Since 1986, Boston has hosted only three production breweries. If the Tetreaults’ experience with Trillium is any indication, the brewery landscape of Boston proper won’t be changing any time soon.
A university town where Tibetan prayer flags are draped on the porches of old houses and outdoor recreation is at the heart of the culture, Burlington’s open-minded population has embraced the craft beer movement.
The Tree House Brewing Company started with four friends making homebrew in a rural Massachusetts barn. The tiny brewery has grown into the producers of one of New England’s most sought-after beers, Julius IPA.
After Hurricane Irene demolished The Alchemist brewpub in 2011, John Kimmich and his wife, Jen, have focused solely on tweaking Heady Topper at their production brewery, where they’re at capacity brewing 9,000 barrels a year—all of which is sold within a 30-mile radius.
Sean Lawson can brew, at most, around 600 barrels of beer per year. He is his only employee. He distributes his beers to a handful of local bars, bottle shops and farmers markets. Despite all that, his brewery, Lawson’s Finest Liquids, has built a cult following of beer drinkers clamoring for all the IPA and Maple Stout he can produce.
It wasn’t until May 2012 that Connecticut liquor stores could open on Sunday. It’s a no-brainer victory, but also a sign of the changes that have come to the state’s growing palate for good libations.
The Portsmouth Brewery and it sister brewery Smuttynose just a few miles away already made Portsmouth, N.H. a craft beer destination, but the scene has improved even more in the past few years. More adventurous tap lists also lie just across the river in Kittery, Maine.
At Jack’s Abby, the Framingham, Mass., brewery is truly a family operation—and if the brothers’ mom, Shelly, has it her way, they’ll be counting some Suffolk Punch horses in the family, too.
A connective spirit has fired up the Rhode Island craft beer scene; bars and bottle shops have revamped their offerings, happily joining the craft beer revolution. The following beer venues will keep a visitor busy for a long stay or multiple weekend trips.
When Daniel and David Kleban started the Maine Beer Company, they were brewing their hoppy American ales one barrel at a time in an industrial park on the outskirts of Portland; they’re now on pace to do 1,500 barrels a year, and that quantity doesn’t come close to meeting consumer demand.
Before New England’s Valley Malt existed, a farmhouse brewery could never truly be a farmhouse brewery, and a harvest beer could never truly be a harvest beer.
Six months after Baxter Brewing started brewing and canning their beers, demand is soaring, and Livingston has made Lewiston, Maine, a destination for craft beer fans.
Shaun Hill runs his brewery with a profound sense of purpose. He brews his beers with well water from the farm that’s been in his family for generations.
Thirsty masses still look to Plymouth for sustenance. And the Mayflower Brewing Company, brewers of traditional and hyper-fresh ales, are happy to oblige.
When Dann Paquette moved back to New England from Yorkshire a year ago, he had no job and little money. A year later, Paquette’s beer is spreading along the Atlantic coast, and he’s enjoying the one perk he’d never attained: unfettered creative freedom.
