Lines at Taprooms: Your Experience

I think part of it is a recent realization by the "average" beer drinker in MA that there are some amazing beers being made here. The people who have been drinking Sam Adams, Harpoon, Shipyard, etc. for the past 15-20 years are starting to take notice. About a year or so ago I knew people who knew about Heady Topper but didn't really know about Trillium, Tree House, Night Shift, etc.. That's recently changed and I notice people starting to ask me about these breweries. At least that's my personal experience.

The other thing is that the area is now getting pretty trendy. I grew up just north of Boston and lived in Somerville in the late 90's early 2000's when I first met my wife. When I was a kid no one wanted to go to Somerville, we used to call it Slumerville. That started to change when you had areas like Davis Square getting built up then the housing boom which forced people to start to look at buying cheaper houses in nicer areas of Somerville, Medford and Malden. Wellington Circle and Assembly Square were both dead areas in the 90's (when Outback Steakhouse opened around 99 that was a big deal in Wellington Circle which says lot). You wouldn't have been caught dead in the area where Night Shift is. I lived just over the river from Wellington Circle on Temple Rd. Going a block or two over to Temple St was not a good idea at night which is over in Winter Hill which is famous for the Winter Hill gang. The last 15 years have really transformed that area.

 

I think these points probably explain a fair bit of it. Despite some whinging about it here now and then, it feels to me like the family (and to some extent dog) friendly atmospheres are a big draw.

I've looked around more than once at brewpubs here and thought how nice it was that it felt almost like a community gathering place of sorts. I think Jack's Abby, Aeronaut and Notch are particularly notable in this regard. Sunday church for heathens?

The fact that the busy times are somewhat at odds with traditional peak times is perhaps evidence that brew pub visits are carving out their own niche rather than cannibalizing other activities.

I moved back to Boston in 2010 after having lived out of state since the mid 90s. While I was gone, I always made a point to visit the Beerworks (or Cambridge Commons RIP) when I'd come back to visit because I had such fond memories. I still like the Beerworks, but it's amazing just how much there is now compared to even 5 years ago.

I don't have much to add on the specific question. I've only been to Nightshift and Idle Hands since the New Year and one had a line and one didn't (3 guesses).

 

I lived in Somerville about 9 or so years ago in Union Square. I came home from surfing one evening and my cosin was there to greet me and show me our entire entertainment system was now a blank was and we had half of our shit robbed from the apt. We quickly moved out after as I lived with family, the doors were locked, and we still don't know how someone got in.

 

To clarify, I wasn't indicating that Somerville has only just become trendy but it has reached a momentum now that even the average suburbanite would consider going to the area. I went to Somerville when I was college aged back in the early 90's but there was little to draw someone in their 30's and 40's to the area up until the last 5 or 6 years. Now you've got places like Assembly Row where I could go with the whole family and then stop by Night Shift or other brewery.

I think there's a bunch of things that have come together to make these places very attractive to the 30's and 40's crowd, which you've also mentioned. The craft beer market has had tremendous growth over the last year in MA so the non BA crowd is starting to notice. I don't know a lot of people who drink Bud but I do know a lot of people in their 40's who grew up on craft but got stuck in the 1990 version of craft which was SA, Harpoon, etc.. My wife drinks mainly Blue Moon and SA Summer but when we went to Night Shift she realized that craft has moved ahead. I'm starting to see people in that demographic start to branch out again. Maybe its just the people I know which is highly likely I do agree its the CBC crowd which is becoming the mainstream drinker.

So to sum up I think we are mostly saying the same thing and its that the area has reached a tipping point in the last 6 months.

 

FWIW we are doing what we can to cut down on the lines - we don't like having them either. In the works is a second taproom deeper in the brewery, if we can get through the city. Hearing two weeks from today. Always just following Nightshift Rob's lead.

 

Related to the explosive popularity of taprooms, it looks like Lord Hobo is looking to open a brewpub in the Seaport

https://www.bostonglobe.com/lifesty...est-one-yet/pqMiN0xXTfURy3sItRYl2I/story.html

With Hopster's and Trillium announcing planning for taprooms in Fort Point, Harpoon's beer hall, City Tap just opened, a new CBC store, Row 34 being one of the top beer bars in the city, the Seaport has maybe gone a bit overboard with the beer things.

 

I'm starting to realize how old I am when every post about an area I start to think about how that area used to be dead, lol. I used to work near Fort Point across the street from South Station when you never ventured over to Fort Point because there really wasn't anything there. Hopefully I don't start yelling at kids to get off my front lawn...