Sunday, July 22, 2018

Rhode Tripping: A Food and Drink-filled Day in Providence, RI

At the end of last year, I took a day press trip down to Providence, Rhode Island to explore some of the eating and drinking scene down there.

Our first stop was The Guild, which is actually in Pawtucket, RI. The Guild is a partner brewery comprised of a few New England member breweries that brew their beers there. The members include a big one that we were there to visit: Narragansett.

Gansett, as it's lovingly known, has a long history. It was founded in 1890 and Jacob Wirth was one of the six founders. It was once the best selling beer in New England but after changing hands the brewery was closed in 1981. In 2005 the brand was brought back by a team in Rhode Island who also hired former Gansett brewer Bill Anderson to recreate the original recipes.

We tried the Bancroft ale, Three Red Fez, It's About Time IPA, and the Autocrat Coffee Milk Stout.
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The Bancroft had notes of pines. The Fez was a lager with noble German hops and had floral notes and a little touch of caramel. The IPA is a traditional style IPA with new school hops and it is malt forward.

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The Guild

The most interesting thing we tried that day for me was the Lovecraft Whiskey. The whiskey is the result of distilling the I Am Providence Imperial Red Ale and it was distilled by the Sons of Liberty distillery in South Kingstown, RI.
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The name, of course, is an ode to HP Lovecraft. Gansett has been doing the Lovecraft series since 2015 but this was the first time they did a whiskey. The whiskey had floral notes to it from the hops and a soft sweetness. They produced a little under 1200 bottles of this and it's pretty much sold out (1/3 was sold at the launch party).

At the time, they were aging the Autocrat stout in the old Lovecraft barrels and they're also distilling the Temple beer which will probably be sold during the 2018 holiday season.

After the beers, we headed to Durk's for some BBQ dinner.
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Durk's also serves some nice whiskey cocktails including six different Old Fashioneds on the menu. Good thing for our liver we only got small samples of the drinks.
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We tried out quite the selection starting with these Smoked Wings
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Our impressive spread included creamy mac and cheese, fried chicken sandwich, hot dog, and more.
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The fatty brisket was my favorite among the bbq items, of course, although I enjoyed the crispy skin on the chicken as well.
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To Peach His Own (bourbon, peach liqueur, lemon, mint)
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After dinner, we made a final stop at The Eddy, arguably the best cocktail bar in Providence and the one that spearheaded the craft cocktail scene in this town. This was winter, so they had a sweet potato based cocktail that was not only stunning in looks but delicious. This was not my first time at The Eddy, but I make it a point to visit whenever I'm in Providence!
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Durk's BBQ
Durk's Bar•B•Q Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

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