Boston for 5 days...need help!

Beer bars:
Boston (In ascending order of distance from Back Bay): Bukowski's Boston, Lower Depths, Stoddard's, Tip Tap Room, Publick House, Sunset Grill, Deep Ellum, Row 34.
Cambridge: Lord Hobo, Meadhall, Bukowski's Cambridge.
I am partial to Lord Hobo, Deep Ellum and the Lower Depths, and the last few times I have been to Tip Tap their list has been phenomenal. But take a look at the websites of the bars to see if there is anything that strikes your fancy.

Breweries that are accessible on public transportation:
Trillium, Aeronaut, Slumbrew. Harpoon and Boston Beer Co. are as well. Trillium is the can't miss, but note that they do not offer tastings. Just buy bottles for hotel consumption. You can take public transportation to Night Shift and Jack's Abby but it is a bit more complicated and time consuming.

 

Cambridge Brewing Company is not to be missed.

 

I agree Trillium is a can't miss.

On Fridays Aeronaut in Somerville has their Firkin Friday where they have a new cask each week and Sundays is bring your own picnic. Nice place to hang out, have drinks and play some Nintendo.

 

Slumbrew American Fresh at Assembly Row is very convenient to get to from Back Bay on the Orange line as well as Night Shift. You just have to walk a half mile to get to night shift though.

 

In Davis Sq, Redbones and Rosebud always have good stuff on tap, too and it's only 2 stops past Harvard Sq.

 

As everyone has already said, Trillium is the must-visit.

Mystic hasn't been mentioned yet, but they're also excellent and just a few miles from Night Shift. They're heavily focused on saisons though, so they might not be to your taste.

 

Was at Yard House in Fenway (close to Back Bay) Saturday. Pretty damn good selection on draft. Great food too.

 

A little stale, but this is a great thread: http://www.beeradvocate.com/communi...-guide-summer-14-edition.182136/#post-3852460.

 

If you are staying in Back Bay then check out Picco. They make some of the best pizza and ice cream in Boston with a solid draft list. Urban Grape is a good store by Back Bay Station. Definitely get to Cambridge Brewing Company, especially if you like sours.

 

Trillium and Cambridge Brewing Company are must go-tos for breweries. As far as bars, Lord Hobo Brewing and Meadhall are right near Cambridge Brewing Co so that'd be easy for you and all of the above is on the red line making things very easy as long as you don't mind walking a bit (10 minutes)

 

Just to clarify, if you aren't interested in/planning to ship boxes back to yourself or take bottles in checked luggage, Trillium is much less of a must visit since you can't get tastes there. You can obviously get bottles to go and drink them at your hotel or whatever, but unlike Night Shift or CBC there's nothing to do at the physical location.

 

Another vote for Bukowski's. It's probably going to be walking distance for you and the place kicks ass for beer.

And another vote for Trillium probably being rough, since you can't drink there and as a visitor, you probably aren't going to invest in growlers, and they only sell 750ml bottles...however it's the best beer you are going to find.

 

I think in 5 days OP can find the time to knock out a 750 or two, or three, or five.

 

If the OP like IPAs then Mystic's Ascendant would be a good choice, Bryan has joked its their Trillium beer, very hoppy very aromatic and juicy. Note all these comments are from me inhaling and my husband drinking the beer.

 

Mystic/Night Shift are worth an Uber. Best bet on the T is to take the Orange Line to Wellington and walk to Night Shift. Only 0.6 miles from the station.

 

I'm not a big Sunset guy, but it's not too hard to get to Allston to hit Deep Ellum. When there, you can also eat awesome tacos at Lone Star next door (also with a few good taps and great cocktails) or head to LuLu's which does comfort food and often has tap takeovers.

Also, be prepared for some sticker shock around town. Especially if you hit Tip Tap. Cambridge Brewing remains the best bang for your buck in town, and that applies to beer and food.

 

^Lulu's is worth a stop if you get to that area, especially is someone good has a takeover planned. Twitter is the best place to track those down.
They have one going on right this second, actually. The following beers being poured.

• Into double IPAs? Pick your favorite - Founders reDANKulous, a 9.5% red imperial IPA that pulls no punches - Spicy, Piney and Tropical! Or the Knee Deep Lupilin River - a 2x IPA that looks like liquid gold and smells like a tropical pine forest!
• Try a the funky dry hopped sour, Rainbow Dome by Grimm Artisinal. Apricot and fruity hops? Yes, please.
• Ready for winter beers? The Boulder Beer Co. Shake Chocolate is a porter that you need to try! This brew blends 5 different grains, including chocolate wheat, giving it a velvety mouth feel - and it's on nitro!

 

Seconding Cambridge brewing company. I can't imagine a visit here being complete without it.

 

5 days is plenty to get a lot of good beer in.
Will you have transportation? What else do you have planned (business trip? Pleasure with nothing else to do?)
If you have time, Jack's Abby in Framingham may be worth a trip - it's a stone's throw from the Commuter rail (and despite their issues in the depths of last winter and the heat of the summer, they should be running more or less on time.
They just opened a new place with restaurant and brewery-only brews.
If not, watch out for their shelf stuff at most liquor stores ("packies" in local parlance.)
As others said, Trillium, Night Shift, Mystic are worth stops. Harpoon has their main facility less than a mile from Trillium- they may not be the sexiest brewery out there but they are always solid and their beer hall serves great pretzels.
For bars, I third / fourth / fifth what all the others said - CBC, Lord Hobo and Meadhall are within a stone's throw from each other. Publick House in Brookline is an easy T (subway) ride away, Bukowski's is a great divey type place.
and so on and so forth. It's really hard to go wrong for food almost anywhere, and most places have at least a couple lines of craft beer - maybe not the latest and greatest, but Boston is a really good beer city.