Many industries have taken a beating over the last 6 months from the COVID related shutdowns and restrictions, but one of the worst hit groups is the hospitality industry. Restaurants and bars typically operate on thin margins, so this long shut down is going to shutter many permanently, and many of their employees are currently […]
During the pandemic I’ve done what I can to support local breweries, mostly with beer and merch purchases. Most of this has been through online orders and curbside pick-ups or deliveries from my favorite local beer stores. I’ve done limited brewery visits, some of that is to spread the love a bit across the region […]
In a “normal” year, one where we aren’t dealing with a pandemic, I probably make it to almost as many breweries in Maine as I do in Massachusetts. I usually take 4-5 trips to Maine in a year and every one of them involves multiple brewery stops. Despite that there are still many breweries in […]
As we hit the four month mark of social distancing/shut-down I am evaluating what has changed for me, especially because it seems like it will be a long time until life gets back anywhere towards “normal”. I miss restaurants even though they were an occasional treat for me, and my bar visits were even more […]
Quick programming note before I get started. I am doing a family trip up to Maine later this week, so this will be my last Hoppy Boston post until at least next Thursday. It will be weird doing the Maine trip without all of the brewery stops, but I will still get some excellent beer […]
Some breweries open up and clearly have no idea what kinds of beers they want to make, they spend the first year or so cycling through a myriad of recipes, many of which become one-off beers, until something sticks. Others have a clear plan in place, and beers that are released on week one become […]
If you asked me 6 months ago to pick a Maine brewery that I wanted to see open distribution in Massachusetts, Austin St Brewing would have been in my top two. So I was really excited when they started a limited distribution in Mass, and I clearly wasn’t the only one, their beer has sold […]
Brunswick, Maine is one of my favorite places in the world, mostly due to my fond memories from my four years as a student at Bowdoin College. While I drank way too much cheap marco beer from kegs at Bowdoin, I also started to develop a taste for better beers, frequently sampling the few available […]
Earlier this week I wrote about my first visit to Redemption Rock Brewery in Worcester. One thing I glossed over a bit was the beer, aside from saying that I enjoyed everything I tried and brought some crowlers home, I didn’t write much for specifics. This was because I intended to write this follow-up article […]
My brewery visits are relatively limited right now, between the demanding job, house stuff and two young kids I don’t often have a free hour to kill sitting down at a brewery. Most of my visits are very brief, I happen to be in a specific area for something else and I am able to […]
