Visiting Boston, Need help!

I concur with all of that.

 

Depending where in NY you are coming from, Tree House may be doable on the way to Boston. I don't think Sam Adams is worth a visit. I'd put Night Shift on the list probably.

 

I would add Night Shift, Mystic, Enlightenment/Idle Hands (all very close to each other in Everett/Chelsea), and Aeronaught and Slumbrew just opened a new tap room (both in Somerville) to your list as well.

 

The Cambridge Brewing Company is hosting their 26th anniversary party on Saturday, May 2nd. No list has been announced but I don't doubt they will have some amazing beers on tap. Their sours and barrel aged barley wines are stellar. - http://cambridgebrewingcompany.com/cbcs-26th-anniversary-5215/

 

My thoughts below, can give you more specific suggestions if you let us know where you're staying.

Breweries
Jacks Abby - for sure! [I concur!]
Trillium/Row 34 - [Definitely get bottles at Trillium; Row 34 is literally right next door, so worth popping in for a beer and maybe food]
Tree house? Seems kind of far... [It is, but I defer to others who know the drive better]
Cambridge Brewery - Never heard of them but was suggested [Delicious and insanely good value]
Harpoon? - Never been [Cool beer hall, great pretzel. But they serve Harpoon beers...]
Sam Adams? - Never been [Pass]

Bars
Lord Hobo? [Great spot]
Lower Depths? [Pass]
Meadhall? [Never been]
Publick House? [Good spot, haven't' been in a while]
Bukowski Tavern? [Pass]

 

if you're going to Jack's Abby, Wormtown really isn't that much farther.

 

Second the Chelsea/Everett triangle of Nightshift/Mystic/Idle Hands/Slumbrew. Couldn't be closer together and you'd be very hard pressed to not find at least a couple of beers worth the trip at each of them.

If you go to Trillium/Row 34 (and you should!) I really think Harpoon is worth a visit since it's so close by. It's easy to take their stuff for granted, but they're reliably solid and there will be at least a handful of brewery-only/experimental things on tap. Combine that with the proximity to Trillium, the history and the fantastic space and you can't go too wrong.

Oh, and Cambridge Brewery is awesome as long as you don't go there looking for a Vermont-style hop fix. Leave that to Trillium and Treehouse. Cambridge will deliver on other fronts.

 

I've read that Sam Adams has a great tour any of you guys ever take it?

 

Eh, it's alright but not great. I went years ago when a friend was visiting from out of town. Do you like Sam Adams' beer? If so, it's fun in the same way all brewery tours are.

 

If it's a weekend, don't bother, it's quite crowded. I enjoyed it on a weekday two years ago and drank a lot of beer since it was a smaller group. But it's a pain to get to from downtown, Harpoon is more convenient and has a cool beer hall to hang in before/after.

 

And for bars, Deep Ellum is my favorite of the Boston area beer bars. But again, there isn't much of a reason to be in Allston as a tourist unless you're going there or to one of the cool restaurants in the area. Not convenient to anything though.

 

Lulu's in Allston is worth a trip. They have tap takeovers pretty regularly and they are almost always good ones. Founders, Avery, etc.

 

Do they have a full liquor license yet? My wife refuses to go and drink light whiskey.

 

OMG everything outside of 495 is soooooooo far away.

 

It is a solid tour for the newbies or people who want to see the copper kettles from the commercial.

The ugly: Parking is almost impossible
The bad it Sells out early on Saturdays.
The good: newbies love the hands on touching hops, tasting malt, good tour guides, and sampling 3 different SA beers: lager, a shelf beer, and some brewery only beer.

Recommend for friends and family coming from out of town.

 

Cool, thanks for the input, I'm there for two days, thinking of skipping it and just hitting up trillium, nightshift, harpoon etc. Hate to do this here but best place for clam chowder?

 

Chowder will bring grown men to fight bare knuckled in the streets of South Boston. Tread carefully.

 

Ideas for chowder (but each place really is different):

Row 34. Next door to Trillium.

B&G Oyster. Uber.

Neptune Oyster. Uber. Very small. In the North End so you can get some cannoli or lobster tails (the pastry, not the crustacean, afterwards).

Legal (I'd say probably go to Legal Harborside rather than the other ones. Walkable distance from Trillium or Harpoon. Nice view during warm or sunny weather).

 

^ So much this for SA. The tasting at the end is usually anti-climatic since they build up getting you beer so much and then your table gets a pitcher (to split) of Boston Lager, the seasonal, and probably Brick Red. Brick Red is on-tap in Boston area only, and is good, but you can find it if you're out in the area and want it. Or at least that how's it been on my 4 or 5 tours there. If they gave you more options for samples or poured stuff like KMF, Noble Pils, or the Barrell Room beers I'd recommend this higher.

The Harpoon tour on the other hand I like. Nice walk through the brewery facilities (with beer in hand) and then a good choice of taps at the end that mixes "shelf" and more specialized beers. Haven't been to the new beer hall yet but here it's pretty cool.