What is the greatest thing Rhode Island has ever shared with Boston? Deer Tick? Yeah, they’re cool. Rocco Baldelli? Seemed like a great pickup for the Sox, but he never really found his stride. Watching the Buddy Cianci scandal unfold from afar? That was kind of fun too, can’t lie. How about Newport Creamery’s “Awful Awful”? Trick question, for some disgraceful reason, that can only be found in Rhode Island (hope you’re paying attention, Mayor Walsh).
Rhode Island may be an underdog, but its gifts are abundant, and we may now be able to nail down the greatest thing that it has ever produced: Narragansett Del’s Summer Shandy.
It’s a match made in heaven, if heaven is where baseball players go before they’re called up to the Red Sox, or where Red Sox players go because there aren’t any strip clubs in Boston. Del’s Lemonade, the incredibly refreshing frozen lemonade that has quenched the souls of beach-going Rhode Islanders for years, combined with the classic tall boy brew that your dad was slugging the summer that “Jaws” came out in theaters. Finally, this week, drinkers across the northeast will be able to experience this nectar of the Gods.
“When it came to our second ‘Hi Neighbor Mash Up’ collaboration, nothing reminded us of childhood summers on Rhode Island beaches more than Del’s,” says Mark Hellendrung, president of Narragansett Beer through a release. “Given the sessionable style of our Lager, and the growing popularity of shandys, we knew a collaboration with Del’s would create a quintessential summer brew that generations of New Englanders would be thrilled about. The response has been amazing, people have been asking for its release almost daily since first hearing about the beer in February.”
Mr. Hellendrung, may we recommend an Awful Awful Cream Stout for the next Mash Up batch? Actually, that sounds kind of gross, never mind.
The beer has hit stores in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New York already, but if you haven’t seen it in your local packie, be patient, it will arrive soon. While it is only a limited release, there will be multiple production runs of the shandy, so it will likely be available into August.
