Josh Allard, Kerri Allard and Kyle Toste in the new Crafted Hope Brewing Company in East Greenwich. (Photo by Lauren Clem)

Kyle Toste had wanted to open a brewery for years, but the opportunity arose sooner than he expected. The Coventry resident had been working for Linesider Brewing Company for about five years as an assistant brewer and marketing coordinator when the owners approached him last December saying they were looking to sell.

“I wasn’t expecting it this quick, but the opportunity was too good to pass up,” he says.

Toste is now co-owner, along with his sister, Kerri Allard, and two silent partners, of the soon-to-open Crafted Hope Brewing Company. The brewery is located in the former Linesider space on South County Trail in East Greenwich.

Toste and Allard purchased the brewing equipment from the owners of Linesider, which closed its doors in July after a six-year run. Since then, they’ve been working to reconfigure the space before opening to the public. Toste says the new configuration — which involves relocating the bar and some storage space — will allow more seats in the taproom, with a capacity of 100 and an event space.

“It’s a great spot, it’s just not utilized to its full potential,” he says.

Allard and her husband, Josh, moved to Rhode Island from South Carolina to help manage the business. Josh, who has been home brewing for seven years, will serve as head brewer. The team has already been brewing for several weeks and plans to open with fourteen beers on draft, including a New England IPA, dunkel-style lager, helles lager, berry sour, Irish red, honey mango Kolsch and Snickers porter. They describe their brewing style as “traditional with a twist.”

“With so many breweries in the state, it’s the name of the game,” Toste says. “You’ve got to differentiate yourself.”

They’d originally planned to open over Veterans Day weekend. However, a small fire early on the morning of Oct. 23 disrupted those plans. Toste says the fire started in a trash can and traveled up an exterior wall of the brewery before a patron of nearby CrossFit Gamut noticed it and called 911. Though the equipment and personnel were unharmed, the fire resulted in water and smoke damage that Toste estimates will delay the opening by two or three weeks. They expect to open in the next month.

“We’re ready to go. Excited to get those doors open,” he says.

The news came as a relief to East Greenwich regulars, who’ve been without a brewery since Linesider closed. It’s the latest shakeup in a Rhode Island brewery scene that’s seen several transitions in the past year, with no local brewery remaining vacant for long. Last December, Origin Beer Project reopened in the former Beer On Earth space on Providence’s West Side, followed by Buttonwoods Brewery relocating to the former Revival Brewing Company in June.

In addition to beer, Crafted Hope will offer seltzers, cider and nonalcoholic canned beer, and they plan on ramping up distribution once the doors are open. They also plan to revive the ever-popular Mac & Cheese Festival that sold out at Linesider every year.

Keep an eye on Crafted Hope’s social media for an opening announcement.

A mural on the wall at Crafted Hope shows the Pell Bridge. (Photo by Lauren Clem)

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