With two brewhouses in town, Cumberland is fast becoming the beer capital of northern Rhode Island. For June’s “Brewery of the Month,” we decided to check out both Ravenous Brewing and Phantom Farms Brewing, two breweries that call Cumberland home.
First stop, Ravenous Brewing Company, the first Latino-owned brewery in the state, headquartered in a charming old building on Industrial Road right off Rt. 114 and seconds from the 295 exit. The underwhelming entrance welcomes you into an inviting taproom, adjacent to a cozy and spacious backyard filled with outdoor tables. The brewery was first established in Woonsocket in 2012, and moved down the road to the current Cumberland location several years ago.
Ravenous features an extensive beer offering and food trucks most weekends. We enjoyed a flight, with several notable highlights. They included a new favorite, Rhode Haze, a smooth New England IPA, available seasonally. I found another popular IPA, You are such an Ass, full of flavor with hints of tropical fruit. Both pass the bar and are IPAs worthy of sampling.
If you love smokey brews, the El Hefe, a hefeweizen brewed with a traditional German yeast, is for you. I’m not a big fan of the smokey varieties, but I did enjoy the Todo Bien, an excellent light pilsner, a good refreshing beer for the warmer months.
Also worth checking out… the Blackstone, a nicely balanced APA with a little lemon kick. The brewery offers hard seltzers in various flavors, as well as The Queen, a fruited sour infused with an array of tropical fruits such as guava, passion fruit, and mango.
Deeper inside the 295 beltway is one of the region’s newest ale houses, Phantom Farms Brewing. The tasting room is located in a gorgeous, freshly renovated space in historic Berkeley Mill, with two levels indoors, and a nice outdoor area with several tables in the approach to the brewery.
Phantom Farms opened in March, 2024 and offers a somewhat limited but expanding selection of brews. We sampled several including the popular Swirl, a New England IPA loaded with warm tropical flavor, very smooth going down with a slightly bitter aftertaste. The orange-hazed Elegant Viking is another strong brew, with a bitter melon profile.
I found the Picknick to be an excellent German pilsner, with a sweet caramel flavor – an outstanding everyday brew. The Red Moon, a seasonal red beer was excellent and Chaos, an amber-hued German bock, was well balanced, full of flavor, with a sweet, smokey taste. Finally, the Big Fish, a West Coast IPA goes down smooth and offers a pretty good kick!
Both breweries make an attractive destination on their own – or hit them up together – either way, you’ll enjoy your visit!
Click here for more information on Ravenous Brewery.
Click her for more information on Phantom Farms Brewing.
