Beers in Boston

Harpoon Brewery Tour

Parker — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 01:52:24 +0000

Welcome to Harpoon Boston!

Living in South Boston has many advantages. There’s the beaches, the close proximity to Downtown Boston and the waterfront, among others. All of that is great, but I have to say the hands-down best thing about living in South Boston is Harpoon Brewery.

Many Bostonians are familiar with the various Harpoon Festivals throughout the year, such as the October and Harpoon St. Patrick’s day Festivals, but few are aware of what else goes on at 306 Northern Avenue in South Boston. Here, Harpoon hosts many exclusive “friends of Harpoon” tasting events, beer dinners and brewery tours.

The Harpoon Brewery Tour is hands-down the best brewery tour that I have ever been on. Period. Sorry Sam Adams, Shipyard and Redhook, Harpoon has outdone you all.

Beer holder. Mmm.

What makes the Harpoon Brewery Tour so great? No, it’s not the 25-minute open bar at the end of the tour (that helps), but it’s the overall package. The tour starts out like any other, with every other tour guide yelling his tired and rehearsed jokes loud enough so all of the eager out-of-towners in the group can hear. He shows you the goods, all of the storage containers and then talks about hops, malts, barley, WORT and blah, blah, blah.

What makes this tour so special is that the tour guides (two of them switch off) actually like what they are doing. All too often brewery tours are hosted by no-personality robots who act as if they are performing a chore rather than a hobby. At Harpoon, the guides are enthusiastic enough without being annoying or fake, productive enough to ensure that the tour lasts 20-25 min (before tasting) and doesn’t bore the regulars and most importantly, they are unpretentious and real enough where you don’t feel “stupid” when asking a question about unfiltering, UFO beers and so on.

"Green" IPA

Speaking of unfiltered beers, another one of the highlights of the Harpoon Brewery Tour has to do with an unfiltered beer that is not part of Harpoon’s UFO line – the IPA. Yes, Harpoon’s flagship beer, the Harpoon IPA is sampled during the tour as a “green” beer. No, this isn’t their attempt at a Peak Organic IPA, this is Harpoon IPA before filtering, straight from the source in it’s fermentation stage.

This was definitely one of the highlights of the tour, but not the last. A walk through the brewery past cases upon cases of Harpoon, ready to be distributed led into a explanation of the Brewery’s history, and being granted the brewers license #001 in Massachusetts, and battling neck and neck with Magic Hat as New England’s #1 and #2 brewer (Sam Adams doesn’t brew in Boston). Great stories overall, which actually kept you entertained the whole time through.

Beer Tasting and Gift Shop

This leads us to the end of the tour, about 20-25 minutes, as promised, after the tour began. As you can imagine, the ending has us in a tasting room. The Harpoon Brewery tasting room is actually a small bar in the middle of it’s gift shop. With two bartenders behind the bar and a brief introduction of all the beer on tap (about 6 including 100 barrel series and Leviathan), our 2 ounce glasses are continuously attended to.

After the tasting is over (about 20 minutes long), you have a great understanding of Harpoon’s beers and a great glow to go along with it. This is great marketing on Harpoon’s part, as you are then released into the gift shop feeling as happy as ever.

Growler Koozies

If you do end up spending money after the Harpoon Brewery Tour, be sure to splurge on a growler and a growler koozie to go along with it. Simply brilliant, and perfect for a afternoon trek back to Southie.

Harpoon Brewery Tour Information:

Saturday – 11:30-5pm (every half-hour)

Sunday – 12-3pm (on the hour)

For more information visit harpoonbrewery.com

Hophead Throwdown at The Publick House & Monk’s Cell in Brookline

Parker — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 10:54:59 +0000

If hops are your thing, as they should be, you should be at The Publick House, Saturday, July 31th, for Hophead Throwdown.

For more information visit http://www.eatgoodfooddrinkbetterbeer.com

Narragansett Introduces Limited-Edition Tallboy Can

Parker — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 01:05:24 +0000

Beer of the Clam

Like it or love it, New England’s Narragansett Beer, the official “Beer of the Clam,” is ready to toast off the summer season with the release of a new, limited-edition Tallboy can and a bunch of events to toast to at some of the region’s top seafood joints and clam shacks. The events will feature specialty menus, entertainment, contests, promotions, and of course, plenty of Narragansett!

For full schedule of events, ticket pricing and availability, please visit: http://www.narragansettbeer.com/events

Dogfish Head Beer Tasting at Morton’s Seaport

Parker — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 02:49:42 +0000

Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA

Morton’s Steakhouse welcomes Boston beer lovers and BeersInBoston to sample offerings from Dogfish Head Craft Brewery, out of Milton, Delaware. You will enjoy the following four craft Dogfish Head beers at Morton’s The Steakhouse Seaport location:

Midas Touch IPA – a Turkish recipe for the oldest known fermented beverage in the world
Raison – a Belgian style ale brewed with beet sugars and raisins
90 Minute – dubbed the “Best IPA in America” by Esquire
Palo – an aged brown ale with caramel and vanilla notes derived from handcrafted wooden brewing vessels

Each beer will be paired with a selection of outstanding fine cheeses, including aged Wisconsin parmesan, cubbedu moderately aged sheep’s milk cheese, wild horseradish cheddar and smoked gorgonzola. Beers and cheese will also be served alongside signature Morton’s hors d’oeuvres.

