Boston Area Brewery Tour/Tasting Ideas?

Definitely hit Cambridge Brewing Company and Night Shift. Jack's Abby has a nice tasting room, but it's a bit out of the way. Harpoon has a nice tasting room and does tours, but isn't a must stop for me. Sam for sam adams.

 

My top three would be Cambridge Brewing Company (AWESOME old ale on tap right now), Night Shift, and Mystic. Aeronaut, Slumbrew (Boynton or Assembly locations), and Harpoon would also be enjoyable. All of these are very close to Boston.

 

Night shift, Mystic, and Idle Hands are all close to one another. If you head over to Somerville you could also go to Aeronaut. Lord Hobo also just opened up in Somerville but I believe they are only selling beer so it may not be what you're looking for.

Be sure to check their hours; I imagine their schedules change because of the 4th.

 

Idle Hands is closing their tasting room this month until they find a new space. Lord Hobo is in Woburn, not Somerville.

 

I'd suggest the Bantam Cider taproom in addition to the others mentioned above. Located in Somerville - walking distance to Aeronaut and Slumbrew Boynton. They have a beautiful taproom and offer full pours, bottles and growlers along with a nice guided tasting of 5-6 ciders.

 

Here are 5 that are a bit spread out but definitely doable.

1. Start at Night Shift (they open at 12, first tour is at 1). Usually food trucks there on the weekend if you want a snack/lunch

2. Cab it over to Cambridge and start at Aeronaut

3. Walk off your first few beers of the day and head to Cambridge Brewing Company (1.4 miles from Aeronaut). You could also stop at Lord Hobo (the bar, not the brewery) along the way to grab a bite to eat and check out their awesome tap list. It's directly in your path between Aeronaut and CBC

4. Walk 0.8 miles from CBC to Somerville Brewing Company (Slumbrew)

5. Hop in a cab and have them take you to the Seaport to Harpoon Brewery (quick 4 mile drive). Plenty of good food options around here as it's probably getting close to dinner time at this point. Yankee Lobster has a great lobster roll. Row 34 is another good seafood spot with a fantastic tap list (and directly around the corner from Trillium)

Feel free to PM me if you have any questions! Enjoy!

 

Woburn, and they pour some days.

 

To follow up on @costanzo_mike's post, you could easily swap Slumbrew and CBC/Lord Hobo (in the schedule). Lord Hobo, the bar, should have some of Lord Hobo's, the brewery, beer that weekend, which should include Boom Sauce. I'd also suggest Mystic which is near Night Shift.

 

Harpoon has a good tour and their Beer Hall is definitely a good place to hang out for a while - try the pretzel!

 

Ttry Uber before cabbing. In Boston it's far, far cheaper to Uber 9 times out of 10.

Also, see if there is a show at the pavilion at the Seaport. If there is getting into Harpoon will be an impossibility.

 

Good points - Uber is is generally cheaper and easier from some of those locations.

Didn't even think of that with Harpoon/the seaport, great call. Looks like there is a concert at the pavilion that night. @aj3749 I'd probably skip Harpoon unless you went in reverse order or got there earlier in the day.

 

Only reason I mention it is that I was down there meeting a buddy a few weeks ago and wanted to take him to Harpoon and the line was over 100 people long to get in. Never seen it like that before, and it was because there was a show going on. We went by an hour after the show started and walked right in.

 

That would make sense, especially if you enjoy Belgian style beers.

 

Harpoon is great for the beer hall and awesome pretzel, but they serve Harpoon beers

I may be in the minority here, but I think Slumbrew is far, far below the other spots on your list in terms of quality. Unless you are trying to tick a bunch of different breweries off, I think you'd have a better time (and drink much better beer) by spending another hour at Lord Hobo or CBC; Slumbrew would be a huge let down after the other spots on the list. Again, just my 2 cents.

 

No problem! Haven't been to Mystic yet but a friend went recently and enjoyed their tap room. Have fun!

 

Wow that's nuts. Makes sense though with the pavilion right there. That whole area is getting pretty popular. I remember going down to Harpoon for the first time years ago and there was nothing else down there.

 

Ha! Fair point. Sounds like a fun day, enjoy!