Boston Marathon Brewery Tour

Nice, I’m running this year as well. There’s a ton to do in New England brewery-wise depending on how far/where you want to travel, but I’ve got some suggestions/answers to your questions.

Charlton is not close to Boston or easily accessible by public transit, so you’ll certainly need a rental car. Highly recommend HF and the Alchemist, but would note that Alchemist is still “to go” only, with no drinking on site. For HF, you need a reservation to drink on site as well, so plan accordingly. Depending on what you want from the Alchemist, Heady and Focal are available in most liquor and even grocery stores in Vermont, so you can maybe save a trip unless you’re planning to visit Stowe anyway.

Portland is great, but not really “on the way” back from HF. Certainly doable, but you’ll certainly want to spend a couple of nights to make all the driving worthwhile.

Tons to see in New England, but in the Boston area itself, I suggest hitting Notch and Cambridge Brewing for sure, even before Trillium.

 

@graydude as @Mikecap said, Tree House is not really accessible from Boston without a car. It’s about a hour each way. That said, if you want the on-site drinking experience you’ll have to go that route. If not and you’re just looking to get some cans to have while you are in town and to take back home with you, you could always go the proxy ordering route, which they allow, and set up an arrangement to place an order and have someone bring it back to you in the Seaport area.

 

Wait, are you staying in Sturbridge or Seaport? You've said both lol. But if it's Sturbridge then you're literally right down the road from Tree House

 

If you wanted to skip actually going to Hill Farmstead and just wanted to drink some of their beers, Tree House is about 20 minutes from Armsby Abbey. One of the only (if not the only one) places that runs multiple Hill Farmstead drafts in MA. And the food is also out of this world…best burger I’ve ever had in my life.

 

I didn't even notice you were from Australian until you used the word "bloody" haha.

Best of luck in the race mate! Ran it once myself.

 

If you want to check out Portland I'd advise you also switch one of those hotel nights from Boston to Portland. I wouldn't suggest a newcomer to make that round trip (3.5 hours) between the Seaport and Portland in one day when also visiting breweries.

 

If you're staying in Fort Point, hit the Fort Point market for to-go beers. You can even order online for pick up.

Also, feel free to give me a shout when there. If I can get past this injury, I'll be in Boston for the marathon as well. I think @Beersnake1 will be there too.

Cheers and good luck.

 

2nd Fort Point, easily my fave beer store in the Boston area. You can even browse their selection here.

https://www.fortpointmarketstore.com/s/shop

 

I Ran Boston a couple of times a couple years ago. My post-race fun included Lamplighter, and I'd consider it worth it. There was also a brewery in Hopkinton. My first year running we stopped there on the way into town for lunch and then drove the course into Boston. It wasn't mind-blowing, but it was decent, and they had a Marathon themed beer, so that was fun.

 

Start Line Brewing.

 

Thanks, I meant to put that in there!

 

Great to see someone from well over the pond posting here. I’d consider skipping hill farmstead and head to Armsby Abbey. Was there last weekend and four hill farm taps on. You’ll have to pick a reservation to even have a drink there and weather/whatnot can screw that all up. Otherwise, I believe you can show up just for cans/bottles. Also, it’s literally in the middle of fucking nowhere. Parker pie being somewhat close by. But there is nothing else but gorgeous fields and smelly cows.

I think one misleading thing people don’t always discuss about Vermont and other areas is many of the heavy hitters are geographically spread way way out. You need to commit to some serious time behind the wheel to get to them. Not to mention then drive safely after any drafts, so definitely plan accordingly and consider the distances. Waterbury vt has the three amazing bars(pro pig, reservoir and blackback pub) which can satisfy any beer craving. Plus craft beer cellar next to pro pig has anything you could want. It’s another option as all are literally 100 feet from each other.

Good luck on the race! Ran one full marathon myself and know the struggle! You got some sick waves over there as well I hope to score someday

 

Its pretty mind blowing how good those 3 bars are