My beer thoughts/links article for September will be a little shorter than normal. Some of this is due to issues with time, I am crazy busy right now and have much less time to search for articles about beer on social media. To be honest, while I still love tasting and discussing new beers and old favorites, my beer geekdom has taken a bit of a backseat to other things these days. I think I am not alone, I’ve heard many beer writers complain about how hard it is to churn out interesting beer content with everything going on in the country and the world right now. I will try to keep churning out content and make this monthly thoughts/links article as good as I can, and hopefully things will get better soon. Thank you for your patience, onto the links.
Earlier this month both Night Shift and Bone Up Brewing in Everett shut down for a deep cleaning after a customer visited both breweries and then tested positive for COVID-19. It was good to see that the customer notified the breweries, this allowed them to do contract tracing, notifying the other customers who were at nearby tables. I am actually surprised that similar things haven’t happened more.
There are a lot of doom-and-gloom predictions about how the COVID-related shutdowns and restrictions will affect local breweries, especially when winter comes and shuts down outdoor seating. I understand why people are worried, and I think there will be a significant impact, but it has been a pleasant surprise to see only a few closings so far.
One of the most thought-provoking articles I read this month was Lily Waite’s essay on hyper-reality, post-modernism and NEIPA. Philosophy is not an area I have studied, but I still found this to be really interesting.
With many of the usual Oktoberfest events toned down or canceled this year Hop Culture has a rundown of the ways to throw your own Oktoberfest. I am not throwing a party, but I plan on drinking plenty of marzen out of steins.
Some local breweries are still planning Oktoberfest-related events, you can check out this handy list made by the Mass Brew Bros for details.
Erin Kuschner on Boston.com has a list of local fall beers to try. I love that this list is completely devoid of “traditional” fall styles like Oktoberfest and pumpkin beers, but still has many beers that will capture the flavors of fall.
Matthew Tota at Worcester Magazine has a bunch of news and notes about central Massachusetts breweries.
Even with all of the issues surrounding the pandemic there is still a bit of brewery-opening news this month. Lord Hobo partially opened their new Seaport brewery, with patio service active while they finish the build-out of the indoor space. Deep Cuts Deli and Brewery is opening in Medford, food service looks like a go with the brewery operation opening soon.
Good Beer Hunting has a profile of all-non alcoholic craft brewery Athletic Brewing. Stay tuned to Hoppy Boston next week for more thoughts on Athletic Brewing.
Yuengling has announced a joint venture with MolsonCoors to expand their delivery across the country. I will add this to the long list of reasons I don’t drink Yuengling, which already includes the shady practices they used when they launched in Boston, the political affiliations and donations of their owners, and the fact that their beer isn’t anything special.
That is it for September, hopefully there will be an increase in interesting beer content, and in my time to find interesting beer content, in October (not holding my breath, but I can hope). As always, feel free to pass along anything that you’d like me to share, and thank you all for reading and following/liking/sharing my posts on social media. Cheers!
Hoppy Boston 
