Boston recs

I'd skip Atwood and instead you should consider places like Meadhall and Row 34 and Gingerman which you did not list. You won't be able to sample beers at Trillium's Fort Point location, but you can definitely do so at their Canton location

 

Also, I don't think it's archaic laws preventing Trillium from sampling in Boston, since they used to be able to, more likely it's due to lack of space and a desire to keep the line moving.

 

If you're going to Deep Ellum, walk down the street to Lulu's. They've been killing it with an amazing tap list for a while now. They keep it updated on untappd. IMO a much better choice than going to Sunset.

 

Tip Tap room always has a solid tap list
http://thetiptaproom.com/taps/

Row 34
http://row34.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/WBeer-11.15.16.pdf

Meadhall (this is in Cambridge)
http://www.themeadhall.com/
Always a great selection but alas, the website stinks

Stoddard's
http://www.stoddardsfoodandale.com/menus/draft-cask/

Lord Hobo (Cambridge)
http://www.lordhobo.com/droughts

Cambridge Brewing Company (Cambridge)
http://www.cambridgebrewingcompany.com/beer/on-tap-now/

 

Trillium can do samples, they just don't want to. All their beers are good so its not really necessary.

There is a brand new brewery near Cambridge Brewing called Lamplighter. Other breweries that have opened since your last visit are Aeronaut, Slumbrew, Winter Hill, Bone Up.

Night Shift has a very large taproom now. Mystic is worth a stop as well. Gingerman is the best bar downtown now. Row 34 is great.

 

And row 34 is right next to the Boston Trillium.

 

Both times were later at night, but I've had awful service at the Gingerman. We weren't drunk (others in the bar were), just a small group (3-4 people) looking for some beer, cider and snacks, but had different rude servers on separate visits. Had high hopes, but will make it tough to convince the others to try a third time.

To me, if you have the time, hit Night Shift for one of the more fun bar scenes in the area. And great beer to boot. I'm a big Mystic and CBC fan as well. And avoid Bukowski's, they suck.

 

I think people have covered pretty much everything but I just wanted to second the suggestion to skip Sunrise. It's not a horrible place or anything, but it's not even close to a "must visit" on a short trip to Boston any more.

Have a blast!

 

If you do Night Shift, there is absolutely no reason (assuming you are here Fri-Sun) for you to skip out on the rest of the Everett Fermentation District - Short Path Distilling and Bone Up Brewing. They are less than a 2 minute walk across & down the street from Night Shift. And, Idle Hands is a quick 5 minute drive from Night Shift to their killer new taproom in Malden.

 

Lots of great suggestions on this list. Glad to see you mentioned Atwoods, one of my favorite places in Cambridge. The food is good. There are always some gems on the beer list - last time I was in there they had 4 Oxbow taps and it's the only place in Boston you can still find cellared Enlightenment bottles. Liam the bartender is a gem, as is the secret patio. And if you are into music, Atwoods has have a fantastic late-night schedule almost every night of the week. Unfortunately, they don't update their tap/bottle list online very often so check Untappd for the latest.

 

And one of the few beer bars around Boston that doesn't have the "huh, that seems a bit expensive" feeling. One of my favorite places, just a pain for me to get to. And if you have a friend/spouse that's into cider, Bantam is an easy walk. As is Slumbrew.

 

If there are no events going on, it will be busy but there shouldn't be a wait, and if there is, it will be minimal. Morph sticks around for a while, and you can also get it at a lot of bottle shops as well.

 

Adding in some that haven't been mentioned yet
Brewer's Fork (Awesome stone oven pizzas with house smoked meats)
Branch Line (slightly fancier, think Row 34 caliber. Cuisine centered around a badass rotisserie chicken engine featuring orgasmic sandwiches for lunch) for food and drink

If you hit NightShift, you can swing around to Mystic, Bone Up, and Short Path Distilling with relative ease.

 

Worden Hall in Southie is great too they usually have 2 or 3 trillium beers on tap

 

It's busy on Friday's but rarely a line out the door. The "flagship" can releases are no big deal anymore with the volume they are now producing (north of 60BBL per batch) and easily last well into a week or two after the release day to make it out to local shops.
One off's and bottle releases are a little tougher to figure out. Darkling didn't sell out day of, but past releases have.

 

Have there been lines at the door since the annex taproom opened up, aside from nights where a private event is happening in the annex?

 

Yes. I was there 2 Saturdays ago in to pick up Darkling bottles and thankfully they do the hall pass thing now because there was at least 20 people waiting to get in at about 3 or 4pm.