Top 3 MA Breweries

I think because TH is harder to get it get a tiny bit more red in the geek world.

 

Jacks beers arent always fresh in stores.

 

Never been to Tree House, Medusa, Bog Iron, or some others... Here are my top fifteen in rough order of preference:

Jack's Abby
Trillium
Night Shift
CBC
Ipswich
Mystic
Mayflower
Berkshire Brewing Co
Slumbrew
Wachusett
Idle Hands/Enlightenment Ales
Clown Shoes
Harpoon
Aeronaut
Boston Beer Co

We live in a great state for great beer. Cheers!

 

Trillium, Treehouse, Jacks Abbey

 

Tbh I've never had any of these undrinkable Night Shift beers. Wondering what ones they are. I'd rate the barrel vanilla porter as as good or better than the Framinghammers, and Whirlpool/Morph/Santilli as bested only by Trillium and Tree House for MA hops. They have a definite argument for top 3 in my opinion. I feel like it's not said here but I still think JA holds themselves back with the lager only model.

 

Night Shift's Weisse and wild beers can be all over the place and I think their IPAs are a significant step down from Trillium. To me Whirlpool is kind of a gimmick beer and tastes more like homebrew. Morph is better and I haven't had Santilli yet.

 

They hit all the flavor profiles that cater to an ale drinker's palate. That's thier gimmick. They aren't really brewing traditional lagers. They are also expanding at an astounding rate. I'm not sure what you mean by 'holding them back'. Thier business is going as good or better than most any other brewery in MA.

 

For me right now, Trillium is the best brewery in MA. Their (I)IPAs, and pale ales are phenomenal. I also love their porters and stouts, especially Night and Day.

I've only had a few beers from Tree House but they ranged from very good to outstanding. Double Shot may be my favorite beer of the year so far. I need to get out there more often.

Picking a third is tough. I'd narrow it down to Jack's Abby, Night Shift, or Clown Shoes. Jack's Abby makes a nice variety of beer and they are all solid and some are great. Night Shift makes so many beers, and like others have said, they miss sometimes but they also make some great beers. I can see myself drinking a lot of Santilli, Morph, and Whirlpool this summer. I wouldn't have considered Clown Shoes three months ago but their last three releases have been excellent in my opinion. Specifically, Crasher in The Rye, Breakfast Exorcism, and Billionaire.

It's a good time to be a beer lover in MA.

 

For me it's Trillium>TH>JA, which seems to be a theme. I agree that TH and Trillium are basically interchangeable, it's just that I tend to gasp when I drink a Vicinity, Congress St, or Melcher St. To those who say they're only good at hop-forward, their namesake Trillium and Sprang are absolutely stellar. I'm fairly new to TH, and still haven't tried Green yet, but they're incredible.

I'd consider putting Nightshift in the 3 spot over time. If they were only Whirlpool and Morph and Santilli, they might be #3, but they have some godawful stuff (seriously, have you tried Viva Habanera yet?) that keeps them as a wildcard for now. Best in-person experience of the group though!

 

My Top 3
1 Trillium
2 Jacks Abby
3 Tree House.

 

Two excellent beer I wish we saw more of from Trillum are Big Sprang and Sunshower. I know SunS is out now, been meaning to make a visit.

 

Sprang is hop forward, not a traditional kolsch.

 

Big Sprang is absolutely insane. One of my favorite beers of all time. But shhh...its not hyped yet!

 

Santilli is the best hoppy beer I've had from NS to date. It's still a large step down from being near the top of the style against beers in this state or out.

 

This is tough, but I'd have to agree with this. I just don't have good enough access to TH.

 

I personally, don't care for Viva Habanera but that beer sells insanely well and has a huge following. For the longest time it was our best selling beer (now eclipsed by several other beers) .We tried to kill it off and stopped making it for like 6 months and the backlash was huge. Steady stream of emails, phone calls, and conversations with customers and stores/bar owners led us to bringing it back. Taste is subjective, I never drink Viva but those who do love it and repeatedly buy it. To each their own.

 

Yes had Big Sprang last year. A friend grab a growler. Opened it in a bottle share. 4-5 guys took first sip and immediately reacted with a "WTF face this beer is phenomenal". All us agreed totally unique beer.

On the Bog Iron note. 2 years into it and these guys are hitting their stride. Year one Stinge and Blonde were very good beers. Blonde was a bit more impressive at 7% plus. Most recently Middle Child is excellent. Just tasted Robble Robble great hoppy "nuvo" pale. Similarities to the "big boys". Can't wait to try Jump Back this weekend.

 

I love that you guys tried to kill it, hilarious. The market has spoken though! Definitely to each their own. And I'm excited for the cans you've been putting out. I've been telling everyone I meet that Whirlpool is the beer of Summer 2015, hands down.

 

They are obviously doing what they want and are very successful at it, I'm not arguing that. I'm not even saying I don't respect or like them for it. But that said, stuff like Calyptra (very very good) makes me wonder how awesome their IPA's would be if they made them. And I can't be the only one who would be interested in the Framinghammer barrel aging and flavor profile in an imperial stout. It doesn't make them not one of the best breweries in New England, it just makes them not my personal favorite.