Narragansett, a brewery already entrenched in horror history thanks to a mighty Quint can crush in Jaws, shares a birth year with seminal weird fiction and horror author H.P. Lovecraft. And so theyre celebrating such, as well as both the brewery’s and the writers Rhode Island heritage, with a four-part series of beers inspired by and honoring the Call of Cthulhu creator.
The series, making my Witch House dreams come true, kicks off January 19th with Lovecraft Honey Ale. Sadly, Narragansett has not left its contents unknowable. Honey Ale is brewed with Summit and El Dolorado hops, honey, and five different types of malt, including honey malt. Narragansett Beer President Mark Hellendrung explains, This one is really a prologue about H.P. Lovecraft himself. We picked one of his stories, The Festival, where theres a space mead consumed by a winged creature. Whats great about craft beer is that its really breaking the style boundaries and guidelines. So, this is Seans [Larkin, Brewmaster] interpretation of a modern day honey mead through the medium of a beer.
Speaking to the series at large, Hellendrung says, Were celebrating our 125th anniversary here and this is kind of an extension of what weve been trying to do at the brewery, bringing back this great brand through a historical lens and local authenticity. One of our Gansett Girls is actually a librarian and she had this idea, knowing that Lovecrafts birthday was in 1890, the same year our brewery was founded. We thought it was a great way to give Sean Larkin, our brewmaster, a platform to really experiment with different styles of beer.
The Honey Ale features art by graphic designer A.J. Paglia, which you can see above. Boston Magazine reports the next release will be Innsmouth Old Ale this April, and feature art from The H.P. Lovecraft Historical Societys Jason Eckhardt.
