New Beers! Grand Openings!! Huzzah!!!

The inbox is overflowing with beer news. Here’s a baker’s half-dozen of enticing items!

Providence Brewing Company owner Efren Hidalgo is thrilled to note that Rhody’s newest beermaker will be “having its Grand Opening on Memorial Day weekend (May 26-28), Saturday through Monday from noon-4pm. Food trucks, fanfare and beer will be the rule of the day. Here’s a sneak peek at our inaugural tap list:

“The Juice, It’s Criminal, a refreshingly tart, tropical cyclone made with Brett Sacch Trois. Baron von Schpamm is a twisted take on the classic weissbier. This obstreperous beer is a lightly bitter India pale hefeweizen. The Bloody Baron is just as villainously delicious as von Schpamm, but this one is fermented with blood oranges. And Havana Haze, our original NEIIPA.” Congrats to Efren and his crew as they prepare to cut the ribbon at their HQ at 1920 Mineral Spring Ave in North Providence.

Armando DeDona caught us up with the latest at Long Live Beerworks, as he preps for the Big Move to a Big New Space on Sprague St, a mile or so from their current PVD home: “The new site progress is starting off slow, but we’re aiming for an early September move. In the meantime, we’re optimizing our production and hours here to make the most of the current space. We’re ending Wednesday taproom hours so we have another business day to pick up deliveries/brew. We’re going to be opening Sundays from 1 – 6pm to make the most of the warmer months. And we’ll also start opening at noon on Saturdays.” Follow their progress at longlivebeerworks.com.

Let’s swing down to North Kingstown to check in with Paul and Adam from Beer On Earth: “We are making progress and hope to start brewing this week. We’re also putting in a bar table and making some changes in the front of the house. We look to be on track for opening sometime in June if all goes well.” Check beeronearth.com for updates.

Michelle Kirms, the brewmaster at Grey Sail, reports: “We’re launching a new line of beers called Wheelhouse. The first offering is a Galaxy-hopped IPA called Far, Far Aweigh, which debuted at the Newport Craft Beer Fest and at the brewery, and should be available in stores now. The next offering is Dinghy Party, a fruited wheat ale that will be available in July.”

Chip Samson of Shaidzon Beer Company says: “We have some more saisons coming out soon; our first take on a double IPA was brewed [in mid-April] and should be out for the May 4 – 6 weekend. We’re keeping the Buffalo Czech Pilsner rolling with another batch in fermentation, and we’re going to initiate some barrel aging in red wine barrels we acquired from Jonathan Edwards in North Stonington, Conn. We are expecting to be running our own canning line by the end of May.” Chip and brewmaster Josh Letourneau have certainly hit the ground running in West Kingston!

Mat Medeiros at Revival Brewing reveals: “We just released a new brew called Hip & Wisen Wheat Ale. It’s similar to our Zeppelin Hefeweizen, but made with fresh tangerines, a mix of pilsner and wheat malts, and German Hallertau hops; clove and vanilla from the yeast are used in fermentation, spinning this brew’s crisp and refreshing taste. It’s unfiltered at 5.5% ABV and 13 IBUs; cans are only available at the brewery tap room, but we plan to brew a good amount and keep it around for the better part of spring.”

And Nick Garrison of Foolproof Brewing kept his intel short and sweet: “We have a new hoppy sour ale coming called Vango. It should be ready in time for the weekend of May 11.”

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