Love for Ipswich Ale Brewery

Ipswich Oatmeal Stout gets lots of love from me & others here on the NE forums. Always on tap @ the Yardhouse locations, don't know where else consistently.

Personally, I also really like the Ale (& the IPA is passable) & would drink them more often if I saw them on tap, but I don't. I dunno...maybe they need a more pushy sales rep? I don't see Ipswich gaining tap lines @ douche-tastic beer bars, but they should certainly be on more @ suburban restos & other bars.

 

I too have wondered why Ipswich, a long-standing staple local beer brand, isn't on tap more often. I like all of their beers, some more than others of course, but with a few stellar ones. I hope that with the new brewery and soon to be onsite restaurant, that they give a little more TLC to the Ipswich brand. Mercury seems to have been giving a lot of attention to their client/contracted brands in recent years.

 

Ipswich Oatmeal Stout is my go to beer in that category. Already went through a couple six packs this past fall/winter. I purchased a mix pack last year that included the pale ale, IPA, brown ale and the stout. I found them all to be really enjoyable!

 

They have some very solid offerings, with the oatmeal stout being the best imo. I see oatmeal stout on tap quite often on tap at a couple places I frequent during the winter months. I've not over seen another on of their beers on tap anywhere. I would imagine it just has to do with how they have focused what is important to them wrt their business.

 

I typically go for a sixer of the Harvest and a sixer of the Winter when they become available, as well as the Oatmeal Stout throughout the colder months.

 

I love me some Ipswich. the oatmeal stout and original ale are my favorites.

we even rented their tap mobile for my brothers wedding rehearsal dinner. would love to see them have more of a presence in local bars.

 

My only complaint about Ipswich is that it can be hard to find their Oatmeal Stout in my local (Cambridge/Somerville) liquor stores. It's such a great beer, I'd love to see it pushed a bit more -- especially in the winter months.

That being said, while visiting relatives up in the northern 'burbs, I picked up their winter mixed 12-pack at Christmas and quite enjoyed the Rye Porter.

 

I'm especially a fan of the Oatmeal Stout, IPA and the Harvest Ale, among my favorite fall seasonals. I've only ever been able to find them on-tap sporadically at best, but until recently I was able to reliably pick up bottles at some of the bigger liquors stores in the Cambridge area. Lately, even that's been hard to do. Fortunately (for many reasons), a Craft Beer Cellar opened right around the corner from my office and I was able to pick up a six-pack of Harvest Ale this fall. But I'd definitely like to see them around town more often, both on-tap and in bottles. They make some great locally-brewed standby beers that would be a good addition/substitution to many tap lines.

 

I liked their 5 mile IPA a lot. Bukowksi Back Bay has their stuff on draft or cask often, certainly more than most places around.

 

I love that beer.

 

No mention of the Dark Ale yet? That's always been my favorite, well, behind Oatmeal of course.

 

Although I don't drink it much these days, Ipswich Ale got me into beer. My Dad gave me one on Easter a number of years ago and explained some of the nuances of good beer. I distinctly remember getting thirsty the day after and craving another brew. Ipswich Ale, or maybe the IPA, literally changed my palate and made me crave good brews from then on.

 

Ipswich used to be able to found here in the Roch. NY area also. I havent seen any in years..
Terrible shame I think.

 

Cambridge Wine and Spirits in Fresh Pond always has Oatmeal Stout in the cooler. Hope I don't regret saying that.

 

Hey all,
Thanks for the love!
I wish we were on draft more too. It's a tough market and only getting tougher. Now that we are finally in our new brewery we hope to refocus on our sales a bit more. We have been a bit distracted building the new brewery whilst trying to keep up with production demands for the last couple of years.
We also have added capacity so we shouldn't be bottle necked in the brew house. The new brew house has been cranking out great tasting brews since late September and we only got the new 12oz line up and running two weeks ago. You will notice the new 12ozers have a neck label. The new brew house is all steam which is making for a cleaner tasting brew, I'll be tweaking the recipes til we get them where they should be. Let me know what you think of them!
Hoping to add at least one new beer to the Ipswich line this year, probably something dry hopped with uber-american hops.
Thank you for supporting the Ipswich Brewery over the years, hope to see some of you here when we get the brewpub up and running this summer.

Dan Lipke
Head Brewer
Ipswich Ale Brewery

 

How about 12 packs of the oatmeal stout?

 

I think the Dark Ale is best, Followed by the Oatmeal Stout, but the IPA is pretty solid as well. I'd take their IPA over harpoon all day.

 

Speaking of local bars pouring Ipswich on draft...
It looks like the new Alden & Harlow restaurant (opening tonight in Harvard Square, in the old Casablanca space), will be pouring Ipswich Oatmeal Stout on draft. Scroll down and click on "Drinks" to see the full lineup:
http://aldenharlow.com/

Not sure if this will be featured regularly on the draft list, but it's a nice start.