The story behind Westfield River Brewing Company is reminiscent to the way many other small breweries begin – a group of friends hanging out, enjoying great beer, and making grand plans that didn’t include their current jobs. Founded in 2012 in Westfield, MA these friends set out to make a variety of drinkable, but still flavorful beers. A much better plan than […]
Author: ryanbrawn
Wormtown Hopulence
Recently the results for the United States Open Beer Championships were announced, with over 3000 beers submitted and judged in 81 categories. The winner for Grand National Champion was none other than Wormtown Brewery of Worcester, MA (see the full results HERE). Wormtown was awarded three gold and one silver medal. One of Wormtown’s Gold-medal winning submissions was Hopulence, […]
Saranac Wild Hop Pils
Matt Brewing Company, who brews the Saranac line of beers from their brewery in Utica, NY, is the second oldest family-owned brewing company in the US. While many smaller breweries were taken over or put out of business by the big beer companies during the mid to late 1900’s, Matt Brewing set themselves up as an alternative […]
The Tap Intergalactic Acid Berliner Weisse
The Tap Brewing Company has been brewing a variety of year-round and seasonal ales and lagers in Haverhill, MA since 2003. All of their selections are available on draft (or cask) at the brewpub, but they also bottle some of their beers for distribution in MA. One of The Tap’s most sought-after beers is Intergalactic […]
Newburyport Greenhead IPA
Newburyport, MA is a quintessential picturesque coastal New England town that is a sought after destination for Summer travellers. It is no surprise that local residents Bill Fisher and Chris Webb wanted to build a brewery there, crafting ales that are perfect for a day at the beach. So, along with experienced head brewer Mike Robinson, they founded Newburyport […]
Shipyard American Pale Ale
While I’ve been a proud resident of the Boston area for over a decade now (outside of a brief stint in CT), I was born and raised in Maine. I received my undergraduate degree from Bowdoin College. During my time in Brunswick I developed my passion for chemistry (my “real career”), rugby and started my […]
Smuttynose Bouncy House IPA
Session IPAs are officially the trend in craft beer this Spring/Summer. Just a year ago you would struggle to find a single beer labeled as a session IPA, but now many of the heavy hitters in craft brewing have released low alcohol hop-forward beers in this category. It makes sense! IPAs are the most popular […]
Narragansett Del’s Shandy
Not long ago the Narragansett beer brand, originally brewed in 1890, was nearly dead. Once the most popular beer in New England and a major sponsor of the Red Sox, the brand had suffered a staggering decline in popularity since the 1970s. The physical brewery shut down in 1981 and production moved to Indiana. In 2005 a […]
Harpoon 100 Barrel Series: Citra Victorious
I am a strong believer that the best way to learn about beer is to brew it yourself. Many breweries make an active effort to involve all of their employees in the brewing process, assuring that they all know where the product they are selling comes from. Every year all of the employees at Harpoon […]
Otter Creek Fresh Slice White IPA
Many macro-lager drinkers are brand loyal – a Bud Light drinker only drinks Bud Light while craft beer drinkers tend to try anything and everything. This presents an issue for established craft breweries as they are constantly competing with new and exciting releases by up and coming breweries. Established breweries have to balance making innovative new beers with […]
Hoppy Boston 