Heading there tomorrow for a mini 5 day vaca, anything particularly beery I should be on the lookout for? Of course there's Bad Martha's and Offshore, we'll be in Edgartown so the former will obviously be in play. Last year when we went it was closed everytime we showed up. We hit Offshore on our way out and I dug it. Any restaurants/bars in Edgartown with good tap lists? Any tips appreciated, I don't know the the island too well. And we will have a car.
Since you are bringing a car over my recommendation would be to stop at a good bottle shop on the way and filll your cooler.
You think I'm a rookie? I'll fill the cooler up tonight since we're leaving at 6am tomorrow. Just looking for some inside scoop on anything not to miss on the island, knowing full well MV isn't exactly beer paradise.
You might be a rookie if you are leaving from CT at 0600 and filling up the cooler with beers you can get in CT when there are lots of great beers in MA that you cannot get! I can't speak to things that might be missed on the island, but at the very least on the way home load up on the stuff we can't get here. I brought back a selection of Backlash, Night Shift and Toppling Goliath this year.
I hear ya there, but I actually go through MA quite a bit so not really worried about stocking up this run with family in tow
Can't speak to any beer on the island outside of Bad Martha's but was there 2 weeks ago and really enjoyed the pizza we got nearby at Wolf's Den
I tried Bad Martha's Vineyard Ale a few years back. It's considered an Extra Special/ Strong Bitter ESB. A style I have not reviewed yet, going to have a revisit. I liked the flavor of grape leaves.
Yeah, it does seem like Bad Martha’s Ale is the default local beer on tap. It’s servicable but that’s about it. I’ll report back if I come across anything worth reporting on.
I had a beer (Maya Mae) from Wash Ashore on the Cape this week. Wash Ashore claims to be for Edgartown but doesn’t seem to be a brewery you can visit from my limited research. The beer was a decent IPA.
I don't have any beer recommendations beyond saying that we enjoyed going to Offshore, but as far as food goes I think the best restaurant on the island is Red Cat Kitchen in Oak Bluffs. Funky, rough around the edges, and awesome. The coolest bar was the Brick Cellar Bar at Atria. Amazing burgers and great cocktails. More of an upscale hipster vibe by way of a 20's speakeasy. Please report back if you find any good beer spots as we might be going back this fall. Enjoy!
And we're back.. unfortunately! Beer news: one thing I did learn was that this year two new distributors go the MV, Night Shift and Craft Beer Alliance(I might have that second name wrong). This obviously means a much better selection available. My observation is only of the one packy on the main drag in Edgartown, Rosewater, but they now have a beer cooler along the whole back wall stocked with craft beers, and a nice selection at that. I was able to grab some Aeronaught beers, Night Shift of course, Pseudo Sue, Green State Lager for the beach, etc. I'm sure the other liquor stores have similar better selections. Of course everything is a couple bucks more than you're used to spending, but it's MV pricing, which is what it is. I didn't see the same sort of increased variety at the restaurants though. The best crafts on taps where usually Allagash White, Harpoon IPA, Mad Marta Ale, that sort of stuff. At least where we went. The higher end restaurants obviously cater to their wine and cocktail menus, but as a family of five we stuck with more affordable venues. We never made it to Mad Martha's and we went to Offshore on the rainy Saturday and the wait was 1.5 hours. No thank you. We had a great time, explored some beaches we haven't been to (Long Point Wildlife Refuge beach, FTW) and had plenty of good beer in the cooler, all good.
I grew up on the Vineyard... It's not exactly a beer paradise. 20bynine in Oak Bluffs is a MUST STOP for food/whiskey/cocktails and also has a decent tap list. Coop de Ville is great for wings and beer on Oak Bluffs harbor -- they had some decent offerings a few weeks ago, I specifically remember Aeronaut and Radiant Pig. For Edgartown... Rockfish, the Port Hunter, and the Brick Cellar Bar have some decent food and should have some decent beer offerings. As someone mentioned previously, Maya Maye should be on a bunch of menus and is a solid IPA. For a packy -- I saw a bunch of Toppling Goliath (Pseudo Sue & King Sue) at Our Market in Oak Bluffs.
Just got back from the Vineyard, myself. Had an amazing time, but as others have said not the best place to find a good beer. The best beer lists I found were 20bynine, the Covington, Port Hunter, and of course Offshore Ales. I remember liking Offshore (the space, especially the small patio, and the beer) the only other time I was on the island 4 years ago, but I was pleased to find I liked the beer even more than I remembered. None of the other places I listed had extensive beer lists, but they all had at least a few good beers, with 20bynine probably the best among them. We also stopped at Bad Martha, which seemed more like a nice plant nursery and an extensive gift shop with a brewery tacked on. My brother-in-law and I split two samplers for a total of 8 of their beers, and found them all to be okay at best. Next time, I'll definitely skip Bad Martha and spend more time at Offshore. I had a can of the Maya Maye, which I saw has a map of the Cape and islands on it, but says it's brewed in Providence and Portland.
