The Best Tap Room You Haven't Heard Of Yet

Last October I was lucky enough to get a personal tour of Isle Brewers Guild in Pawtucket. It's a new partner brewery with more than strong ties to Narragansett Beer. Since then, the amount of work that has gone into the facility is vast. As a partner brewery, the entire idea behind IBG was and is still to boost the production of medium to large breweries in the area.

This weekend "The Guild" had a soft open of its brand new tap room, a great behind the scenes atmosphere bar open Thursday through Sunday. Standing feet from the enormous stainless steel tanks, at the bar, you can enjoy one of four on tap brews that are all solid representations of brewing here. That number will evolve into an eight tap system very soon, giving an even wider range of IBG’s capabilities.

Having seen the before and experiencing the after is really an exciting experience. Watching the development of an environment into a neighborhood hangout is something you don’t get to be a part of frequently. Now is the time to check out The Guild and secure your place as a regular because it will quickly become the go-to tap room/bar in town. With an atmosphere I haven’t quite seen yet and a quality of beer that is hard to come by in the area, I can see The Guild will absolutely be one of my favorite spots to hang out.

The on-tap selections will be rotating soon, as is the norm in most tasting rooms. This weekend happened to be heavy on IPAs. While there, I was able to try three separate beers: It’s About Time, an American IPA from Narragansett. Brewed in celebration of the famed Rhode Island born beer coming back to the Ocean State. It’s the first ‘Gansett brewed in RI in 35 years. With a nice floral tone and balanced hops profile, this beer starts hoppy and finishes off smooth. The Temple, yet another in the Lovecraft series of beers, had a comfortable amount of hops which finished off a bit sharp. Even though it’s not technically a double IPA, if you’re a fan of those, you’ll definitely dig this one. Finally I couldn’t leave without trying Isle Brewers Guild Test Batch #1. This West Coast style IPA ran high on the hops and high on the ABV. Even though I’m typically a port or stout guy, this one was clean and very well made.

To recap, if you’re someone who loves “local” vibes or the “next big thing”, head over to The Guildri.com for hours and directions. The staff and owners are such genuine people that it’s hard not to feel at home. I say this because I’ve been in the industry for awhile now and I know how to tell the genuine people from the just greedy ones. Keep in mind this place is still growing, so start going now and I promise you will watch The Guild get packed over the coming summer months.