Great Marsh Brewing Company
99 Main St
Essex, Massachusetts, 01929
United States
(978) 890-7827 | map
thegreatmarsh.com
Recent ratings and reviews.
Reviewed by smcolw from Massachusetts
4.08/5 rDev -4%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.25 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 4
4.08/5 rDev -4%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.25 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 4
This is a large facility on route 133 in Essex, Massachusetts. It was a mellow Saturday afternoon off-season. We had a party of 17 that they accommodated quickly.
The food was a step up from standard beer bar fare. They had a special Oktoberfest menu (and corresponding beers) available today.
The beer selection was generally diverse with 14 different offerings.
Sep 25, 2021The food was a step up from standard beer bar fare. They had a special Oktoberfest menu (and corresponding beers) available today.
The beer selection was generally diverse with 14 different offerings.
Reviewed by meefmoff from Massachusetts
4/5 rDev -5.9%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 4
4/5 rDev -5.9%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 4
Went by Great Marsh today which I somehow missed any reference to here on the NE forums . They apparently opened in November. Stumbled upon it on our way to nearby Ipswich Brewery.
The space is amazing and, as I gathered by reading up on an older thread here on BA, some SERIOUS money was put into things. They have a full canning line and a huge, seemingly state of the art brewhouse ready to go (the bartender told us they were hoping to start canning in the next few weeks). Bar and seating areas are very nice with lots of huge windows looking out over the marshes. It was pretty full too which was surprising given the current situation (we were able to 'social distance' a bit at the downstairs bar thankfully).
They had an impressive array of things on tap and it was notable that they were really leaning into traditional brews rather than trendy ones. They had Kolsch, Helles, German Pils, a Whit, a Triple, two brown ales, and a dry stout. The Pils was really good and the Kolsch and Helles were decent. The English brown ale was very tasty but a tad thin. They also had 3 NE IPAs on tap and the one I had was not really an NE IPA in any meaningful sense I could discern, but it was actually a damn tasty largely West Coast style DIPA.
Can't speak to the food beyond the fact that we had a pretty great cup of clam chowder. Pretty impressive overall for a 3 month old brewery that might have just been a sterile money pit with predictable and mediocre beer. I'm kind of surprised someone would bother to open such a large capacity operation these days when small and local seems to be where things are at, but I guess they figured "go big or go home". They definitely earned a return trip from us.
Oh, and worth noting that currently they are only doing 5 oz and 10 oz pours. $2.50 for the former and $5 for the latter which is a decent deal for our area. Proper glassware for the 10 oz pours too, even given their smaller than average size. As I mentioned, no cans yet but they are offering growler fills.
Mar 14, 2020The space is amazing and, as I gathered by reading up on an older thread here on BA, some SERIOUS money was put into things. They have a full canning line and a huge, seemingly state of the art brewhouse ready to go (the bartender told us they were hoping to start canning in the next few weeks). Bar and seating areas are very nice with lots of huge windows looking out over the marshes. It was pretty full too which was surprising given the current situation (we were able to 'social distance' a bit at the downstairs bar thankfully).
They had an impressive array of things on tap and it was notable that they were really leaning into traditional brews rather than trendy ones. They had Kolsch, Helles, German Pils, a Whit, a Triple, two brown ales, and a dry stout. The Pils was really good and the Kolsch and Helles were decent. The English brown ale was very tasty but a tad thin. They also had 3 NE IPAs on tap and the one I had was not really an NE IPA in any meaningful sense I could discern, but it was actually a damn tasty largely West Coast style DIPA.
Can't speak to the food beyond the fact that we had a pretty great cup of clam chowder. Pretty impressive overall for a 3 month old brewery that might have just been a sterile money pit with predictable and mediocre beer. I'm kind of surprised someone would bother to open such a large capacity operation these days when small and local seems to be where things are at, but I guess they figured "go big or go home". They definitely earned a return trip from us.
Oh, and worth noting that currently they are only doing 5 oz and 10 oz pours. $2.50 for the former and $5 for the latter which is a decent deal for our area. Proper glassware for the 10 oz pours too, even given their smaller than average size. As I mentioned, no cans yet but they are offering growler fills.
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