Got Beer? Newport Craft Beer Festival

It’s been a looooong winter, so you’re likely itching to take it outside. Here’s a great way to put cabin fever in the rear-view mirror: head to the 6th Annual Newport Craft Beer Festival, which is happening on Saturday, April 29, at the Great Friends Meeting House. Soak in the sun (hopefully, but worry not – the fun takes place inside a giant tent) and unlimited (but, you know, responsible) sampling of the swell suds (definitely) from 35 breweries, with sides of music, food, and the ocean breeze. Sessions run from 12-3pm and 4-7pm.

The NCBF has a trendy hook this time around: The organizers note that the breweries will be “showing off their best unfiltered craft beers. Taste the cloudiest, haziest, wheatiest, most hopped-up beers they offer.” The list of pourers includes regional faves (Two Roads, Hidden Cove, Black Hog, Harpoon, Otter Creek, Mighty Squirrel, Thimble Island, Stony Creek, Bog Iron, Smuttynose, von Trapp, Buzzards Bay, Woodstock Inn, Clown Shoes), distinguished national labels (Brooklyn, Weyerbacher, Lagunitas, Green Flash, Ithaca, Ballast Point) and a boatload of Rhode Island’s finest (Bucket Brewery, Long Live Beerworks, Tilted Barn, Proclamation Ale Company, Newport Storm, Grey Sail, Foolproof, Narragansett, Whalers, Coddington, Trinity, Crooked Current, Revival, Union Station, Ravenous) will all be on Guild Row, repping the 401 beer scene. Be sure to cast your vote for the 4th Annual Fan Favorite Brewery Award; Buzzards Bay was the people’s choice in 2015 and 2016.

There’s also a VIB – Very Important Beers – prequel event on April 28 from 8-10pm at Newport Storm Brewery (who present the fest with Pour Judgement), featuring some VIBs that won’t be in the mix under the tent. Alas, tix for that VIB happening are long gone. Tix for both main event Saturday sessions were still available at press time, but they’ll likely be gone soon too. By the way, proceeds benefit the Rhode Island Brewers Guild, which has received more than $50,000 from the first five Fests.

And speaking of Pour Judgement, here’s the lowdown on Bikes and Beers Across America, a cause that is “fighting multiple sclerosis with hops, hope, and bicycles.” The press release notes that “the idea started out like many great ideas – a late night bar conversation scratched out on cocktail napkins. Hank Whitin, owner of Pour Judgement, became reflective on his upcoming milestone birthday. ‘I realized I didn’t want to turn 50, 25 pounds overweight and drunk in my own bar, so I decided to bike across the country again, like I did when I was 23.’” (Whitin had done charity rides in honor of his grandmother, who had MS for 56 years.) Hank and Team Pour Judgment will kick off the adventure on May 21 in Astoria, Oregon, and plan on hooking up with craft breweries and brewpubs – and their customers – along the way. There will be a fundraiser for the event on Thursday, April 6 at Ocean Cliff – aka tonight, if you picked up this the day-ish it hit the streets. Go to BBAM.info on the web for details. Happy trails, Hank!

Bonus Beer News:
Rhode Island’s newest – and smallest (one barrel capacity) – brewery, Ragged Island, opened its taps on March 17 at its Portsmouth HQ. Check their F-book page for hours and offerings.

Tilted Barn and Sons of Liberty recently released their first batches of 16-ounce cans, Revival Brewing announced that they’ll be debuting their tallboys on April 21.

Proclamation Ale and the Tilted folks both purchased their own canning lines! Mo’ better beer is flowing all over! And speaking of Proclamation, Dave Witham and his crew were hoping to unveil their spiffy new “beer-spewing factory of wonderfulness” in Warwick in May or June, but August or September is more realistic. (Hit their website to read “Going Nowhere Fast.”) Mega-projects always take longer than anticipated, and Proc’s progress has been hampered by delayed zoning meetings, red tape-cutting, equipment-making, etc. In the meantime, keep heading to West Kingston for your fix of their latest palate-pleasing creations.

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