Pioneer Brewing / Hyland Orchard & Brewery

July 20, 2006
Went to the brewery today and into their showroom. Sampled a couple of their offerings and picked up a growler of the double bock to go. The interior is a big room with a few tables and lots of numbered mugs behind the bar. I assume they have a mug club here. The beers were nice enough, but the place itself wasn’t what I was expecting. There is a small petting zoo and orchard there as well. Around the corner from Odl Sturbridge Village.

July 19, 2006
Swung by after shopping for a birthday gift for my wife at Sturbridge pottery. Looks like a farmhouse/barn from the outside. One big room with a couple of tables. Brewery is visible from the room. I was lucky to have one of the owners, Todd Sullivan, behind the bar this day. Gave me the history of the place and told me of his brewing experience. Sampled everthing that was on, had a couple pints of the organic IPA. All told they had available Pioneer IPA, Bavarian wheat, Doublebock and Hyland Stout, Amber, Pale & Farmhand. Also got a taste of the cider made there. I ended up watching the Red Sox with the owners and a couple regulars while Tim Daley, the other owner, was brewing. Made it alot of fun. Not that far from the 84 & 90 intersection, maybe 10 minutes. Would make a nice combo visit if you were going to Old Sturbridge village. 22 oz bottles of the Hyland and growlers of the Pioneer are available for purchase.

July 21, 2005
Located slightly off the beaten path. The room is large with picnic tables and some culinary gifts made by Baker Bill. In the back left hand corner there is a nice wooden bar with many ceramic "mug club" steins on the wall. There are 4 beers on tap, and only 2 of those 4 were in bottles at the time. (The rest were found at Yankee Spirits). The beers there were decent and pints cost $3. They also served samples of their bottled cider and had that for sale in 1L swing top clear glass bottles. The service was nice and quaint. Definitely worth going the extra mile if you’re at the 84/Mass Tpke intersection.