Cambridge Brewing Company (2020)

Definitely a local brewery deserving of a thread! Very sad I won't be able to make it to the Barleywine Fest this year.

I'll throw in a friendly reminder for those that frequent Harvard Square that Club Passim always has four CBC drafts and The Brattle Theater always offers two or three CBC draft options. (Just last year the Brattle had Cerise Cassee on tap - $10 for 20oz!)

 

A 20oz pour of a 9% sour??? Nice beer but I have an upset stomach just thinking about that

 

I think there is a new batch of cerise cassee bottles out there. Such a good beer.

 

CBC is my favorite brewery in MA. Not living down the street from there has made me infinitely sadder.

I hope y'all go to barleywine fest. It's a unique experience and no other brewery in New England can really provide the experience of being able to try year over year or barrel type versus barrel type.

 

I have great memories of CBC. For a while, it was my go-to spot for doing my journalism job, particularly meeting sources and chatting over a beer.

 

Also supposed to be pouring on Saturday, so likely a diminished crowd.

 

Another great Barleywine Fest! Crowded at 6pm but not too hard too find a spot at the bar. In addition to 17 vintages of their own barleywine they had a keg of Our Finest Regards (2015). I was short on time so I only got to sample a few and missed the special food menu. I’ve always been a bigger fan of Arqebus than Blundderbus. The 2016 Arquebus aged in a Tokaji barrel has been my fave over the years. So glad I got to sample it again!

 

I love this. Wish I was there.

 

Stopped in with the family for lunch on Sunday. They still had everything available from the barleywine fest except for Our Finest Regards

My wife and I shared two flights between us, sampling three Arquebus and three Blunderbuss vintages. We liked both the Willet and Four Rose finished Blunderbuss quite a bit, but the highlights for me were the Arquebus samples. The 2013, finished in a cabernet barrel was aggressively wine forward and was my least favorite. The 2016 and 2017 were both amazing. As they warmed, more and more dessert wine character came out. I'd say 2016, finished in a Tokaji barrel was favorite by a nose.

Speaking of Arquebus, that beer encapsulates what I love about CBC. They are are still experimenting and discovering new expressions of what beer can be after all these years. I don't know of anyone else that can pull off a "summer barleywine" that remains so balanced and drinkable at that ABV. Is there anyone else even playing in that space?

 

I feel like I should create a separate thread for this, but I went to CBC for lunch today and the construction in their little square is insane and totally obscures the restaurant. Construction projects like that are wildly disruptive to businesses that rely on foot traffic. Combine that with the loss of Mystic, where CBC had a production deal, and I’m legit concerned about the business.

So, I’ll put this out there as a challenge: If you live nearby or find yourself nearby, stop in and get a beer and some food. The Kendall Sq garage offers convenient and cheap parking (ask for a chaser card at CBC), so no excuse to not go. Given the current states of the beer market and the Boston restaurant scene where everything old school is getting replaced with something owned by a restaurant group, we can’t afford to lose CBC. Do your duty as beer geeks and make the effort to get there!

 

The construction on that plaza is ridiculous and has been going on forever. If you require easy access enter the brewery from the alley on Cardinal Medeiros ave.

If CBC went out of business I would switch to French wine and say goodbye to haze drinking, line standing Chads. CBC has been that integral to my craft beer journey.

 

I live no where near and go there quarterly. I'm not saving the business but it's an old/current fave I still support.

 

I visit CBC whenever I am back in town and sometimes go multiple times. It is my favorite brewery in MA. I could not imagine the MA beer scene without it. Please imbibe there and order some buffalo chicken tenders for me.

 

Visited today to try the new dark mild (it's outstanding). Seemed like less people than at smoke shop next door, though we were there kind of late for lunch. They still had a couple of arquebus vintages on, get in there and try them.

 

Other than the obviously disruptive and unsightly work being done out front, what makes people think CBC is any kind of trouble? I just don’t understand the concern, at least not yet.

 

Losing the Mystic arrangement is likely a hit to the business. And I have no knowledge of their current lease in that space, but that is some expensive real estate that is only going to get more expensive once construction is complete. There’s nothing imminent that I know of, just a heads up that the current conditions are definitely not favorable for CBC. And a reminder to support the old school places that got us here. Skip the line at whatever haze factory just opened in a garage and grab some nachos and a grisette at CBC.

 

Do you know how much beer they were actually producing there? It doesn't seem like they'd been using it that much unless they started doing their canned beers there.

 

No CBC canned beers were ever produced there. They only used Mystic for bottled wilds/sours.