You can get entrees as well, including fish and chips, a fisherman’s stew, and shepherd’s pie with lamb. The items tried over the course of a couple of visits were very impressive for a brewery, with the beef barley soup having loads of barley and almost being a meal on its own.
FLORIDA DAZE: BEER-WISE, THIS IS WHAT WARM WEATHER TASTES LIKE
The list of local winners in the Tampa Bay market is long, with Jai Alai by Cigar City Brewing, which is distributed quite widely around Boston these days, right near the top.
BOSTON BETTER BEER BUREAU: SUPER SMASH GOSE
Smash by the Virginia-based Commonwealth Brewing Company is a pink grapefruit, lime, and guava gose ale. Which happens to come in a ravishing can.
BOSTON BETTER BEER BUREAU: CONEHEAD IPA
It’s as simple as it’s perfect, and as a result easy to drink in large quantities—not in the same sense that makes Silver Bullets preferable for pounding, but rather in a way that the precision-focused Citra hops and light complexion make for something that won’t interrupt your dinner should your friend show up late and you end up sipping a few Coneheads before mealtime.
BOSTON BETTER BEER BUREAU: NIGHT SHIFT CROP CIRCLES
The most impressive thing about this beer may actually be what it is not: Not too pretentious, nor too light, hazy, or sweet, it’s balanced magic in a goddamn can.
DRINK A PEACH: BEHOLD THE MIGHTY SQUIRREL’S PERFECT FRUIT CONCOCTION
Enter the holy Mighty Squirrel and its perfectly mellow Peach Smoovy IPA. Somehow even better than the Waltham brewery’s signature Cloud Candy, it’s the most delicious piece of pie I’ve sipped in quite a while.
BOSTON BETTER BEER BUREAU: SIN AND SASS IN WESTERN MASS
There are far too many breweries and destinations to name in a column (or a book, for that matter), but an obvious starting point is Fort Hill Brewery in Easthampton
BOSTON BETTER BEER BUREAU: BAD DECISION JUICE
What’s important is that Bad Decision, despite clocking in at a mere 4.7 percent ABV, does a dangerous enough dance on your tastebuds to remain sexy.
MYSTIC BREWERY: TROPICAL MAGIC, WEEKLY RELEASES, AND TABLE BEERS IN CHELSEA
If you’re a beer nerd in the Greater Boston region, then you may have made a pilgrimage to Mystic Brewing on a Friday afternoon or evening. The place can get quite nuts …
DRINKING IN THE RAIN: MEET THE GUY WHO MAKES THOSE UMBRELLAS WITH THE BEER TAP HANDLES
“I made a couple of prototypes with taps from MGD and Wachusett when I was figuring out the design. The one that I used when I finally had a fully working umbrella design was a tap from Goose Island.”
