On Tuesday, Oakland’s Rockridge neighborhood lost and gained a taproom at the same time. In a letter posted on the door, Trappist Provisions — the small specialty bar at 6309 College Ave. dedicated to Belgian brews — announced it was closing, but that San Francisco’s independent brewery Fort Point Beer Company would be taking its place:
“Dear Rockridge, We will be passing the torch at Trappist Provisions to our friends at Fort Point Beer Company effective Tuesday 9/17, thank you for your patronage over the last many years.”
This isn’t the first time Trappist Provisions closed. In 2016, three years after the small satellite location for The Trappist in Old Oakland opened, it transitioned to a Mikkeller taproom and bottle shop. Although its name and focus changed, ownership was still under Trappist co-owners Aaron Porter and Chuck Stilphen. In February, the co-owners decided to revert the bar back to its original iteration. At the time, general manager Ruben Dominguez told Nosh, the owners “wanted to return it to a Belgian-inspired beer bar and not be so focused on one particular brewery.” Nosh contacted The Trappist for comment about the latest closure, but had not received a response at time of publication.
This will be the first East Bay location for Fort Point, a company founded in San Francisco’s Presidio in 2014 by brothers Tyler and Justin Catalana. According to Eater, Fort Point is San Francisco’s largest independent brewery due to its strong presence in retail stores and restaurants and bars throughout the Bay Area. It is getting ready to open a 3,000-square-foot flagship taproom and restaurant on Valencia Street in October, which will be its largest public-serving presence to date. Fort Point currently runs a taproom at the San Francisco Ferry Building and operates two smaller bars, Black Sands in Lower Haight and Mill Valley Beerworks in the North Bay. In the latter cases, Fort Point took over already open bars, but retained the old names. In the case of the Trappist Provisions, it will not. The Trappist’s original location at 460 Eighth St. remains open.
Fort Point shared via social media that when it re-opens the space, “sometimes in November” it will offer beers from Fort Point and guest breweries, wine, hot dogs and soft pretzels. Growlers will be offered for guests to take brews to-go.
Stay tuned on Nosh; we’ll share more details about Fort Point’s Rockridge outpost as the opening nears.
