Rhode Island Breweries History: Narragansett Brewery
Brewing history started at the site in 1888 when these six local
businessmen organized the Narragansett Brewing Company: John H. Fehlberg,
Augustus F. Borchandt, Herman G. Possner, George M. Gerhard, Constand A. Moeller,
and Jacob Wirth. The Narragansett Brewing company was situated on New Depot Avenue,
Cranston Street and Garfield Avenue, outside the city of Providence, and
alongside the tracks of the then New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad.
In 1952, Narragansett bought the Croft Brewing Co and operated it as a branch
for one year, then closed the Croft plant. Narragansett continued to brew Croft
brands from its Cranston brewery.
In 1957, long-time rival James Hanley Brewing Company succumbed to the
relentless pressure from the national and larger regional brewers and
sold out to Narragansett. In 1964 when the Haffenreffer & Co. brewery in
Boston was closed, Narragansett at Cranston took over production of their
brewing lines.
On July 15, 1965 Narragansett was sold to Falstaff. The sale to Falstaff brought
anti-trust action by the government in a court battle that started two days before
the sale and lasted through October 1974. Falstaff finally won the right to purchase the Narragansett
Brewery. Falstaff purchased the Ballantine brands in 1972 and brewed them at Narragansett.
The 19 different labels produced in Cranston gave a history of the mergers
and acquisitions that marked Falstaff and its successor General Brewing Co. Labels bore
the brand and brewery names for such lagers as Narragansett, Hanley, Krueger, Haffenreffer,
Boh, Ballantine, Bohack, Munich, and Falstaff. Ales were Croft, Pickwick, Bavarian, Ballantine,
Boston Light, BB Stock, and India Pale. Also Krueger Pilsener, Haffenreffer Malt Liquor,
Dresden, Bavarian (dark), Bock, and Porter.
Narragansett Brewery at Cranston, Rhode Island,
closed its doors on July 31, 1981.The Narragansett brand didn't die with the passing of
the brewery. Production of the brand shifted to the Falstaff plant at Fort Wayne, Indiana,
in February 1982. The labels still read "Cranston, RI".
An investor group called Narragansett Brewing Co., located in Middletown Rhode Island,
purchased the brand's name from the Pabst Brewing Co. in the fall of 2005. The beer
was being brewed in La Crosse, Wisc. and the investor group planed to move production
to the High Falls Brewery in Rochester, N.Y. with a new small brewery operation in
Providence Rhode Island.
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