Sam Adams or Harpoon Tour

The Harpoon tour is $5 and includes essentially unlimited samples for 15 minutes or so at the end of your tour. The facility itself is very nice and the tour was good, too. I also like the area around Harpoon. You're pretty close to Trillium too if you can swing a quick stop in there. And also in the same area is Row 34 to eat; great oysters and beer selection. The Sam Adams tour is a $2 minimum (asked) donation, and it was packed when we went. The facility there is not much to see as it's more of a small batch place. You got perhaps 3 samples (they passed around pitchers) of different beers.

Overall, I would vote for Harpoon to be honest.

 

This.

I would also add Fort Point Market to the list of places to visit if you have time. It is right next to Trillium and has a good selection of NE beers.

 

Never been on either tour. But I've been to harpoon and pretzels are seriously ridiculously good. It cannot be understated how good they are.

 

Harpoon. Tour of the actual brewing facility. Better tastings (Harpoon IPA from the brite tank, some one offs). The beer garden is decent too.

 

The only benefit of Sam would be walking over to Doyle's afterwards, which is as legit an Irish pub as exists in Boston.

 

Yep, agreed. That place is pretty good too for bottles. Picked up a nice little selection there.

 

Agreed. Fort Point Market + Trillium is probably the best beer on any block in MA.

 

I think its good to see Sam Adams and Harpoon at least once but Trillium's beers are much better. The Sam "tour" has been cut back to essentially going to a single room led by the tour guide and then into the drinking room where you sample typically the usual fair + 1 experimental beer. Harpoon was a much better tour if you care about the actual tour and the samplings were more varied and unlimited (within a 10 minute span). The large tap room has food and serves pints so Harpoon vs. Sam, Harpoon wins by quite a large margin. There's also more parking nearby than at Sam and its proximity to a large number of restaurants and Trillium makes it a no brainer.

 

Harpoon. The seaport/Fort Point/waterfront area of Boston is a great area.

 

Also, don't do what I've seen many times, which is: walk in the door at Trillium, see that it's the size of a postage stamp and that you can't drink there, and leave. However inconvenient it may be, do not miss out on their beer, particularly if you're into hoppy stuff.

Also, if you're in that area, it's probably easier/quicker to get to Night Shift in Everett than it is to get to Sam's in JP. I don't know what they do for tours but the beer is better and more interesting, they have a nice bar area and patio seating, and there's usually a good food truck there. I'd do that instead without thinking twice about it.

 

I've done this several times. Started at Trillium for some bottles and growler fills, then crossed the bridge to visit Mystic and Night Shift. Mystic is just off the bridge and on the way to Night Shift and shouldn't be missed. They have such great traditional and experimental beers.

I haven't been yet, but I hear the Slumbrew brewery is pretty easy to get to from Night Shift.

 

Aeronaut Brewing in Somerville is also a cool spot (5-10 drive from Night Shift and also closeby is a new distillery that just opened).....