5 Breweries to Visit - Massachusetts

Mystic
Trillium

 

Skip wormtown b/c as far a I recall the only visit is to the restaurant next door, hit Night shift instead.

 

What they said. I might consider Berkshire in there. Supposed to be a good time.
Harpoon's beer hall in Boston is a good time, with brews not available commercially.
Boston Beer Co (Sam Adams) has a really interesting tour, regardless of what you think of most of their beer.
Jack's Abby is nice because they're nice guys who make great beers.

 

Are you visiting just for the beer, or to check out the brewery?

If the latter, I would suggest the uniqueness of Berkshire Brewing co and Wachusett and the scale of the operation at Harpoon. Maybe Sam Adams just to see how good Boston Lager can be and a chance to try some of their experimentals. I'm sure others will chime in with info on the latest geek preferred brewery of the day places.

 

First, the Holy Trinity- Idle Hands, Night Shift and Mystic. Three excellent breweries, doing out-of-the-ordinary styles, with friendly tap rooms right in the workings of the upstart companies, lots of brews available to taste, and all three within 5 minutes drive of each other. (OK, if it takes you 5 minute to get from Idle Hands to Night Shift, you've had too many samples- they're next door to each other in an industrial warehouse, but Mystic is 5 minute drive away.) I would like add Trillium next, but I can't. On the positive, it keeps you in the Greater Boston area (the only brewery I'd recommend actually in Boston proper). And they again have out-of-the-box styles with excellent results. But I can't recommend visiting them, because the brewery tap room can't serve tasting (ongoing battle with Boston laws). The company seem to be struggling (floundering?). They can't keep up with an explosive demand, and from my experience their growlers bought on-site are best drunk immediately lest strange developments occur. Hope they survive, but butting head with Boston politicos is deadly. So for a fourth, I'd go with Cambridge Brewing Co. Lotsa love on the board here for CBC and I have to applaud the fine beer and depth of styles, but I'd ding them for being a brewpub. Great menu, great beer, but not a dingy warehouse that gives you a sense that the company is focusing on beer not decor. Having picked 4 in the greater Boston environs, where to go for a fifth- Wormtown, Pretty Things, Enlightenment, Portico- excellent brews but, but in the words of WC Fields, there's no there there. Nothing to VISIT. Rather than going with the predictable choices of Jack's Abby (fine brews, dedication to expanding the definition of "lager", tastings in front of their production facilities in a industrial complex, 30+/- minutes outside of Boston) or Tree House (sorry never been there, an hour west of Boston and again battling local zoning), I'd suggest a visit to The Tap Brewery in Haverhill. Again a brewpub atmosphere, but wreaking in authentic bar spirit and serving a wide selection of styles that are well crafted.

 

To get a perspective on Boston breweries:
http://beeradvocate.com/community/threads/visiting-boston-summer-13-edition.99268/

Others can chime in on western Mass, but that should give you pretty much all the info you need on breweries within a reasonable distance from Boston.

 

Go to Ipswich. There's tons of breweries there

 

I would argue none of them are brewing anything "out of the ordinary." Notch would qualify, because it's certainly not the norm brewing all beers 4.5% abv or lower. And beers such as their Tafelbier are certainly far from common. More to the point, I would say a brewery making simple beers (bitters, pilsners, Munich Helles, milds, non-IPA like pale ales...etc.) is "out of the ordinary" these days. I understand what you meant, and those breweries are definitely making beers that appear creative at first glance. But really they're just catering to uber beer geeks (and I don't blame them).

 

I think it's quite a stretch to suggest that Trillium is floundering. From what I've gathered (and I could be totally wrong), they're not fighting Boston politicos, but working within the system to try to get tastings permitted at their brewery. Nothing unusual about a business working with city hall to try to either get the zoning changed, or to get a variance. Furthermore, I've been extremely impressed by their beer thus far, the folks there are super friendly, and if you don't think it's worth a visit to the brewery for a growler fill, then I'd highly recommend seeking them out on-tap around town--I believe the Publick House, Local 149, Lord Hobo, Vee Vee and a handful of other places around town carry them regularly.

As to the CBC, I'm not sure I get the dingy warehouse comment. Personally, I dig the beer hall feel of the many bar space, though I'm not much for the back room and I preferred the old decor (lighter woods on the tables and chairs, old lights in the bar area, and brighter colors in the back room). All that said, the space to visit there during warm weather is the patio, which is easily one of the best in the city. As for the beer and range of styles, the CBC is unmatched in my opinion when it comes to a brewpub making excellent, innovative beers across the board.

 

With that as your goal i'd hit (in order of my preference):

Jack's Abby, Tree House, Cambridge Brewing Company, Trillium (growlers only, no samples), and then the Night Shift/Idle Hands/Mystic combo.

 

Trillium floundering? Truly bizarre comment. JC is hitting homeruns with every batch, which is resulting in the explosive demand. The silly no-sample thing has yet to deter me from buying growlers of everything they've brewed.

 

Trillium is a must stop in my opinion. I'm glad the sample didn't stop me from buying two growlers of Dry Stack Batch #2 and FP PA, both of which were excellent.

 

Here's what I've recommended to other friends, especially if they were only in town for a day or two:

• Jack's Abby
• Mystic Brewery
• Night-Shift/Idle Hands (side-by-side)
• Tree-House
• Cambridge Brewing Co

 

I think the comment is more to mean they are having difficulty keeping up with demand and are experiencing bizarre requirements from Menino's cronies. I mean you have to have a disabled bathroom if you are to serve samples of your beer, really? Also we have experienced some diacytyl forming when the growler wasn't finished immediately, but there is only one answer to that drink it faster and most people have no issue with that.

 

Only thing about TreeHouse is they are kind of a haul outside the greater Boston area - about an hour or so. If you have wheels and time, not a terrible drive if you time the escape from Boston right.

Great suggestions.

 

I am going to be a ridiculous homer and say the Pub at Cape Ann. They have some crazy good brewery only beers, and the food is great. I am a bit sad that is doesn't get more love on here (probably due to its mostly prosaic bottled offerings) but you know, more for me.

Jack's Abby
CBC
Mystic
Night Shift (throw in Idle Hands if its also open, it wasn't when I visited)