Boston, MA

Boston can get a bad rap for its weather and aggressive locals, but it’s a cool city to spend a few days in!

Boston Tips: 

• Expect terrible driving. Parking is bad. Drivers are bad. Lanes end with no warning. I’d avoid having a car if you’re staying in the city center.

• I would not recommend going in the winter unless you really enjoy the snow and cold—Boston gets slammed with winter storms.

• Be sure to venture into Cambridge and out to Cape Cod while in the area as well!

Adventures & Ales Top Recommendations:

• Tree House Brewing Company: A stellar brewery with 5 locations (one is on the beach and one is at a golf course!). They have some funky rules about how many pours you can get and ordering to-go beer, so be sure to check out their website for each taproom’s policies before visiting.

  • Sandwich: A beautiful spot on Cape Cod at the beach! Dog friendly outside, and they serve delicious pizzas and lobster rolls.

  • Carlton: The OG location is a massive, beautiful campus. They run like a well-oiled machine. Dog friendly inside and out, pizzas sometimes available.

  • Deerfield: This is a converted industrial building that they made into an epic taproom. They have a plant-filled interior and a spacious outdoor area. Dog-friendly outside, pizzas available.

• Trillium Brewing: Trillium is consistently one of the best breweries in the country and you absolutely must try their beers while in Boston! Trillium has four locations in the area: Fort Point, Fenway, Canton, and on the Greenway!

  • Trillium Fort Point: This location has a large tap list, a rooftop bar, a full food menu, and a nice outdoor patio. Highly recommend checking out this location!

  • Trillium Fenway: A smaller tap list and a small taproom, but the outdoor space is nice. This location is right next to Time Out Market which has a bunch of different food options.

  • Trillium Canton: Their newest space is a bit further outside of the city center. Full food menu, gorgeous, spacious taproom, and a huge outdoor area.

    • Pro-tip: The Homewood Suites in Canton is a 3 minute walk from this Trillium location!

  • Trillium on the Greenway: A seasonal taproom located right on the Rose Kennedy Greenway!

• Fenway Beer Shop: A bottle shop close to Fenway Park with a really good selection of cans and bottles. Highly recommend!

• Mike’s Pastry: Touristy but worth it. Cannolis are not usually my favorite but I loveeeeee Mike’s. The peanut butter chocolate is clearly the best. Cash only!

• Rose Kennedy Greenway: A fun outdoor space in the heart of the city. The city’s best food trucks park here for lunch time—get on it! Trillium Brewing also has a location on the greenway!

• Tatte Bakery & Cafe: This fantastic bakery has numerous locations throughout the Boston area for you to try their delicious baked goods. I recommend going to the location near the Boston Commons and taking a stroll with your coffee/snack!

• Vitamin Sea Brewing: A solid brewery in Weymouth specializing in IPAs. It is a nice little spot with good vibes. They also have a location in Plymouth.

  • Barrel House Z is across the street

• Sam Adam’s Brewing: Super touristy of course, but at least they have brewery-only releases to try when you visit! They have a nice outdoor space as well.

• Night Shift Brewing: They have several taprooms throughout town, so we checked out the Love Joy Wharf location. It is right on the water and they are a solid brewery.

• The Lawn on D: This is basically an adult playground with games, swings, alcohol, dogs, and more.

• Harpoon Brewery: This massive brewery is definitely worth a stop. Be sure to get a pretzel.

Trillium Brewing

touristy things in boston that are worth doing:

• Fenway Park: You gotta do it! It’s such a cool little stadium. Even the cheapest seats have a great view because everything is compact.

  • Bleacher Bar is a great place to pre-game with lots of craft beer options right across from the stadium

• Newbury Street: Wander the shops & admire the brownstones!

• Boston Public Garden & Boston Commons: The swan boats are iconic and the park is gorgeous!

• Wander North End: This neighborhood is full of fantastic Italian restaurants! For something casual grab sandwiches from Pauli’s and enjoy them on the waterfront of the Boston Harbor at Langone Park with Mike’s Pastry!

• Boston Public Market: A great food hall with lots of options. Makes for a great stop for lunch!

• Explore Cape Cod: A fun spot to spend a day or two! Expect road delays.

  • Provincetown: A cute little town at the end of the cape full of shopping, restaurants, ice cream shops, and more. Be sure to stop at The Canteen, a self-proclaimed “Provincetown institution.” This restaurant and bar has a great patio on the water. The food is tasty but nothing too special and they have a solid beer selection. Their raw bar is weekends only.

  • Sandwich: This town is at the start of the cape and home to one of Tree House Brewing Company’s taprooms. It is located right on the water with gorgeous views and a beautiful interior. They have delicious and massive pizzas + lobster rolls. In addition to their incredible beer they have craft cocktails in the airstream outside.

  • Cape Cod National Seashore: Check out Highland Lighthouse and Coast Guard Beach!

Fenway

Cambridge & Somerville Recommendations:​​

• Explore Harvard of course! Here is a self-guided walking tour!

• Lamplighter Brewing: A fun brewery with yummy beers and a small food menu.

• Remnant Brewing: A great brewery in Somerville located in Bow Market. Really good beers and several other food/drink options in the market plaza as well.

• Aeronaut Brewing: Another brewery in Somerville with good beers, a huge patio, and chill vibes.

• Simon’s Coffee Shop: A cute and homey coffee shop with killer breakfast sandwiches!

• Kendall Square Roof Garden: A cute garden with a nice view.

• Cambridge Brewing Co.: Personally my favorite part was that they have different mini-glasses for flights for each type of beer! A fun spot with food as well.

• The Sinclair: A great spot for brunch in Harvard Square. Sit on the rooftop if the weather is nice!

