Narragansett Lovecraft Honey Ale

Review Date 4/21/2015 By John Staradumsky

  Style:  Amber Ale   Brewery: Narragansett   Country: USA   State: Rhode Island   $ Per OZ: $.09 (B)   ABV: 5.3%

Being an old Rhode Islander (albeit one who has been transplanted in Georgia for 14 years), I have a fondness for many things from the state where I was born. Among them, and featured prominently towards the top of the list, would certainly be both Narragansett beer and the writings of author H.P. Lovecraft. So when Narragansett Brewing, in collaboration with Revival Brewing (also of RI) announced the release of Narragansett Lovecraft Honey Ale this past January, I was fit to be tied.

Problem was, though, that it’s not sold here in Georgia. The closest available outlet for “Gansett beers is Chattanooga, and they’re hard to find there. Then too, they don’t usually get the specialty beers. Luckily, the one and only Red Rooster made a trip to Rhode Island recently and snagged me a can. It was worth the wait.

Narragansett Lovecraft Honey Ale is first in a series of beers honoring H.P. Lovecraft, who was born and lived in Providence, Rhode Island. I’ve read most of Lovecraft’s dark, foreboding works, and there are few authors like him. If you’ve never read any of his works, you should, and my admiration for his writing compelled me to take a walk in the neighborhood where he was born the last time I was in Providence. The house he was born in in 1890 is no longer there, but was that a chill I felt at the back of my neck as I walked by? Perhaps it was the remaining effects of those beers I had just drunk at Trinity Brewhouse.

Speaking of Trinity, I would regularly visit them when I lived in Rhode Island, both for fun and poking around to see what was new in the late 90s when I wrote the Rhode Island column for Yankee Brew News. Head brewer Sean Larkin was always happy to fill me in, and he’s now the owner of Revival Brewing as well. Sean has been working with Narragansett since the brewery was revived as well. He serves as their brewmaster, certainly keeping himself quite busy these days.

From the can label:

H. P. Lovecraft was born in Providence, RI in 1890, the same year that Narragansett Beer was founded just down the road. Though he toiled mostly in obscurity in small-press magazines, today he is universally acclaimed as the “Father of Modern Horror.” Artists from Stephen King, to Neil Gaiman, Metallica and Guillermo del Toro cite him as a direct influence. Our Lovecraft Series of collaborations follows the spirit of his “Cthulhu Mythos”, which invited fellow authors to write in the same shared universe of ideas.

Lovecraft Honey Ale is a perfect tribute to The Dark Prince of Providence, at once both familiar and out of this world. Combining five pale malts (including honey) and kissed with a touch of hops for a mild herbal finish, this smooth Honey Ale was inspired by the Space Mead consumed by winged Byakhee as protection from “interstellar space travel” in Lovecraft’s “The Festival”. The fictional Space Mead was taken as a protection from “interstellar space travel”… but where you journey with our Honey Ale is all up to you.

Narragansett Lovecraft Honey Ale has an alcohol content of 7% by volume with 30 IBUs. It is sold in 16-ounce “kinger” cans sporting artwork by Rhode Island artist AJ Paglia. The beer is described on the can as “Ale brewed with honey” and it is brewed and canned at the Genesee Brewery in Rochester, New York (now owned by Cerveceria Costa Rica).

Narragansett Lovecraft Honey Ale pours to a beautiful amber color with a thick rocky head formation and a delicious nose of flowery honey and toasted malt. Taking a sip, I get more of the malt up front that the nose promised followed by oodles of ever so slightly sweet, very flavorful honey richness, both from the honey and the sweet honey malt. It really permeates the beer and adds body and depth of character. That richness carries into the finish with some alcohol warmth and a long dry balancing bitterness.

All in all, a great little malty amber ale (albeit a strong one) with great honey flavor. Perhaps I’m being a little homesick, but I’m giving it a full 5 stars for the style. I love the toasty honey and malty flavors that come out so richly here, and the gentle grassy hops in the finish. Smooth and drinkable yet bursting with flavor, Narragansett Lovecraft Honey Ale is a real treat for beer drinkers and Lovecraft fans everywhere. Now if you’ll excuse me, I must be going. Narragansett has just announced the release of the second beer in this series, Innsmouth Old Ale. I have to get to work on finding some……