Yankee Brew News Archive

What's Brewing: Massachusetts/Rhode Island

Originally Published: 08/96

By: Kerry J. Byrne

By Kerry J. Byrne

Yankee Brew News Staff

Summer is here and that can only mean one thing: I'm sitting in a pool of my own sweat (I know you all want to dwell on that one) being munched on by a pack of encephalitis-carrying carnivorous bugs bent on the destruction of the human species, while waiting impatiently for football season to began.

What's that have to do with beer, you say? Not a damn thing. But it does allow me at least a poor segue into the following public plea: I need tickets for the Notre Dame-Ohio State game being played Sept. 28 in South Bend. I don't want free tickets, just tickets. Anywhere in the stadium. One would be great, more would be better. Realize that with this request I risk the wrath of my fellow Boston College alums, but it's a chance I'm willing to take.

The person who is able to get said tickets will receive, in return, lavish praise in this space at a future date. Yeah, I know, that and a quarter will get you 15 minutes on a Boston parking meter. Even better: You may also receive honorary Viking-brethren status in any future writing I do on my quest to experience the ultimate college football road trip. Call Yankee Brew News or email me at KezB@aol.com.

Anyway, for those of you who came here for information about beer

Massachusetts

Fort Hill Brewhouse, 125 Broad Street, Boston, opened in May in the heart of the Financial District. Unfortunately, it's also in the heart of construction to depress the Central Artery, which makes parking a real bitch. But that shouldn't stop the enterprising soul in search of the freshest pints. Think of it as an opportunity to practice the latest in creative parking techniques.

Fort Hill is the seventh brewpub in Boston/Cambridge and the 11th in the metropolitan area. By the time you read this the numbers should read nine and 13 (see below). The brewer is Mike Munroe who worked previously at Commonwealth and Back Bay brewing companies. Jack Streich consulted on the project and did much of the initial brewing.

The beer list features Fort Hill Light Ale (slightly spicy and flavorful), Fort Hill Pale Ale (a wild ride in the Cascades), Fort Hill Red Ale (years of marketing research went into the name), Fort Hill Porter (mildly complex, tasty and drinkable) and Fort Hill Brown Ale (by the time I got to this one tasting notes seemed far less important). In the future they may have available as many as 10 beers at once, said Munroe.

I haven't had the food yet but one beer-loving local scribe, Brendan Farrington of the Patriot Ledger, said the grilled shrimp Caesar salad he munched on was the best he'd ever had. Judging by Farrington's generous girth, it's a safe bet he knows a thing or two about Caesar salads. For more information call (617) 695-9700.

Brew Moon's third location at The Atrium, 50 Church Street., Cambridge, was set to open June 24. Scott Hutchinson, who worked at the company's first brewpub in Boston's Theater District, will be taking care of the beer business at the Harvard Square location. The new unit, at the site of the old Black Rose, will boast 8,000 square feet and a seating capacity of over 300. Fermentation tanks on top of bright beer tanks will create "a very dramatic difference" from the other sites, Dan Feiner, vice president of corporate development, said.

"It will be very similar in some elements to our other restaurants but there will also be some differences," said Feiner. "It will be funky, fun and hip. It will be the same concept (as the other Brew Moon locations in Boston and Saugus) but with a Harvard Square twist." About a month after opening, Brew Moon Cambridge will begin hosting a Sunday jazz brunch and other live music events, Feiner said.

Boston's ninth brewpub, the North East Brewing Company., 1314 Commonwealth Avenue, was slated to open June 28. North East features head brewer Dann Paquette, the nicest guy in the beer business, and a 15-barrel PUB system which was on display during the National Craft Brewers Conference at the Hynes Convention Center. The system went right from the conference across the Back Bay to the Allston brewpub.

