Every year on the weekend before Thanksgiving I head out of town for a weekend with my college buddies, we’ve been doing these trips since we were in school (which is quite a few years ago now). The trips themselves have changed a bit over the years, but we’ve made it work almost every year, […]
This COVID-19 pandemic is definitely not over yet, please don’t go around acting stupid like we’re in the clear, but with more people getting vaccinated every day we can start to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I am still not at a point where I feel comfortable at bars, restaurants or […]
It’s been a year of this shit. An entire fucking year. The last day that my family kept a “normal” schedule was March 13th, 2020, I remember well because it was my youngest son’s 2nd birthday, I left work early to grab him from daycare so we could go home for pizza, cake and presents. […]
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 […]
Hoppy Boston 