We spent a pretty enjoyable Saturday hitting Idle Hands , Night Shift & Mystic breweries for tastings (we didnt manage to get out without bottle buys too). We met some guys doing the same but also heading off to Blue Hills Brewing in Canton. It made me wonder what other places are feasible to add to this list to visit in an afternoon if you wanted to try. My addition would be Jacks Abby and Trillium if parking was available for Trillium. What other breweries are close enough and have beer tastings in the local area? I keep thinking Harpoon is too crowded and busy to add. Would it still be worth going to Boston Beer company? I no longer even consider them. And does anyone know if there is parking near Trillium. Of course we also stopped at a Salvadorean place in Chelsea to carbo load before heading off to the Berman's beer tasting which was pretty good.
I don't think Trillium is allowed to do tastings yet. But if you end up at Harpoon you can walk to Trillium from there.
As of friday they were still not allowed to do tastings, my father stopped in on his way back to south station and grabbed me their pale. I opened it last night its pretty darn good, and that is coming from someone who has been drinking fresh hoppy HF growlers the last few days.
Meter spots on Boston Wharf, Congress, Seaport Blvd, Summer Street and a bunch of (rather expensive) lots nearby. http://en.parkopedia.com/parking/meter/22_boston_wharf_road/02210/boston/ I usually troll around for a spot for a bit and find one relatively easily 75% of the time when the work crowd is leaving (~330-530PM). It gets tight again after that window and not much changes over at that point as meters are free after 6PM on Boston Wharf, Congress, Seaport Blvd. And a bit of a warning, turns to resident parking on Summer Street. I learned the hard way. Its a bit of hoof round trip (0.8miles each way) from Harpoon, especially w/ growlers in tow, but we've had more than a few people come through doing exactly that.
Good luck--I hope you get approved soon. When the dust settles, I'd love to hear an account of the ordeal. OP--if you're driving and the weather is nice, you might consider at stop at Cambridge Brewing for a beer on the patio. Though the beer is brewed there, it's distinctly a brewpub (as opposed to a production brewery, so no tours/tastings), but there beer is excellent and the best stuff is available only at the brewpub.
My office is changing to down town from back bay in a month so I will be brining my growler back for fills on a more frequent basis. Im very happy to find a place that I can walk to to do this.
If you're not considering brewpubs, then that's probably it I think. If you haven't done Sam Adams before, it's worth doing once. Harpoon once as well, though I feel that place seems crowded all the time (and their quality isn't worth the effort IMO). Regarding the burbs... it all depends how far out of Boston you're willing to go. If you're willing to drive as far as Blue Hills, might as well drive to Jack's Abby (different direction though). If you want to go further, there's Mayflower in Plymouth. Same distance in a different direction will get you to places like Nashoba Valley (mainly a winery but they also brew (very mediocre) beer (and liquors) with onsite tastings. Pretty place for a picnic though.
seems that going to the three is easy, trillium is to be added when we get lucky then it depends on how much extra driving if people want to expand to Blue hills or Jacks Abby. It may not be Vermont but Boston does pretty well for good little micro breweries.
SE Mass has Bog Iron in Norton and just over boarder Foolproof in Pawtucket RI. I live in same town as Bog Iron. They are just starting out IPA, Blonde, Steam, and Mild. They are doing different stuff. IPA is classic nose, but taste is more sweet malty than bitter in my opinion They use honey and u can tell. But at 7.5% it does the job. Blonde is good too and Black Stream is interesting. Mild is for sure a beer geek beer. Bog Iron is new so hopefully gets better and better with time. Foolproof make best canned porter I have tasted Just a couple in my area for reference
