft; this collection has design files and promotional materials for each method of packaging and distribution. Also included are reports and planning documents, events and activities sponsored by the brewery, pictures of facilities and employees, and beer release schedules. There are over 8,000 electronic files.
The printed materials include beer labels, original artwork, event posters, oversize label stock, and a brewing process diagram infographic with food recipes.
There are elements of this website preserved by the Internet Archive. The digital folders in each series of this collection are available upon request.
The Ninkasi Brewing Company has retained copyright to all materials in the collection. Requests for permission to use or publish the materials will be forwarded by the Special Collections & Archives Research Center to the organization for approval.
The Ninkasi Brewing Company formed in 2006 in Eugene, Oregon.
Named after the Sumerian goddess of fermentation, Ninkasi Brewing Company was founded in 2006 by Jamie Floyd and Nikos Ridge. The first beer they produced was Total Domination IPA. The company's headquarters are in Eugene, Oregon's Whiteaker neighborhood.
Nikos Ridge was born and raised in Eugene, and moved to Manhattan in 1999, where he worked in finance; he moved back to Eugene in 2004. Jamie Floyd was born in Livermore and raised in Cupertino, California. He moved to attend the University of Oregon in 1990 and brewed his first batch of homebrew, in the kitchen of a campus co-op called The Lorax. In 2005, Floyd began working as a kitchen manager and assistant brewer at Steelhead Brewery in Eugene, where Teri Fahrendorf was the head brewer; after Fahrendorf left he became head brewer. Ridge and Floyd met in Eugene and in 2006 made their first batch of beer together: Total Domination IPA. The following six months, they continued to brew on a 15-barrel brewhouse located in a German restaurant in Springfield, Oregon.
In 2007, Ninkasi Brewing Company moved to its current location in Eugene’s Whiteaker neighborhood. By 2011, it was the fastest growing craft brewery in the United States and in 2020, was ranked as the 33rd largest craft brewery. The brewery produces year-round Flagship Series beers, a rotating Seasonal Release Series, Special Release Series beers, and Rare & Delicious (R&D) small-batch releases.
Ninkasi Brewing Company set out with the mission "to Perpetuate Better Living" and since its founding has prioritized community impact in each state where its beer is sold. Ninkasi’s “Beer is Love” donations program donates beer to registered 501(c)3 nonprofit organizations, focusing on the core categories of women, equality, recreation, the environment, and arts and music. Ninkasi Studios is located in the brewery complex and was created to foster the talents of young or undiscovered artists. They have also organized music festivals, including the Whiteaker Block Party and Last Band Standing competition.
The Ninkasi Space Program debuted in 2014 when the company launched brewer's yeast into space on a rocket and brewed beer with the yeast when it returned. It took two missions (Mission One in July 2014, Mission Two in October 2014) to yield viable yeast. The space beer, called Ground Control, was released in April 2015 and was an imperial stout made with Oregon hazelnuts, star anise, and cacao nibs fermented with space yeast strains.
Ninkasi has an in-house art department, which designs merchandise, labels, and other promotional materials, as well as its own metal working shop, which creates signs and tap handles.
More Extent Information: 1 cubic foot box, 1 16x20 oversize box, 1 23x31 oversize box, 1 map folder
Statement on Access: Collection is open for research.
Use Restrictions: The Ninkasi Brewing Company has retained copyright to all materials in the collection. Requests for permission to use or publish the materials will be forwarded by the Special Collections & Archives Research Center to the organization for approval.
Acquisition Note: The records were donated to the Special Collections & Archives Research Center in 2014 by Long Wade of Ninkasi Brewing Company.
Related Materials:
The Ninkasi Brewery Company Collection is complemented by several other collections. The Brewing and Fermentation Research Collection (MSS BFRC) contains information pertaining to the history, growth, and culture of the Pacific Northwest brewing industry; included are newsletters for homebrew clubs such as the Oregon Brew Crew and Cascade Brewers Society, as well other noteworthy industry periodicals and publications. The Oregon Hops and Brewing Archives Oral History Collection (OH 35) includes interviews from industry professionals, journalists, and community members.
Further information regarding the values, logistics, and goals of the burgeoning regional brewing community can be found in organizational collections like the Heart of the Valley Homebrewers Records, McMenamins Brewery Collection, Portland Brewing Company Records, and the Oregon Brewers Guild Records. The personal research collections of Fred Eckhardt, Denny Conn, Pete Dunlop, Fred Bowman, Abram Goldman-Armstrong, and Robert Daly contain additional information regarding the beer writing process and beer culture.
Collections linked to Oregon State University research, as well as other manuscript collections, are described on the Oregon Hops and Brewing Archives research guide. More information pertaining to the history of hop growing and brewing in Oregon can be found on the Oregon Hops and Brewing Archives website.
Preferred Citation: Ninkasi Brewing Company Collection (MSS Ninkasi), Oregon State University Special Collections and Archives Research Center, Corvallis, Oregon.
Ninkasi Brewing Company
Artists--United States.
Brewing.
Brewing industry--Oregon.
Hops and Brewing
Natural Resources
Ninkasi Brewing Company
Born digital.
Digital images.
Digital photographs.