November 2021 | Page 51

^ ] 33 Years of Beer A selective timeline of Rhode Island craft brewing . By Lou Papineau

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1988
Hope Brewery , Rhode Island ’ s first craft company , headquartered on Elmwood Avenue in Providence ( though the beer is contractbrewed in Wilkes-Barre , Pennsylvania ), starts its four-year run .
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1993
Union Station Brewery , the state ’ s first brewpub ( part of the John Harvard ’ s chain ), opens in Providence .
1994
Trinity Brewhouse , the state ’ s first locally owned brewpub , opens in Providence .
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1999
Coastal Extreme Brewing Company — branded as Newport Storm — sets up shop in a converted garage ( in Middletown ). It ’ s now known as Newport Craft Brewing and Distilling .
2005
Mark Hellendrung buys the rights to Narragansett Beer and relaunches the “ Hi-Neighbor !” label .
2009
The first Beervana Fest is held at the Roger Williams Park Botanical Center .
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2011
Grey Sail Brewing of RI ( Westerly ) and Revival Brewing Co . ( Providence ) debut six days apart in November .
2012
Foolproof Brewing Company ( Pawtucket ) and Ravenous Brewing Company ( then- Woonsocket , now Cumberland ) set up shop .
2014
Openings : Tilted Barn Brewery , the state ’ s first farm brewery , in Exeter ; Proclamation Ale Company in West Kingston ( it moved to Warwick in 2017 ) and Whalers Brewing Company in Wakefield ; and Crooked Current Brewery in Pawtucket , helmed by Nichole Pelletier , the state ’ s first female brewmaster .
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2016
Breweries get a big economic boost when beer laws are updated to increase the limit on off-premise beer purchases and taproom sales . Also , Long Live Beerworks becomes the first traditional brewery ( non-brewpub ) in Providence since the James Hanley Brewing Co . closed in 1957 .
2017
The Guild , a “ craft cooperative ”/ contract brewer , opens in Pawtucket with a local ’ Gansett outpost ; Ragged Island Brewing Company opens in Portsmouth ; Buttonwoods Brewery opens in Cranston ; and Shaidzon Beer Company , “ where Proclamation used to be ,” opens in West Kingston .
2018
A banner year — six new breweries debut : Providence Brewing Company ( now in Providence at Farm Fresh Rhode Island ’ s new food hub ), Taproot Brewing Company ( a farm brewery , Middletown ), Beer On Earth ( North Kingstown , now in PVD ), Apponaug Brewing Company ( Warwick ), Smug Brewing Company ( Pawtucket ), and LineSider Brewing ( East Greenwich ).
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2019
Bravo Brewing Company ( Pascoag ), Lops Brewing ( Woonsocket ), and Twelve Guns Brewing ( Bristol ) join the frothy fun .
2020
Positive news amidst the pandemic : Moniker Brewery ( Providence ), Rejects Beer Co . ( Middletown ) and Six Pack Brewing ( Bristol ) open .
2021
’ Gansett plants its own flag with a brewery / taproom / beer garden by Providence ’ s India Point Park ; West Passage Brewing Company ( North Kingstown ) and Pivotal Brewing Company ( coming soon to Bristol ) are the newest additions .
LOGOS COURTESY OF BREWERY WEBSITES .
RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY l NOVEMBER 2021 49