July 2021

Y’all. July was insane. I visited Columbia South Carolina, Portland Oregon, Hood River Oregon, part of the Oregon Coast, Bend Oregon, Seattle Washington, Boston Massachusetts, Portland Maine, Bar Harbor Maine, and had some killer beers at home in Charlotte in-between. Trying to narrow down this list of my top beers in July was ridiculously difficult after visiting 65(!) new breweries in July, a few of which are some of the top breweries in the country. Check out my top beers in July below:

Everything from Great Notion Brewing in Portland, OR

Hi it’s me, already cheating for choice number one. It is impossible for me to pick one favorite beer from Great Notion that I had—I visited two of their taprooms and had a flight at each, so I had 10 beers on tap and 4 beers in cans throughout my trip. Some highlights were: Carnibaal Smoothie-Style Ale with raspberry, blackberry, blueberry, cotton candy, and marshmallow flavor that is a collaboration with @baabaabrewhouse, Orrerey Imperial Pastry Stout, Big Papaya Fruited Sour with papaya, Shepherd of the Forest Imperial IPA with Strata, Galaxy, Citra, and Vic Secret, and The Mad Batter Imperial Stout with chocolate, vanilla, almonds, and coconut.

Native/Wild Estate Honey From Oxbow Blending and Bottling in Portland, ME

Native/Wild Estate Honey is a Spontaneously Fermented Barrel Aged Farmhouse Ale with Maine grains, aged hops, well water, and estate honey. We enjoyed everything we tried at Oxbow and the highlight was definitely this bottle. Duckfat also has a location onsite to pair your beers with some killer fries.

Everything from The Ale Apothecary in Bend, OR

It is impossible to choose again here, so why not just talk about all of the beers? Ale Apothecary is a super unique little spot in Bend where all of their beers are 100% barrel aged, wild fermented, and naturally carbonated. I had every beer available when I visited: Pear Sauvie with @meccagrade barley and rye malts, @sauvieislandhops Crystal hops, and pear juice; Sahalie malted barley & wheat and @goschiefarms Cascade hops, house lactobacillus culture, aged up to 1 year in oak barrels then a month-long dry-hopping in oak barrels; Walking Fish dry-hopped brew transferred onto freshly harvested Crystal hops from @sauvieislandhops; Sahati barley & rye malts with @goschiefarms Cascade hops brewed in a fallen spruce tree; Farmhouse with barley, rye, wheat, and oats aged in barrels 3-4 months, dry-hopped in the barrel, and naturally carbonated with Oregon honey.

Twice the Daily Serving From Trillium Brewing in Boston, MA

I always love this series from Trillium! This version of Twice The Daily Serving is a Berliner Weisse with blackberry, plum, and raspberry. Visiting Trillium was incredible and of course we left with a plethora of cans for the rest of our time in New England! I enjoyed this one with the sunset over the bay in Southwest Harbor, Maine near Acadia National Park.

Speling van het Lot VIII.ii: Schaarbeekse On A Toast (Medium) - Blended & Alive (Season 17|18) Blend No. 47 From Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen in Lot, Belgium

Did you get all of that? 3 Fonteinen always produces some of the best Lambics around and this one was no exception! It was incredibly smooth and had a nice hint of cherry without being overwhelming. Here is their description of this brew: Speling van het Lot” (Twist of Fate) is a series of small batch experimental brews, barrel maturations, fruit macerations and/or blends. This 8th version features the maceration of Schaarbeekse cherries on charred/toasted barrels. This Schaarbeekse On A Toast has macerated for 265 days on a fresh 1,000 liter medium toasted French oak barrel, in a proportion of 1 kilo of Schaarbeekse cherries per liter of Lambic. After the maceration, the fruit Lambic was blended with young Lambic for a continued fermentation in the bottle.

Pear Mary 2019 From Cascade Brewing in Portland, OR

Cascade is a must visit in Portland! I absolutely loved getting to taste a bunch of their Sours and hanging out in their patio space. My favorite beer I had was Pear Mary 2019, a blend of sour blond ales aged in oak wine barrels then naturally fermented with juice from Northwest-grown pears and infused with fresh rosemary. I also enjoyed Chêne des Fous 2018, Apricot 2019, Garden Party 2017, and Belmont Street Bramble.

Double Dry Hopped Fort Point from Trillium Brewing in Boston, MA

Fort Point is Trillium’s classic juicy Pale Ale, and the DDH version of it was absolutely incredible. It is the classic Fort Point recipe with Columbus hops and then double dry hopped with Citra hops.

Eleanor from Fair Isle Brewing in Seattle, WA

Eleanor is a Farmhouse Ale refermented on elderberries with Hallertau Mittelfruh hops. It has a berry body with notes of cinnamon, clove, and earthy flavors. Fair Isle was my absolute favorite stop in Seattle! They specialize in creating mixed-culture Saisons and they absolutely crush it. I can’t wait to visit them again in the future!

The Purple Kriek From de Garde Brewing in Tillamook, OR

The Purple Kriek is a Spontaneous Wild Ale aged in oak barrels with black and red raspberries and Montmorency and Morello cherries. de Garde is a must visit on any trip to Oregon! They are consistently ranked one of the top breweries in the country, with good reason.

Back in the Zone collaboration From Mast Landing Brewing in Westbrook, ME and Orono Brewing in Orono, ME

Back in the Zone is an Imperial IPA with Citra, Mosaic, and Rakau hops. Mast Landing’s IPAs were absolutely stellar. I loved everything at the taproom outside of Portland, Maine and luckily they were on tap at several spots in Bar Harbor as well!

CHECK BACK NEXT MONTH TO SEE MY TOP BEERS OF August!
CHEERS —ALEXIS