The Dogfish Head beer tasting will be held on Wednesday, July 21, 2010 front 6-7:30pm.

$45 per guest, inclusive of tax and gratuity

Morton’s The Steakhouse will donate $5 to the Make-A-Wish Foundation for every event ticket purchased.

Reservations are required. Call 617-526-0410 to reserve your spot as space is limited.

Morton’s The Steakhouse is located at 2 Seaport Lane in Boston, MA

Yankee Homecoming Brewfest

Parker — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 00:32:50 +0000

After a year off, Newbury will host it’s annual brewfest as part of Yankee Homecoming. If you haven’t checked out a Yankee Homecoming event before, this is the year to go. Yankee Homecoming is a yearly festival on the Newburyport waterfront which features live music, parades, food, etc, etc. All of the good stuff for the whole family.

At July 24th at 4pm and lasting through 9pm, the Yankee Homecoming Brewfest will feature over 30 craft beers room local breweries and live music from the band Ol Brown Shoe.

This will be my first Yankee Homecoming Brewfest.. very excited about it. Newburyport is one of my favorite cities in the state, sure to be a good time!

First Annual Amesbury Brewfest

Parker — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 00:17:58 +0000

On July 2nd from 5-8pm, Amesbury will host its first annual brewfest entitled “Amesbrewery Days International Craft Brewers Festival.” I’m sure the actual brewfest will be better than it’s name.

This event will be held at the Amesbury Mass Town Hall parking lot next to Maggie Sundae. The brewfest will cost $25, but the moeny will go directly to the 2011 Amesbury Days Festival and Fireworks display. Not sure what that means… Beerfest!!!

For more information go to www.amesburydays.com

American Craft Beerfest 2010

Parker — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 01:26:41 +0000

Mid June is my favorite time of year in Boston. No, not because the temps break 70 for the first time all year, but because the best of American Craft Beer assembles at the Seaport Hotel.

2010 marked the third year of the American Craft Beer Fest, and again it did not disappoint. I found the lines to be somewhat long this time around, as the word seems to have gotten out amongst the city. Not like 2008 or 2009 had poor attendance, but some of the lines this year were ridiculous. Dogfishead and Pretty Things led the way with lines backed up to the bathrooms, while others such as Harpoon watched from near-empty booths.

Beeradvocate, you did a great job. Please, please host your other yearly events at the Seaport – The Cyclorama events seem to fall very short after this event.

Beer Summit at the Park Plaza Castle

Chris — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 01:33:15 +0000

This year's Beer Summit will be held on April 16 & 17th, 2010 at the Park Plaza Castle in Boston, MA. Tickets are going fast, but there are still two sessions to choose from – both with over 50+ brewers bringing 200+ beers:

Berkshire Brewing
Binding Brauerie
Blue Hills Brewing
Boston Beer
Boulder Beer
Brooklyn Brewery
Brouwerij Affligem
Cape Ann
Cape Cod Beer
Cisco
Clipper City
Cody Brewing
Element Brewing
Eurobrews
Franziskaner
Frosty Knuckle
Gardner Ale House
Geary's, Gritty's
Harpoon
Haverhill Brewing/The Tap
High & Mighty
Innis & Gunn

For more information, and to purchase tickets, please visit http://www.beersummit.com/

Central Maine Brewfest

Chris — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 01:13:33 +0000

The Central Maine Brewfest will be held at the Augusta Civic Center, Saturday afternoon on April 17, 2010. There will be two shows, the first starting at 2-5 pm and the second at 7:30-10:30 pm.

If you live in the Southern Maine area, this is a must-attend event. There will be samples from all of Maine's best micro-breweries.

2010 Participating Brewers of the Central Maine Brewfest:

Allagash Brewing
Andrew's Brewing
Atlantic Brewing
Belfast Bay Brewing
Casco Bay Brewing
Geary's Brewing
Gritty McDuff's Brewing
Kennebec River Brewery
Liberal Cup
Oak Pond Brewery
Peak Organic
Penobscot Bay Brewery
Sea Dog Brewing
Sebago Brewing
Sheepscot Brewing
Shipyard Brewing
Kennebec Home Brew Supplies

Tickets will be $25. For more information, visit https://www.centralmainebrews.com/

Pretty Things Beer and Ale Project

Chris — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 02:58:54 +0000

Dann Paquette, and the others behind Pretty things beer and Ale Project are gypsys of sort – they no brewing home, but instead rent breweries and do what they do, which is produce original, unique microbrews. Dann Paquette, founder of the company, has been brewing beer from last 18 years in England and Europe. He and his wife Martha draw the outstanding artwork for the bottles, formulate the beer, also think up for interesting name such as the Jack D'OR, Baby tree, ST Botolph's Town, Babayaga and American Darling.

You can find Pretty Things in Cambridge and Boston Massachusetts as well as NYC and Philadelphia. Look out for these guys – big things to come. Stay pretty and drink real beer with Pretty Things!