Scandalous, Horrible and Embarrassing….nahh…just read my story.

The crew at Portlandtaps share a similar taste for many brews. I think “Deadguy” Ale has been a Portlandtaps favorite for a few years. There is however one category of beer that we will disagree on fervently. "Multiple, Cold and Domestic Beer" or MCDs are the usual brews of choice for grilling, cookouts, fishing trips and camping excursions. This group includes legends such as Budweiser, Coors and the Miller family. There are also smaller labels that have loyal followings such as Schlitz, Genesee, Pabst Blue Ribbon and my personal choice Narragansett. The official beer of your Boston Red Sox from 1952’ to 1977’, the Narragansett brewing company had a lengthy run of success on the East coast. After suffering financial difficulties the Cranston Rhode Island plant closed in 1983.

You may be saying to yourself, “Ok Cronk, you’re a fan of a beer that was discontinued when you were three years old. What gives?” The answer is simple. While growing up I was obsessed with a little movie called “Jaws”. You may recall the Captain of the boat, “Quint”, throwing back pull-tab cans of Narragansett while fishing for the shark. By the time beer drinking became a full time teenage endeavor I had seen the movie over 100 times. (No kidding, I had a lot of spare time as a kid). The search was on!

I inquired thoroughly for many years about this famous beer but Narragansett turned out to be a phantom brew. It was not until 2006 that I got my first sign that my search was finally going to bare fruit. My roommate went on a shoot for his production company that brought him through Rhode Island. When he returned he left a new Narragansett coaster on my desk. Apparently a group of Rhode Islanders got together and purchased the rights to the label and re-opened operations in early 2005. I found my first six pack of Tall “Gansetts” soon there after and was happy to find them as an alternative can option at The Great Lost Bear.

Not everyone shared my elation about the return of the Legendary Narragansett. Josh from Portlandtaps thinks that most batches of Gansett are a brewing mistake. We have our differences in taste but everyone does. There is no such thing as bad beer because there is a palate for all types of brew. (Except for Milwaukee Best Ice) I’m glad to have Narragansett as a beer and as a piece of New England Nostalgia. Now I just need to charter a shark fishing vessel and bring a rack of Narragansett along. “Make mine a Gansett”.