Got Beer? Three Cheers for Beers!: New beers are popping up like spring flowers

The 401 beer world is fermenting with activity! Here’s the latest news on our ambitious purveyors of your favorite brew:

On April 5, Long Live Beerworks cut the metaphorical ribbon at their splendiferous new location at 40R Sprague St in PVD. The spacious mill space has been transformed into a beer lover’s palace, with two levels to roam and sit and sip and gawk at the shiny tanks filled with Armando DeDona’s drool-worthy creations. Everything’s bigger and better at the new HQ, including 18 taps, more cans-to-go with the mega-leap in brewing capacity, expanded food options and six days of bounteous taproom hours: Monday/Wednesday/Thursday 3-10pm; Friday noon – 10pm; Saturday 11am – 10pm and Sunday 11am – 6pm. Mega-cheers to the LLB crew!

Meanwhile, the Beer On Earth duo – Adam Henderson and Paul DiBiase – are setting up shop at Long Live’s former home (425 West Fountain St). They told us: “We have officially closed the North Kingstown brewery and are in the process of designing the Providence location with the help of local artists. The increased brewing capacity will allow us to can beer and send some into local distribution and, to help with the production, we are actively looking to bring on another brewer to join the team. We also plan on hiring a few craft beer enthusiasts to work the taproom. We hope to open by the beginning of summer with a few of our favorite beers on tap alongside some newbies.” Follow their progress at beeronearth.com.

Meanwhile, on April 4, Ragged Island Brewing Company announced they “received unanimous approval from the Portsmouth Zoning Board” for the plans to build a farm brewery, “a full year since we made the decision to pursue this opportunity.” All systems go for yet another magnificent beer destination in 2020 (raggedislandbrewing.com).

Meanwhile, the folks at Narragansett Beer are looking into launching a multi-purpose attraction – a brewpub/taproom with other beery elements – in the building (owned by Brown University) next to the Hilton Garden Inn near India Point Park. A hearing for a special use permit will be held on May 8. We tried to get some specifics about the proposal from the “Hi-Neighbor!” brain trust, but they’re keeping mum for now. But in other ’Gansett news, they just unveiled the latest mashup with Del’s Frozen Lemonade – Watermelon Shandy. It’s a sure sign of summer…

Lightning round: The Newport Craft Beer Festival is alllll sold out. But if you want to extend your beer-absorbing fun after the sessions and/or drown your sorrows if you didn’t score a ticket, head to Norey’s on Broadway (a few blocks from the NCBF), which is staging a Proclamation Ale tap takeover starting on April 26 at 4pm. Hit noreys.com for the lineup… The Rhode Island Brewers Guild has updated its RI Brewery Passport program to include 27 (!) breweries, and will soon announce some more RI-centric incentives for 401 beer enthusiasts. Go to ribrewersguild.org for the intel… Apponaug Brewing Company will be opening its outdoor beer garden in early May, with casual seating and dining, plus a firepit and cornhole; a new beer will debut to toast the al fresco option (apponaugbrewing.com)… Whalers Brewing made the Brewers Association’s list of the top 50 fastest-growing craft shops in the US; much of their growth is due to expanding their base of retail accounts… A slew of new brews are on deck: Shaidzon Beer Company will unveil Sea & Sand, a pale ale dry-hopped with Simcoe and Mosaic hops; Matunuck White, which will be an exclusive for Matunuck Oyster Bar (and at their tasting room in West Kingston); and Hazed and Blazed, a DIPA that will debut at a release party on 4/20, featuring music by the Rival Roots reggae band (facebook.com/shaidzonbeerco)… And Foolproof will drop Pickelodeon, a cucumber gose, this weekend, and Mango Vango will be available on April 26 (facebook.com/FoolproofBrew).

Go get ’em!

For more beer news, check Lou’s blog, bottlescansclaphands.wordpress.com, or follow @BottlesCansRI.