boston beer

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.

  • 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:​​

April 2022

April was a crazy month of travel and beers—so crazy in fact that I didn’t write a March top beers round up because I was on the road at the end of March and first couple of weeks of April, sorry friends! This past month I visited Wilmington NC, Charleston SC, Savannah GA, Miami FL and Seabrook Island SC. I also attended two beer festivals in April—Cape Fear Craft & Cuisine in Wilmington and Wakefest from J. Wakefield Brewing in Miami. That all adds up to a lot of beers, so the ones that made the cut here are truly the best of the best!

In no particular order, here were my top beers in April 2022:

MawMaw’s Humbleberry Pie collaboration brew from Two Tides Brewing in Savannah, GA and Inner Voice Brewing in Decatur, GA

MawMaw’s Humbleberry Pie is a Fruited Sour with raspberry, blueberry, strawberry, vanilla, cinnamon and graham cracker. It is packed with flavor and extremely easy to drink, but still comes in at 7% ABV.

Apple Brandy Barrel Aged Stepping on Toes collaboration brew from Westbrook Brewing in Charleston, SC, The Eighth State Brewing Company in Greenville, SC, Evil Twin Brewing in New York, NY and Edmund’s Oast Brewing in Charleston, SC

This is an Imperial Stout aged in Laird’s applejack apple brandy barrels for over two years then infused with toasted coconut, banana, macadamia nuts and vanilla beans. This beer is basically everything I love infused into one brew—apple brandy barrel aged, coconut, banana, and vanilla! This was an exceptional brew. I had the original Stepping on Toes last year and this one completely blows the other out of the water. Highly recommend if you can get your hands on it!

Simple Thoughts from Tripping Animals Brewing in Doral, FL

Simple Thoughts is an Imperial Stout aged for 15 months in bourbon maple barrels and conditioned with wild Thai banana, coconut, cacao nibs, peanut butter and Madagascar vanilla beans. Peanut butter Stouts can be a miss for me, but I was thoroughly impressed with this brew at Tripping Animals. Everything I had there was fantastic!

Around The Sun 2 from Edge City Brewery in Charlotte, NC

Around The Sun 2 is a Sour IPA hopped with Citra and conditioned on mangos, tangerines, kiwis and Cloister honey. Edge City released this beer for their 2nd Anniversary in April, and the first version of Around The Sun was released last year for their 1st Anniversary. This beer is the perfect balance of tartness, fruitiness, and smoothness. I had this beer 3 times in 24 hours, so I can definitely say I fully endorse it.

Citra Cutting Tiles Trillium

Citra Cutting Tiles from Trillium Brewing in Boston, MA

Cutting Tiles is Trillium’s single hop Double IPA series with raw wildflower honey. This Citra version of Cutting Tiles was fantastic! Anything Citra is usually going to go over well, but the addition of the honey sweetened things up a bit and smoothed out the beer. Another win from the folks at Trillium!

Lua Brewing

Napping Under the Echo Tree from Lua Brewing in Des Moines, IA

Napping Under the Echo Tree is a Fruited Sour with dragon fruit, passionfruit, mango and guava. This was my first time trying anything from Lua and I absolutely loved it! I will definitely be hunting for them on my Midwest road trip this summer!

The Theory and Practice of Oligarchical Collectivism Chapters 1, 2 & 3 from Root and Branch Brewing in Copiague, NY

I did a side by side of all three chapters of The Theory and Practice of Oligarchical Collectivism and thoroughly enjoyed each one! Chapter 1: Ignorance is Strength is a Double IPA, Chapter 2: Freedom Is Slavery is a Triple IPA and Chapter 3: War Is Peace is a Double IPA. Each Chapter was pretty similar, but overall Chapter II was my favorite!

CHECK BACK NEXT MONTH TO SEE MY TOP BEERS OF MAY 2022!
CHEERS—ALEXIS