About Ninkasi
It Began With A Pint
Two friends, a couple pints deep in a Eugene beer bar—talk turns to the craft in their glass, and something bigger starts brewing.
In 2005, Jamie Floyd and Nikos Ridge didn’t have a blueprint—just a shared pull toward beer, community, and building something of their own.
Nikos had left Eugene for Manhattan finance, only to feel the pull of home and return in 2004. Jamie, already deep in the craft, brewed his first batch in a campus co-op kitchen—sparking a decade-long run at Steelhead Brewery.
What started as a conversation over pints was about to become something much bigger.
Ninkasi's Beginnings
Introduced through mutual friends, the two had become buddies at a time when Jamie was ready to embark on his own. Over a pint of Jamie’s beer, Nikos and Jamie discussed the potential of opening a brewery – a dream Jamie was certain to make happen. With Jamie’s brewing background and Nikos’ finance knowledge, the two had a winning combination to successfully open a business. After leaving the pub, Jamie eagerly waited an hour before calling Nikos with an affirmative, “this is happening.”
Jamie and Nikos knew they not only wanted a brewery, but they wanted to do things a little differently. The dream: become “the village brewer,” providing a place for people to come together over a pint. Looking to brewing history, the two decided to name the brewery Ninkasi [nin-kah-see], the ancient Sumerian Goddess of Fermentation.
Enter The Goddess
After scraping together enough funds from friends and family, the two produced their first batch of beer in June, 2006. This inaugural batch of Total Domination IPA was the result of a 17-hour brew day inside a leased space in Springfield, Ore. The following six months, Jamie and Nikos continued to brew on a 15-barrel brewhouse located within a German restaurant.
In 2007, Ninkasi moved to its current location in Eugene’s Whiteaker neighborhood. Known for its eclectic art, the two knew this neighborhood would easily foster community. Fast forward to 2011, and the hard work of both founders landed them the fastest growing craft brewery in the United States with a top selling IPA in Oregon. Fast forward to present day, and Ninkasi ranks the 33rd largest craft brewer in the United States (Brewers Association, 2020).
Independently Owned. Community Driven.
The brewery remains fully independent and is continuously focused on community. A team of two has increased to nearly 100 employees who operate Ninkasi’s Better Living Room, production and lab facilities, sales force, marketing teams, and a donation program.
We are proud to offer our employees and their dependents a comprehensive health insurance plan. To comply with the Transparency in Coverage rules, we’ve made available the formal documents outlining our health plan offered through Regence. To access the machine-readable files created and published by Regence, please click here.
