When I first moved to Boston it seemed like there were two kinds of bars. The first catered directly to the college crowd, with unimaginative drinks, loud house music, and hammered twenty-somethings looking foolish on the dance floor. The second was the Irish pub/sports bar with local games on the TV and a predictable beer list featuring Guinness, Sam Adams lager and a bunch of mass produced pilsners. There were exceptions of course, but you had to seek them out. One of the great things about the explosion in popularity of craft beer is that you can find amazing beer selections in unexpected places. When I first walked in to Olde Magoun’s Saloon last weekend I was reminded of the old Irish pub/sports bars that I frequented in my early twenties. Olde Magoun’s Saloon is located in Magoun Square in Somerville, right off of Broadway. The decor is dominated by Boston sports memorabilia mixed with some Irish themes. The room is big and open. As you walk in you see a large bar that takes up the whole left hand side of the room. The dining area fills most of the right side, with various sized tables and more bar-style seating towards the front. Olde Magoun’s Saloon is a sports bar, they have a large screen projection TV that shows all of the local teams along with a variety of international soccer and rugby matches. The big change from the old sports bars I used to go to is the stellar beer list.
The beer menu at Olde Magoun’s Saloon is diverse but still manages to focus on local brews. There are 28 beers on draught plus two cask selections. The cask selections rotate weekly and feature local beers. Last weekend they were doing a Sam Adams tap takeover, so many of the taps were devoted to the range of Sam Adams year-round and Winter seasonal offerings. Even with the tap takeover there was a nice range of local (Harpoon, Allagash, Maine Beer Co) and less-local (Green Flash, Troegs, 21st Amendment) craft beers. There was also a vast array of styles, ales and lagers, light and dark, higher and lower ABV, etc. They also feature a large selection of small batch bourbons, if you are in the mood for something a little stronger. So if you want a good place to get together with friends, watch a game, and still enjoy an impressive selection of fresh and local craft beers, Olde Magoun’s Saloon is a great place to visit.
Hoppy Boston 
