Brewery Spotlight: Brasserie Ninkasi

Region: Lyon, France

With a baccalaureate on one hand and a suitcase in another, a university graduate set out to the United States to see the world, circa early 1980s. Said graduate got enchanted by the many beerpubs and craft breweries that dotted the West Coast. In a chance encounter, he met a Portland native, and after many drunken discussions, a project was taking shape.

That project would eventually be called Ninkasi, a hub for beers, burgers and live bands with 25 hangout spots in and around Lyon.

Ninkasi Gerland. Source: TripAdvisor

Christophe Fargier and Kurt Huffman were the brains behind this project. Originally called "Wigwam" after the dome-shaped shelters built by the Native Americans, the idea of the project was to create a sense of community revolving around good beer.

An early photograph of Christophe Fargier and Kurt Huffman, sometime before 1995. Source: tribunedelyon.fr

The dream was fashioned after have a place where beers, ideas and opinions were shared and that people were embraced. For good measure, throw in good music and good beers, and you'll have a "pleasure triptych".  The concept "Beers, Burgers, Music" tested waters at Kurt's garage, gaining much positive reception amongst friends. Till this day, the Beers, Burgers, Music concept still remains the core of Ninkasi.

Bière Burger & Musique. Source: PetiteFute.com

Burger and Beers in Wine And Dine Country?

When Ninkasi first started out, wine was very much the mainstay tipple across France. Even bar hopping was very much a formal affair - people were expected to dress up and abide to the formalities of a venue.

However, that wasn't quite the case in the United States. Folks were having tipples in informal settings, with drinking being a casual get-together. It was this inclusivity and culture that Christophe wanted to bring back home to Lyon.

Source: Lyonresto

In 1995, the project really took off, with Ninkasi being the name of the upcoming microbrewery. To make the beers and burgers happen, Christophe went to learn how to brew beer in American microbreweries.

Ninkasi is named after the Mesopotamian goddess of beer and brewing - hence the logo. 

The wide eye duo returned to Saint-Étienne in 1996, and would set for Gerland, Lyon, a place where that had a long history with beer. While much of the French population had (and are still having) wines as their mainstay tipple of choice, German immigrants brought their beer know-how and traditions to the region in the 18th and 19th century. In a sense, it was beer's homecoming back to France.

Source: Lostbeers.com

However, no beer brewery journey starts out easy, but the odds seemed particularly stacked against Christophe and Kurt. After all, you're trying to bring informal, casual drinking and burger fanfare to a land dominated by wine and dine. Kurt recalls in an interview that without the support of Christophe's parents, Philippe and Maria-Thérèse Fargier, there "would never have been a Ninkasi".

The turning point for Ninkasi came a year later, when in 1998, the World Cup was held in France. Out of the 14 stadiums hosting the event, one of them was the Stade de Gerland. This was the one chance Ninkasi could take flight - and with a few angel investor's help, Ninkasi gained the traction it very much needed.

Source: tribunedelyon.fr

As the years went by, more outlets sprung up under the Ninkasi banner. In 2003, due to disagreements in visions for the company, Kurt parted ways with Christophe and Ninkasi, stepping down from his founder role.

The Bigger, The Greener

Rolling in 2012, around the 15 year mark since Ninkasi's inception, the brewery at Gerland was now serving five branches. It was high time to increase the scale of production. Hence, the team decided to set up shop in Tarare, 45 kilometres west-northwest of Lyon.

Tarare. Source: Wikipedia

Tarare, during this time, was a quiet town that used to support a thriving textile  industry, in particular muslin and silk, in the 1850s. In fact, the new brewery, The Fabrique de Tarare, was located in formar dye factories. Being near the wine region of Beaujolais as well, Ninkasi says that the quality of water from the granite mountains was well suited for their beer brewing operations.

The burger restaurant tied to the old Tarare brewery. At the start of 2024, we dined close to the entrance of the restaurant (on the left of the door). Source: Ninkasi  

When the Tarare brewery was built, team dabbled with the idea of making whisky as well - purchasing their first stills two years later (from Charentais Chalvignac). 

Tarare 2, an extension of the original brewery and distillery, sought to expand production even more, but perhaps more importantly, to do so in an environmentally conscious way. Efforts to reduce the environmental footprint included energy upcycling design and reducing water usage per litre of beer produced.

What's the Philosophy of Ninkasi?

Music, caring for the environment, a laidback attitude - what's the philosophy of Ninkasi? Beyond their motto Bière Burger & Musique, Ninkasi was envisioned to be a place where, in founder Christophe's word's, "creates an open place that brews trades, audiences, talents, styles, cultures, tastes."

Source: Ninkasi.fr

Ninkasi finds itself being responsible to its community and workers, undertaking projects that lends a helping hand. For one, the Ninkasi Music Lab (Ninkasi Musik Lab) is an incubator initiative to nurture artists - where a dozen artists are selected by the NML association and are fully funded in recordings, concerts and such.

Ninkasi treats music so seriously they have branch of music within the company - 1% of bottle sales funds music projects, including the Ninkasi Musik Lab. Source: Ninkasi.fr

On the beer production and burger kitchens front, not only have they sourced grains from the nearby regions, they have also taken advantage of their proximity with winemaking regions to source wine casks directly wine wineries. Ninkasi has set ambitious goals on sustainability - with full transparency and disclosure on their website here.

Perhaps, nothing quite tells the story of Ninkasi other than their company manifesto (translated from French):

Who draw a heart in the foam.

Who recognize a piece from the first note.

Who knows what a killer burger is, even veggie.

Who never tire of rebuilding the world over a beer.

Who are reasonable to accompany their unreasonable friends.

Who sing out of tune but who will always sing anyway.

Who pay for a tour and expect nothing in return.

Who knows that there are fries and fries.

Who have been collecting beer mats since adolescence.

Who reconcile over a drink.

We promise, we will always remain ourselves.

Not wiser but more responsible.

 

Manifesto extracted from the 2023 Press Kit.

What's admirable is the broad range of interests that Ninkasi caters to - the music junkie, the beer head, the whisky enthusiast, the burger critic, and even as a case study in sustainable production.

In the face of spiraling inflation and rising costs, it's easy for industry to be all gloom and doom, worrying about pinching pennies and maintaining the bottom line. Perhaps, what I find most admirable of Ninkasi is their ethos to being optimistic, being thoughtful - despite surmounting and ever steeper hill, to have the drive to be a change they want to see.

In a next install of our Ninkasi deepdive, we'll be visiting the Tarare brewery and distillery - stay tuned!

@vernoncelli

*Note: Christophe and Kurt has been working towards patching things up since 2020, the 25th anniversary of Ninkasi.