Narragansett Brewing promised Rhode Islanders in 2009 that if they bought the beer, the company would brew it here. They're making good on that promise with a move to the Kellaway Center, now known as The Guild.

In 2009, the Narragansett Brewing ad campaign "Drink Your Part" promised Rhode Islanders that if they bought the beer, the company would brew it here.

Again.

They are making good on that pledge, having leased a new home in Pawtucket for brewing operations at the Kellaway Center, now known as The Guild.

"It is with great pride that we announce that 'Gansett is finally coming home," said Mark Hellendrung, president of Narragansett Beer.

In December, business partners Jeremy Duffy and Devin Kelly bought the 130,000-square-foot industrial complex at 461 Main St. for $1.25 million to create a brewery.

"We are an investor and a tenant," Hellendrung said on Monday.

The executive and sales offices, with some 10 employees, officially moves in tomorrow. They are packing up the Providence space on Ship Street that has been their home.

The brew-house equipment and cellar for aging are being fabricated in Oregon and will be brought to Rhode Island this summer for installation, Kelly said. They will be able to package 250 cans per minute onsite.

Making beer in the 100-barrel brewery could commence in August. The first beer to be brewed will be Narragansett Fest, a seasonal Octoberfest, said Hellendrung. (By comparison, Rhode Island's current microbreweries operate in the range of 10 to 12 barrels per batch.)

"Select brews will be available only at the brewery and on draft," he said.

The plan is to make Rhode Island the brewing home of the small-batch craft beers, like Fest and the Lovecraft series, which pays homage to Providence horror writer H.P. Lovecraft. The formerly limited-edition Porter will also return in the rotation of brews made in Pawtucket. These beers will be distributed in Rhode Island, nearby Connecticut and Southeastern Massachusetts, Hellendrung said.

They will be producing kegs as well as cans, and Hellendrung expects to have 20 employees making the beer. Expected production in Pawtucket during the first year will be 10,000 to 15,000 barrels, he said.

"When we were developing this concept, we had the idea to create a campus," said Duffy. They have plans for events, food samplings and educational opportunities, and that news will come later. Several months will be spent restoring the building.

At the very heart of it, the brewery will have those tap rooms for sampling, said Kelly.

"People will get to experience beer at its freshest form," he said.

Narragansett Lager, the flagship of the brand, will continue to be brewed at North American Breweries in Rochester, New York. That is a 4,000-barrel brewery whose size can handle the wider distribution of the beer, Hellendrung said.

Narragansett Lager has become a hipster sensation in the last year, and its appeal extends far beyond Rhode Island, now reaching 15 other states.

In sales, "we've grown from virtually nothing to New England's fifth largest — and the country's 37th largest — brewer," said Hellendrung.

Narragansett was last brewed in Rhode Island by Falstaff for four months in 1983 after the brewery shut down in 1981.

Hellendrung revived the brand, even recovering the original recipe, 11 years ago and has been building up to this moment. He didn't want to rush to build and commit to too small a brewery and limit growth.

At the same time, Rhode Island has seen many craft brewers ferment a growing industry.

Mike Reppucci founded his Sons of Liberty distillery in South Kingstown four years ago and will soon expand into beer brewing. He said the return of local brewing for Narragansett will help everyone.

"They are such great guys and the best at brand building and marketing," he said. "The only knock on them, and I don't agree with it, has been they don't brew it here. I'm so happy to see they can put that to rest."

As he packed his office to move, Hellendrung recounted the history of Narrangansett and got choked up a few times.

He said there are "stacks of memorabilia, documents, and photos all waiting to be sorted, packed, and with a little luck, shared again. Artifacts from the original Narragansett brewery in Cranston to napkins with decade-old ideas scratched onto them — everything seems to come with a story."

Now there will be a new chapter.

— gciampa@providencejournal.com

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On Twitter: @gailciampa