Visiting Boston!

Reads 2345 • Replies 33 • Started Monday, March 23, 2015 9:54:43 AM CT

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Message Harrison_gord beers 2 º 09:54 Mon 3/23/2015 Hey guys, my girlfriend and I are planning a road trip to Boston for mid-May. Planned on hitting up Treehouse, Night shift and Trillium. Could use some advice on other breweries and a couple craft beer oriented bars. We are coming from Toronto,and we’ll have some good stuff from Bellwoods and Great Lakes (not Ohio Great Lakes) if anyone is interested in making an IP trade. Thanks for the help!
Message JK beers 7296 º places 442 º 10:47 Mon 3/23/2015 I was surprised by the lack of breweries in Boston. Harpoon was a nice place and a lot of fun. Have you looked at the places section?
Message Leighton P beers 33716 º places 1204 º 10:55 Mon 3/23/2015 FYI, Tree House is waaay beyond what would be considered metro Boston. Depending on traffic, that would be about 1.5 hours driving (each way) from central Boston. And their hours are somewhat limited, so make sure they’re open if you’re traveling out there. Jack’s Abby is much closer to Boston and they have a decent taproom. Trillium doesn’t have a taproom - they just sell beer to go - and the lines can be pretty bad there. They also don’t typically even offer samples. So be prepared for that. But of course, their beer is phenomenal. Night Shift has an excellent taproom. They usually have about 10+ beers on tap plus a few in bottle. And they have a large space so it’s pretty comfortable. Cambridge Brewing Co. is a solid brewpub. Worth checking out. Harpoon has a massive taproom. It’s right around the corner from Trillium so you could do both in an afternoon. For Bars, I think Lord Hobo is tops. You’ve also got Redbones, which is decent.
Message Harrison_gord beers 2 º 11:00 Mon 3/23/2015 Thanks Leighton! We will be driving past Treehouse on the way so it’s proximity to Boston isn’t really a problem.

Message Leighton P beers 33716 º places 1204 º 11:02 Mon 3/23/2015 Originally posted by Harrison_gord Thanks Leighton! We will be driving past Treehouse on the way so it’s proximity to Boston isn’t really a problem. Then it would be worth the detour off the Mass Pike. Tree House make great beers.
Message mkgrenwel beers 619 º places 117 º 11:07 Mon 3/23/2015 Originally posted by JK I was surprised by the lack of breweries in Boston. Harpoon was a nice place and a lot of fun. Have you looked at the places section? Curious when you last visited? Boston proper doesn’t have much (probably for real estate value reasons) but, in addition to Trillium, the surrounding metro area has added a ton of breweries lately. Jack’s Abby, Night Shift, Idle Hands, Enlightenment, Mystic, Aeronaut, Bantam (cider).
Message Reynolds314 beers 3472 º places 41 º 11:14 Mon 3/23/2015 Also if youre going to Night Shift then I highly recommend hitting up Enlightenment Ales. They are in the same taproom (basically a closet with a bar in it) as Idle Hands but the beers are worth a try. The building is a complete dump and makes you feel like youre going to catch something and/or get attacked by rats but its a good place to try roughly 8-10 idle hands and enlightenment beers. Wormtown just also opened a nice little taproom in Worcester that is really worth a stop if youre coming that way on the pike its easy on easy off 291.
Message JK beers 7296 º places 442 º 11:39 Mon 3/23/2015 Originally posted by mkgrenwel Originally posted by JK I was surprised by the lack of breweries in Boston. Harpoon was a nice place and a lot of fun. Have you looked at the places section? Curious when you last visited? Boston proper doesn’t have much (probably for real estate value reasons) but, in addition to Trillium, the surrounding metro area has added a ton of breweries lately. Jack’s Abby, Night Shift, Idle Hands, Enlightenment, Mystic, Aeronaut, Bantam (cider). Just last summer. I just thought there would be more because the city is big and just seems like a place tht would support good beet like mpls or denver.

Message Harrison_gord beers 2 º 11:40 Mon 3/23/2015 I’ll be sure to check that out. Going to try to score a couple Be Hoppy cans.
Message mkgrenwel beers 619 º places 117 º 11:55 Mon 3/23/2015 Originally posted by JK Originally posted by mkgrenwel Originally posted by JK I was surprised by the lack of breweries in Boston. Harpoon was a nice place and a lot of fun. Have you looked at the places section? Curious when you last visited? Boston proper doesn’t have much (probably for real estate value reasons) but, in addition to Trillium, the surrounding metro area has added a ton of breweries lately. Jack’s Abby, Night Shift, Idle Hands, Enlightenment, Mystic, Aeronaut, Bantam (cider). Just last summer. I just thought there would be more because the city is big and just seems like a place tht would support good beet like mpls or denver. Yeah, I do know what you mean. Before Trillium, it was downright pathetic. Sam Adams (really just a figurehead facility at this point, they basically produce nothing), Harpoon (a fine regional mid-major, but nothing cutting edge), Boston Beer Works chain (embarrassing) and a Rock Bottom and that was IT. Of course, Cambridge Brewing Co has always been right across the river, and as much a part of the urban core as anything, but technically not in Boston. As I said it’s changed a good bit recently, but Boston has definitely been slow to come around. I think the market has always been there, but the brewers haven’t, and I don’t know why. In general, the east coast has been far behind the west and midwest in terms of sheer volume of breweries, particularly in the major cities. Boston, NYC, Philly, Baltimore and DC all had virtually nothing up until maybe 5 years ago. They’re playing catch up, but it’s taking time. I will contend that there has always been world class beer here, but we never had the micro/brewpub takeover that’s happened elsewhere.
Message mdg164 11:57 Mon 3/23/2015 Take in a game at Fenway, and go to Boston Beer works before hand. There is no better way to spend a night in Boston. The tours at Sam Adams and Harpoon are fun. If you are driving, spend the night in Waterbury, VT... you will not be disappointed.