Those who went to school in Boston might remember the building as the same which once housed Play It Again, Sam's and the Armadillo Cafe. Paquette, who has the great misfortune of being allergic to beer (I kid you not), will have quite an array to get hives from: Bostonia Blonde, Nor'easter Pale Ale, MacFearsome Scotch Ale, Black Sow Stout and Triple Black Wheat Ale which will include blackberries, black raspberries and black currants. In the near feature he plans a cherrywood smoked cherry stout, which should be a favorite for Neil Diamond fans. "We're gonna be all over the place with our beer selection," said Paquette, who most recently worked at John Harvard's Brew House. Jack Streich, mentioned above for his work with Fort Hill, is also consulting at North East. Call (617) 566-6699 for more information.

Concord Junction Brewing Company is scheduled make its Concord Pale Ale available on tap and in 12-ounce bottles in July. The brewery is located at 152 Commonwealth Avenue in Concord. The brewer is Brett Pacheco, who studied at the American Brewers Guild 10-week program in Davis, California under former UC-Davis professor Michael Lewis.

Pacheco described the as-of-yet unreleased Concord Pale Ale as a light-colored, filtered, fairly hoppy American style ale with a big Cascade hop aroma. He said he does not plan on brewing another style until this winter at the earliest. Pacheco, and his partner Jonathon Cahill, will brew on a new 20-barrel DME system. Their first tap account is at the 99 Pub and Restaurant in West Concord. Call (508) 371-9929.

The Underground Brewing Company, 269 Mechanic Street, Marlboro, is brewing to capacity on its 6-barrel system. Located in a former boot factory, Underground brews two beers under its own label: a Red Ale and a recently released Dirty Blonde. Owner Scott Lutke is also exploiting a niche that has been touched on by a handful of other brewers: private label beers for restaurants. Among his accounts are the Houlihan's chain of bars (Faneuil Hall, Cambridge, Saugus and Framingham) and the historic Wayside Inn of Sudbury. He said he is brewing for a total of 22 private labels.

Other well-known local breweries that make private label beers are Mass. Bay Brewing Company., Boston Beer Company and Old Harbor Brewing Company. Call Underground at (508) 393-1420.

Big things are happening at the Wachusett Brewing Company, 175 State Road East, in Westminster. Ned LaFortune and his crew recently added three new 70-barrel fermenters from McCann Fabrication of Maine to increase production. They will also add "a bunch" of conditioning and bright beer tanks to help bring their brewing capacity to just under 10,000 barrels per year, said LaFortune.

They should need the space, because soon they'll be out with 12-ounce bottles. Wachusett has a 34-valve bottle filler with twin labeler which will turn out 150 bottles per minute. Wachusett Country Ale will be the first product available in 12-ounce bottles, followed by Wachusett IPA and Nut Brown Ale. Wachusett received help with its bottling system from the folks at Polar Beverage Corporation of Worcester. The Wachusett line of beers will remain available in the popular growler bottles. "We will continue to self-distribute all of our products cold," said LaFortune. He said they will continue to pound Central Massachusetts, though some of their beer is sneaking into the 617 area code. Wachusett can be reached at (508) 874-9965.

The addition of a bottling line at Atlantic Coast Brewing Company, 50 Terminal Street, Charlestown, has been put on hold. Atlantic Coast co-top dog, head honcho and big Kahuna Chris Lohring said they should have a 12-ounce bottling system in place by the fall. Atlantic Coast's line of Tremont ales have recently been made available at select locations on Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket. To find out where, call (617) 242-6464.

The Publick House, Route 131, Sturbridge, one of New England's finest colonial-style restaurants, has been conducting Beer Maker's Dinners throughout the year. The next one is a New England lobster and clam bake on August 23, featuring the beers of the Sea Dog Brewing Company of Camden, Maine. The cost is $39.50 plus tax and tip. On October 17 the Publick House's Oktoberfest will be accompanied by the beers of Catamount Brewing Company of White River Junction, Vermont. The final event of the year is a Holiday Beer Party December 12 featuring the beers of Pete's Brewing Company.

Redbones, the House that Pork Built, recently added a new feature for tree huggers, health nuts and those fed up with trying to find Somerville's Davis Square by automobile: valet bicycle parking. The cost for the parking is $3 and includes parking in a "locked, alarmed and insured area by qualified attendants," according to Redbones spokesperson Anne Cushman.

