USA, RI: Iron Stag Brewing planning July opening in Cranston

Peek inside the storefront at 72 Rolfe Square in Cranston, next to the permanent Saugy food truck, and you can see the bones of what could become, by this summer, a new brewery with a very old twist, the Providence Journal reported on March 22.

Steel beams demarcate what will become the foyer, the bathrooms, the taproom and brewery, while a 16-foot garage-style glass door sits, unassembled and wrapped in cardboard, set to replace a brick wall. Even wood scaffolding is built and ready for the moment that Iron Stag Brewing has its final permits from the city and contractors can start building out the space.

Brewer Nate Tessier said the hope is the new brewery can open by July. While they have all the permits required to start brewing beer, the space needs to be built out, the walk-in cooler assembled and the first brews kegged.

President A.J. Kilroy said they want to build a brewery for the community and the neighborhood.

"We want to be a permanent fixture," Kilroy said.

The craft beer market in Rhode Island is filled with India pale ales and saisons, sours and lambics, ranch waters and hard seltzers, bringing bitter hops and barnyard funk.

Tessier, who used to work at a brewery in England, said he wants to bring classical English beers to the states, introducing bitters and brown ales, rye porters and Scotch ales, none of which are hoppy like the craft-beer darling, the India pale ale.

"The English embrace the 'less is more' mentality and I try to keep to that as well," Tessier said.

The brewery will offer two types of beer. The first is what is normally on draft, kegged beer, that has been carbonated with an external source of carbon dioxide pumped into the keg, which also forces the beer out of the taps.

The second kind is the cask ale, a beer that is sealed in a cask as it finishes fermenting. As the yeast turns sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide, the gas has nowhere to escape and carbonates the beer. Instead of being poured through a tap, hand pumps will be installed to pour the draught beer.

While they will have an English India pale ale on tap, the group plans to brew more "session" beers, with lower alcohol content.

"You can grab a pint, then go to dinner," Kilroy said.

Kilroy said he expects much of their business to come from sales of beer on tap but they will also can their own beer, after buying a small canning system.

They also plan to brew hard tea, keeping with the "New English" theme, offering something different that is not hard seltzer.

While the brewery won't serve food, people will be encouraged to bring their own, takeout or lunch or anything else. That should come as a boon for many local businesses, like the Saugy food truck in front of the proposed patio.

Kilroy said they want the brewery, and the expansive outdoor patio, to become a gathering place for neighbors, a new "third place," outside of the office and home, for people to mix, mingle and throw a few bean bags.

Tessier said the idea for the brewery started as the three men were hanging out in 2018, ruminating on how cool it would be to start a brewery. Operations manager Rob Russell, finding himself with extra time on his hands, wrote up the first business plan in 2019 and sent it to the other two.

Putting pen to paper was the key driver and, shortly thereafter, they incorporated a company. And then, the pandemic hit, putting a pause on all their plans, until they decided it was time to start making their dream a reality. First, they found a spot in Providence, which fell through. All the while, they were buying brewing equipment from across the Northeast.

Then they found 72 Rolfe Square on Craigslist and by November 2021 and signed a lease, with their planned opening July 2023.

While Rhode Island has a bevy of breweries, the closest other breweries are Buttonwoods on Wellington Avenue and Origin Beer Project, which shares space with Buttonwoods.

23 March, 2023