Visting Boston Area Breweries

lol Sam Adams lol

 

Harpoon beer hall is a good time and they have small test batch barrels and the best pretzels. British Beer Co in Foxboro doesn't have a huge selection but it's a good atmosphere and it's right around the corner from the stadium

 

In all seriousness, I'd love to hit Harpoon some day. Let me live vicariously through you during training camp.

 

Harpoon--meh! (Unless you'd like a growler of Leviathan). Trillium, NightShift and Mystic have limited hours. CBC, Idle Hands, Mayflower (Plymouth) and--of course--Jack's Abby (Framingham). Checking around, I see The Brothers are making the same suggestions. There is also a BA post on the subject (somewhere buried under Beer Cities... I've come across it previously, but can't think where to look now). Consider the commercial tour. Also, a bit further away (but on the way if you're driving, depending on where you start): Wachusett, Berkshire. I have no idea if Enlightenment Ales, Slumbrew (Sommerville), Pretty Things do tours. Ipswich/Mercury also makes Notch, Brash and Clown Shoes, so I have no idea what their policies are, but it's worth checking with them. I would not recommend BeerWorks (Boston, Salem, Lowell, Framingham) and John Harvard has fairly limited appeal, but brewpubs in Cambridge (at Kendall Square) and Waltham (Watch City) might be worth a trip. Plus, if you're driving, there's always Connecticut.

For stores, you might want to hit up three, depending on time/transportation -- Julio's (Westborough, might be a good tie in with Jacks Abby), BinEnds (Braintree--plus you can hit Granite Liquors nearby in Weymouth) and Craft Beer Cellars (Belmont). There are also some interesting stores in the city, in Charlestown/Sommerville, in Southie and a few other places, but I'll let someone else point to those. Granite and BinEnds are not far from each other.

 

As stated above, Night Shift and Mystic are worth going to. If you go to Night Shift, you can also go to Idle Hands, which is literally next door. BTW the Sam Adams brewery is pretty entertaining for what its worth and it tastes 100xs better from the brewery than out of the bottle/tap,(don't know if it is still the case, but you used to get a free trolley ride to a bar and one of their new-fangled glasses if you buy a beer at that bar.)

 

Just so you know, Foxboro is about 45 minutes south of Boston...not exactly in the same neighborhood.

 

I live 15min from stadium in Norton. We have a small brewery in town Bog Iron. Not sure if they got ok'd to serve samples out of the tasting room yet but they do growler fills. Beer is solid, not mind blowing, just good and fresh. Definitely worth a visit. How far you looking to venture? Right at stadium is CBS Scene and Bar Louie they have good tap lists. Also Tavolinos usually has Clown shoes on tap. Away from stadium not too far is Jake and Joes they have Be Hoppy on tap. Jimmy's in Mansfield is a sleeper of a place good food and great taps.

Need more specific info let me know.

 

I know there is a brewery in Berkley, MA not sure how they are for tasting, tours, growlers

 

I don't believe Ipswich has tours. There are a bunch of good beers coming out of there though. Also, Pretty Things/Cisco/Buzzards Bay is the same I think.

Night Shift and Idle hands are both great and are happy to show you around for an informal tour. NS is open most evenings and Saturday afternoons. Idle Hands is on open on Thursday evening and Saturday afternoon. If you go, Mystic is just a 5 minute drive away with a more refined taproom, but no tour. All three are generous with their samples though.


OP, if you are coming from upstate NY along I-90, you might want to stop at Treehouse in Brimfield also.

 

The beer selection at Bar Louie is abysmal (http://www.barlouieamerica.com/locations/foxboro/menu/drink/louies-brews.aspx). Surprisingly, however, CBS Scene seems to have stepped their game up quite a bit since the last time I was there

 

Yeah....Skip Bar Louie....decent beers for a chain, but nothing special or exceedingly local. Jimmy's is definitely a good place especially if you get lucky when they have some really special stuff.

 

Also, there are a couple of places in RI. Foolproof in Pawtucket has tours and is less than 30 minutes from Gillette. (http://www.foolproofbrewing.com/visit). Trinity Brewhouse is a decent brewpub in Providence. Revival Brewing is also in Providence. I'm not sure if they do tours or taproom.

 

I admit last time I went to Bar Louie was a year ago and tap list was on decline but still could still find something decent. I think had had a couple double bags. CBS Scene has stepped it up the most. Hoponious and Loose Cannon were my choices 2 weeks ago.

Jimmy's is a cool little place I have had double jack there plus they have been know to have MBC Lunch. Usually it's gone with in hours

 

Three barrel nano brewer really in farm country. No tours according to their website.

As others have said, Foxboro is not truly near Boston. OP...don't underestimate your travel time to some of the fine places mentioned. Things seem closer than they are, especially if you have to fight all those impatient MA drivers... also suggest verifying tours ndtimes too so you can make the most of your visit. If you haven't insisted the area, Mayflower might be a good take. Plymouth is an ok place for a family day. Touristy, but still ok and still an hour or so outta Foxboro.

 

22 oz Flower Powers & Jack's Abby Hoponius for $7.75 at CBS Scene tasted great on a sweltering afternoon a few weeks ago- selection was nice. Had SN Torpedo on draft at Bar Louie prior to a Pats game last fall.

Branch of the British Beer Company chain is 5 mins up Route 1...good beer selection but horrible food.

 

43 taps isn't a huge beer selection?

 

Really? I way back when I used to live in Mansfield and spent a shameful amount of money there - back then Smithwick's was the special craft beer. Glad to hear they've stepped it up. Is the owner George still overly impressed with himself?

 

I hear the new beer hall is really nice, good pretzels and I really enjoy Rich and Dan's Rye IPA. A good place to end a brewery tour of Night Shift, Mystic and Trillium.

They do not, Slumbrew contracts out of Ipswich. Pretty Things brews out of Buzzards Bay Brewing in Westport, no tour.

Also no tours

Skip Watch City


If you are taking the Pike in and traveling on Saturday check out http://treehousebrew.com/, they are open Saturday from 11am to 6pm.

Also if you just want to hit up a bottle shop, Julio's Liquors in Westborough is not that far off the Pike. And as other have said Connecticut has a lot to offer.