Hey Gents, Headed to EBF this year once again and I was hoping for a few recommendations for breweries to stop at on the way home. Maybe there are a few low key spots that I do not know about? We are going from Boston to Canton for Trillium - could do Fort Point, it is still yet to be decided. From there - lunch at Armsby and possibly Wormtown. Any thoughts on spots that we should hit from there (or even before, for that matter). Looking forward to your thoughts and thanks!
Are you heading back to NJ on Saturday or Sunday? Many breweries in MA don't open on Sunday, I'm not sure about other states. Assuming you are leaving on Saturday, skip Wormtown, its a mediocre brewery and what you'll have at EBF/Armsby are lightyears ahead of everything they brew. Depending on what time you leave Armsby, I'd continuously check Tree House's twitter. They might have some growlers available to go or an onsite pour day. After that, I'd recommend OEC and then stop at one of the DeCicco's on your way home. I'm sure some CT people could reccomend shops/breweries in southwest CT as I'm not too familiar with that area
If you're traveling on Sunday then you're in luck re: Trillium - they just recently expanded hours to include Sundays noon-5pm (ONLY in Canton). Canton also has a parking lot and a tap room. Fort Point has neither and parking can be tricky. Armsby Abbey is totally worth the trip, especially if you're looking to try some Hill Farmstead stuff or splurge on some 3F lambic. The food there is top-notch. Meter parking is usually available on the street. They regularly update their tap list HERE. If you do go to Armsby, Wormtown is worth a visit. Solid beers but likely nothing that will blow you away. They have a parking lot. They update their tap list semi-regularly HERE (scroll way down to the bottom). Depending on what your time/route looks like, Jack's Abby/Springdale is also a great place to visit. Solid food and great beer. They usually have several barrel-aged beers available in the cooler (baltic porters and sour lagers).
Jack's Abby has their food hall as well. The beers aren't quite the world-class lineup that the Armsby has, but they are Jack's Abby beers, plus their new Springdale line. They often have experimental beers on tap, and the food is excellent. If you're through Framingham, a stop there is good even if uyou're not eating, and Exhibit "a" is about a half mile away. Someone mentioned checking Tree House hours, through CT I would look into OEC (they'll probably be at EBF), NEBCO and Two Roads. I'm sure there's more that I can't think of right now.
Cold Harbor in Westborough is a chill spot with good beer and pretty much just off route 9. If you're interested in bottle shops Julios in Westborough is fantastic.
This is great - thanks guys! We are going to the Friday night session, so coming back sat. Treehouse is definitely on the radar, but they were closed on sat last year. Exhibit A and JA may be good stops and thanks for the bottle shop recs too. Anything of note in CT?