Redbones may be the first Boston-area restaurant to have valet bicycle parking, though the idea is popular in some areas on the West Coast. Also, June to July will be wheat beer month at Redbones. Thirty-odd taps of nothing but the finest wheat beers from New England and beyond. Call Redbones at (617) 628-2200.

A place to check out which we don't hear about enough: the Horseshoe Pub & Restaurant, 29 South Street, Hudson. The Horseshoe features over 100 beers, split roughly 50-50 between bottles and taps. Among the local favorites on tap are Pilgrim Ale (brewed at Old Harbor Brewing, also in Hudson), Middlesex Raspberry Wheat, Berkshire Traditional Ale and Wachusett Country Ale, among many others. Call (508) 568-1265 for information.

Among the newest beer-of-the-month clubs around is World Beer Direct, based in Chicopee. World Beer Direct features a variety of salsas, dips, mugs, party packs, cigars, etc., to accompany their brewed offerings. For information call (800) 609-ALES or (413) 598-0233.

If you, or someone you love, has information on the following alleged brewpubs and breweries please call Yankee Brew News and pass on the good word:

Big Dick's Home Brewed Lager, 415 Main Street, Hyannis; Nor'east Ale House, 4 Hampton Road, Natick; Paper City Brewing Company, 108 Cabot St., Holyoke; Your World Brewery, 23 Sunset Road, Westminster.

When we receive information on these brewpubs (if they exist), you, the YBN faithful, will be the first to hear about it--unless, of course, someone from a rival publication, someone such as beer scribe Retep Enuhret, gets a hold of the info first.

Colorado-based Breckenridge Brewery may be adding a unit in Boston early next year, said marketing director Sue Squire. "We are in planning stages," said Squire. "Our president (Richard Squire) has decided he wants to put a brewery out there. We don't have a location yet."

The growing Breckenridge chain opened in 1990 in its namesake town. Since then the company has opened a series of brewpubs in microbreweries in Denver (two locations), Buffalo, New York, and Dallas. Scheduled to open in a couple of months is a brewery in Birmingham, Alabama. Breckenridge produces four year-round beers and four to six seasonals. The Buffalo brewery distributes Breckenridge products throughout the Northeast.

Sue Squire said she believes the Boston location will be a brewery, not a brewpub, but that plans haven't been finalized.

Rhode Island

Our new favorite place in Rhode Island: Aidan's Pub, a touch of Ireland on the banks of Narragansett Bay (see pub review elsewhere in this issue).

The Uptown Brewing Company of Warren is still waiting on final licensing approval but should be up and running soon.

A pub I've heard about but haven't checked out yet is the Wickedin Pub in Providence. It may or may not be worthy of those of us learned in the ways of beer. If anyone has been there and can vow for the sanctity with which it treats beer, please let your local YBN representative know.

Kurt Musselman of Trinity Brewhouse in Providence has been racking up the awards.

His Centennial Russian Imperial Stout won a bronze medal in June at the first World Beer Cup in Vail, Colorado. The brew has named in honor of Musselman's 100th batch of beer since Trinity opened in December 1994. A panel of professional judges gave awards in 61 beer categories. Twenty-five nations and 250 breweries were represented at the event.

Musselman's Extra Special Bitter was named best beer in the state by Rhode Island Monthly magazine at the end of 1995 and his beers were recently named best in Southern New England according to a viewers' poll sponsored by Providence ABC affiliate Channel 6.

Recently on tap at Trinity were Jenney Cream Ale (not the one you're thinking of), California Common, Dusseldorf Alt, Brown Ale and Guatemalan XXX Java Stout. The Java Stout features Guatemalan Atiglan organic coffee beans which were French roasted for Trinity by the Coffee Exchange of Providence. The brew has four percent alcohol, 40 IBUs and uses pale, carapils, chocolate, black and wheat malts, roasted barley, flaked barley and, of course, coffee beans.

Musselman has three entries going to the Great American Beer Festival: Kolsch, Scotch Ale and Schwarzbier and hopes they come back with some more awards.