Boston early August

Sounds like you should just spend a lot of time at Notch in Salem if you’re staying in Marblehead.

I’ll happily take a fresh Pliny for this advice.

 

Store in Boston =Fort point market, Notch for sure and yes we like Pliny

 

Tip your bartenders in cash, not beer.

 

It’s funny but we were just talking about Boston proper itself. And I guess you can include Brighton. But realistically strip away 3 Trillium locations and Sam Adams taproom and the city well, just isn’t great for craft. Harpoon we’ve all done too much with the old Harpoon fests. Notch in Brighton is obviously a great spot but it’s basically in Watertown ha

Row34
Tip Tap
City tap
Yard house(kinda)
Fort Point Market

This came up when we were visiting last time and sitting out at the Greenway and we both just said. Well I guess we’re going towards Cambridge since there isn’t much else in Boston for craft to see and we haven’t done already. From what I remember Esther, in an interview, was saying that Boston just was never set up to host brewing and breweries commercial space wise

 

You probably know this, but Treehouse isn't especially close to Boston. All the locations are 1-2 hours away by car.

 

Def hit up Notch in Salem. One of my favorite breweries around here. I’d suggest trying Bent Water in Lynn as well. Small taproom but solid beer.

 

in fairness he said "extra" tip. so hopefully not skimping on the cash

 

I hope it's okay to piggyback on this thread for a bit. I will happen to be in town for the first weekend, and a bunch of us will be visiting a friend who lives in Hull/ Nantasket Beach. What is the general availability of Notch beers in that area?

 

If you're lucky you might find 12pks of Left of the Dial and Session Pils.

 

Those would actually be perfect for our trip. Here's hoping they're more prevalent in a few months. Thanks!

 

Non existent mostly. Like someone said you may find left of the dial but that’s it. The distributor for that area doesn’t receive much and another distributor who carries it cannot sell it in that area.

 

Will you have access to a car? Honestly if you can go outside of Boston. Plenty of breweries on the outside that have great stuff. Widowmaker in Braintree, Vitamin Sea in Weymouth, Break Rock in Quincy - all a drive away with traffic sadly, but producing great beers!

 

You forgot Night Shift. Between Lovejoy Wharf and the 3 or 4 beer gardens, they have a major footprint in the city. I would recommend any tourist at least check out at least one of their spots.

Down the totem pole there's Turtle Swamp, Dorchester Brewing, Democracy also in town and there's something in Roslindale as well.

 

I live one town over from Marblehead. Notch in Salem is the best taproom around--the beer speaks for itself, and they have a really nice outside beer garden overlooking the water. The other essential beer spot in this neck of the woods is Gulu Gulu Cafe in Salem (not far from Notch). They have a fantastic draft and bottle list, yummy paninis, salads, and the like, and a cool European vibe. Nearby Beverly has a bunch of solid taprooms that you could hit on a North Shore craft beer crawl: Old Planters, Gentile, Channel Marker, Backbeat. Vinnin Liquors in nearby Swampscott is the best bottle shops around--great selection of craft beer and the cheapest prices you'll find (other than Total Wine, where you need to check dates to avoid old beer). I'd skip Bentwater in Lynn--they're nearby but, sadly, their beers are nothing special. Feel free to message me if you want tips on anything else in and around Marblehead--it's a beautiful area.

 

These 3 places regularly have Notch 12pks and you’ll have to go through one of these towns to get to Hull - good luck!

Fruit Center - Hingham (Session Pils)

Curtis Liquors - Cohasset (Session Pils and Left Of The Dial)

Stop & Shop - Hingham (Session Pils and Left Of The Dial)

 

Awesome, I'll definitely put that to good use! Thanks a lot.

 

Don’t know near as much about breweries south of Boston, but Untold in Scituate is fantastic. Can highly recommend that one.

 

Love Notch’s Salem location. Great spot.
Disagree on Bent Water as I think the new brewer is making damn solid beer (at cheaper prices than any brewer around here), though I know when I first moved here they were pretty far down my pecking order.
I’ll have to check Gulu-Gulu out. Never been. Thanks!

 

Thanks, I appreciate the heads up and we'll definitely look into it.