Narragansett Brewing Company

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Narragansett Brewing Company
Industry	Alcoholic beverage
Founded	1890
Headquarters	Providence, Rhode Island, USA
Products	Beer
Owner(s)	Mark Hellendrung

The Narragansett Brewing Company was founded in Cranston, Rhode

Island, USA, in 1890. It was closed on July 31, 1981, and then re-

established in 2005.

Formerly the number one selling brand in New England, Narragansett

now occupies a relatively narrow segment of the market. Originally

brewed in the city of Cranston, it was famous for its drinkability and

the advertising slogan, "Hi, Neighbor, have a 'Gansett!," most

famously uttered by Boston Red Sox announcer Curt Gowdy.

History

Narragansett Brewing Company was founded in 1890 with $150,000 in

capital. A brick brewing house was built in Cranston, Rhode Island,

and in December 1890, the first beer was produced. The following

year, the company officially incorporated.

The grounds of the Narragansett Brewing Company included a barn, a

stable, a blacksmith, seventy-five horses, forty-five wagons, gas-

powered trucks, electric trucks, twenty-five refrigerated train cars and

its own ice plant.

In 1914, when the company built the most modern bottling plant in

the region, it became official: Narragansett Brewing Company was the

largest lager beer brewery in New England. Rudolf F. Haffenreffer

would eventually become president and chairman of Narragansett

Brewing Company and remain involved until his death in 1954. The

Haffenreffer brewery in Boston survived until 1965, at which time

brands Haffenreffer Lager Beer, Pickwick Ale and Pickwick Bock Beer

became the property of the Narragansett Brewing Company.

Falstaff Brewing Company purchased Narragansett Brewing Company

on July 15, 1965 for $17 million in cash and $2 million in Falstaff

common stock. The plan was for the brewery to continue operating as

a wholly owned subsidiary of Falstaff, under Haffenreffer

management, and that the Narragansett brand would be retained and

actively promoted.

Multi-millionaire Paul Kalmanovitz obtained majority control of

Narragansett's parent corporation, the Falstaff Brewing Co., on April

28, 1975. The San Francisco brewer and businessman bought the

brewery for an undisclosed amount. Soon after the purchase Falstaff's

corporate headquarters moved from St. Louis, Missouri to San

Francisco, California.

The brewery officially closed on July 31, 1981. When production of the

beer moved to the Falstaff plant in Fort Wayne, Indiana in 1982,

many felt that the quality of the beer was not the same, and the

decline in sales accelerated. After sitting abandoned for over a

decade, demolition began on the main brewery buildings on October

27, 1998. The brewery's Trolley Barn located across the street was

spared for redevelopment, but eventually succumbed to the wrecking

ball in June 2005. The site has remained unoccupied since. In

Cranston, RI, a large shopping center was recently constructed on the

site of an old brewery. The Brewery Parkade sits on about 42 ac. of

land, much of it paved or covered by buildings: a large grocery store,

a Lowe's home-improvement center, and a Kmart retailer.

After changing hands several times, the brand was bought in 2005 by

a team of local Rhode Island investors led by former juice executive

Mark D. Hellendrung, who announced plans to expand its market

share and reinvigorate the Narragansett brand identity. Since the

purchase, the brand has indeed been revitalized with the help of

former brewer Bill Anderson, and some sharp new packaging.

Narragansett beer, now contract brewed by Genesee Brewing

Company, has been available again throughout Southern New England

since spring of 2006. The lager and light beers are brewed at their

brewery in Rochester, New York, while the bock and porter are craft-

brewed in Providence, Rhode Island and Pawcatuck, Connecticut.

In the summer of 2007, Narragansett reintroduced puzzle messages

(also known as a rebus) under the caps of their Haffenreffer line of

beer. The puzzle messages were first used in the 1970s, and became

one of the signature features of Haffenreffer. The original

Haffenreffer, a malt liquor sold as a six pack of green 16 oz. bottles

as Haffenreffer Private Stock, was noted for its potency and was often

referred to as "green death" by young drinkers.

Advertising

Narragansett sponsored Boston Red Sox and Braves baseball

broadcasts through much of the first half of the 20th century. The

Braves switched sponsors to P. Ballantine & Sons in 1950, while the

Sox stayed with Narragansett. For years, announcers such as Jim Britt,

Curt Gowdy and Kevin Baker touted the "straight from the barrel

taste" of 'Gansett, brewed with "seedless hops." In the late 1960s,

Narragansett was replaced by F& M Schaeffer Brewing as sponsor of

Red Sox Baseball, which was followed by a decline in its popularity.

In Popular Culture

Narragansett beer is mentioned in Kurt Vonnegut's second novel

Sirens of Titan, which takes place, in part, in Newport, Rhode Island

^[1].

External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narragansett_Brewing_Company" Categories:

Beer brewing companies based in Rhode Island | Companies based in Providence, Rhode Island

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