Visiting Boston - What beers/pubs to try?

Not to be a jerk, but there are about 50 threads in the last month or two with this question or a slight variation.
The questions we will have for you are: how long will you be here? Where are you staying? Will you have your own transportation? Are you coming only for beer or for other reason? How much free time will you have? Where are you coming from and how are you getting here and back?

 

If you are staying near Fenway the best beer list in the area is probably Yard House. But you are a short ride on the green line away from Publick House. A craft beer cellar just opened by Fenway if you are looking for a bottle shop. Trillium and Cambridge Brewing Company are both about a Ten minute walk from the red line but Trillium doesn't offer sampling. Night shift and Mystic are both a short uber ride from the orange line. Slumbrew and Aeronuat are off of the red line again you'll need an uber. If you go trillium you can go next door to Row34. If you have a car and a designated driver you could probably makes day of driving to Jacks Abby and Wormtown. Oh and if you got to Wormtown go to Armsby Abby. Did I miss anything? For info on Treehouse see any of the dozens of treehouse specific threads.

 

Haven't been, but I've seen talk of The Ginger Man near Faneuil Hall just opening recently being a good deal as far as samplers/flights. A little ways from Fenway but you can take the Green Line to North Station and be within reasonable walking distance.

 

Ginger Man is an excellent spot. Great tap list and you can do flights of any 4 beers for $14. Take the green line to Government Center (not north station) and you're less than a 5 minute walk from there.

 

For someone 1) in town for 48 hours, 2) staying near Fenway/Kenmore and 3) looking specifically for samplers, this would be my itinerary (off the top of my head):

• The Publick House (Brookline) - Take the MBTA Green "C" Line from Kenmore to Washington Square (or Tappan Street). Best craft beer bar in Boston, IMO. Likely where you'll find the widest and best selection of Trillium (read: they'll have 3-5 selections on tap). Great fud (including the burger). Not sure if they do flights, but if you want the best of Boston, go here.

• Sunset Grill (Allston) - Take the MBTA Green "B" Line from Kenmore to Harvard Avenue, then walk 5 minutes. IDK how many taps they have--100+?--plus hundreds of bottles. I usually get flights here b/c of the huge number of beers available. Great nachos--among the best in the city, IMO--where a 1/2 order is def enough for two people. Lulu's and Deep Ellum are also great craft beer bars (arguably better) and you can walk from Sunset in about 5 minutes. Not sure if either does flights. Food is solid at both places.

• Night Shift (Everett) - Take the MBTA Green Line from Kenmore to Haymarket or North Station, transfer to Orange Line, get off at Wellington, then walk 10 minutes. (Contrary to what earlier poster said, you don't need to Uber/Lyft from Wellington to the brewery: either take the T then walk or Uber/Lyft from your hotel to the brewery.) Best local brewery with flights. Always new and interesting things on tap--currently looks like there are 10 on tap with multiple available to go (in cans or growlers). Usually have daily food trucks and weekly events (trivia, movies, yoga etc).

• Not a big Yard House fan: a ton of taps but they don't turn them over often--will often be the same or similar beer menu if you come back a month later. So not good if I wanted to be a regular customer, but if you're just visiting and staying nearby, you'll find stuff to try. Lower Depths is also in Kenmore and they have a solid craft beer menu. Not sure if they do flights but I much prefer it over Yard House. Their hot dogs start at $2 with loads of options for toppings.

• If taking beer home with you is an option, go to Trillium (Boston) and get whatever they have. Note that no sampling at this location, but you can drive to Trillium (Canton) for samples and the same take-home bottles; about a 30 minute drive from Fenway to Canton, MA.

Have fun

 

I'll be in the city in about 10 days, so this has also been very helpful for me. Thanks all.
I've been to Yard Houses in other US cities before, and I certainly get the concern about low turnover. That said, for someone from the other side of the continent, it's probably a pretty ideal spot for me to visit because of the variety of stuff I'll never see out here that's routine for you all.

 

Best bars in town and both of which usually get Trillium. Right this second Publick House have 5 Trillium taps, and between this and everything else, I am sure you will have an exciting amount of work to get done. Have Fun!

Row 34 (Boston) http://row34.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Beer_04.03.16.pdf
Publick House (Brookline) www.thepublickhousebeerbar.com/#!draft/cxa0

 

If only had the two to choose from, I'd probably go Boston Beer Works over Yard House (key word being "only"). Both good, and really good bar food burgers & nachos. I'm always pleasantly surprised by offerings at Beer Works, even as my personal beer snobbery increases to the point where I think I've outgrown them.

If near Fenway, also check out Cornwalls in Kenmore Square. Usually nothing terribly remarkable, but always has a few locals, and on a city wide pub crawl that's starting near Fenway, it's deserves a stop.

You'll probably be near Boston Common/State House/Public Gardens at some point, and Stoddard's Pub & Silvertone's are both right there.

You'll also probably be near the Prudential Tower at some point, and Bukowski's just off Boylston is a great little beer bar.

Anybody got a good recommendation for North End / Waterfront?
"back in the day" the Waterfront Café on Commerical Street & Sail Loft on Atlantic Ave were great because they had Sierra, Harpoon IPA, and #9 on draft, but sadly their draft list hasn't varied much since I frequented them a decade+ ago.

 

Other beer spots near Fenway are Citizen, Cornwalls, Lower Depths, Boston Beer Works. Island Creek Oyster Bar for seafood and The Hawthorne or Eastern Standard for amazing cocktails. Hojoko is a really fun spot with good food and drinks.
Gingerman, Row 34 and Cambridge Brewing Company all do samplers or half pours and they might be the 3 best places around right now overall.

 

Ducali has a sold tap list and good pizza. Gingerman is at the end of State St. by the Greenway - technically not the waterfront, but pretty close.

 

Tavern In The Square has been open by the TD Garden for about a year and a half now, and they have a decent tap list and pretty good food. It's not exactly North End, but it's damn close -- easily less than a five-minute walk.

Also tried Ginger Man the other night, and I was overwhelmed (in a good way) -- I think there's like 75 taps. And they're updating frequently on beermenus. Menu for food is a little limited there, but the pretzel-and-sandwich combo was delicious.

 

Brewers Fork in Charlestown.

 

One option I'd like to point out: Stoddard's in Downtown Crossing is a great spot for dinner or lunch. It used to be a famous cutlery store (Stoddards) and has re-opened as a gastro-pub. Great food and last time we were there, which was in January, they had MBC Lunch on tap, which I think they were going to have through spring. They seem to have at least one MBC tap going at any one time (we lucked out because they were just switching from MO to Lunch when we were there).

 

Lunch on tap has been pretty infrequent (and overpriced), but Stoddard's always has a great variety of local NE beers on rotation - Allagash, Rising Tide, Notch, Castle Island, Jack's Abby, MBC, CBC.

 

Two other places worth mentioning are Burkowski Tavern (Boston) and The Salty Pig. Both are in Back Bay so they are a short T ride or walk from Fenway. The Salty Pig also gets Trillium.