The Best Craft Breweries in Boston
Home to some of the craft beer industry’s most venerable pioneers (Samuel Adams and Harpoon) and celebrated newcomers (Trillium), one could argue that the best way to see Boston is sip by sip at its best craft breweries. While the city is home to many excellent bars, here’s our pick of the top craft breweries.
1. Democracy Brewing
Craft Ale Bar, American
This downtown employee-owned brewery and pub celebrates the working class and the (continuing) struggle for freedom and civil rights, with staple drafts that include Suffragette pale ale, Consummate Rioter IPA and Fighting 54th saison. The bar also serves an excellent selection of comfort food that includes burgers, mac and cheese, fisherman’s stew and even pizza bagels. The fish and chips are among the best on this side of the Atlantic, especially when paired with the 1919 Strike oatmeal stout.
2. Trillium Brewing Company
Craft Ale Bar, American
3. Samuel Adams Boston Brewery
Craft Ale Bar, Snacks
4. Lord Hobo Brewing Company
Craft Ale Bar, Bar, Beer, Wine, Cocktails, Pub Grub, American
5. Harpoon Brewery
Craft Ale Bar, Snacks
6. Lamplighter Brewing Co.
Craft Ale Bar, Beer
Around the corner from Lord Hobo, Lamplighter Brewing offers every reason to come visit its twin taprooms. For starters, there’s the excellent beer brewed on-site, which runs the gamut of styles (as opposed to nine different takes on a New England IPA). There’s also coffee and café snacks; the brewery shares its modern, artistic space with Longfellow’s coffee shop. And finally, you might catch sight of the Lamplighter’s fluffy resident canine, Barley, who even has a Vienna-style lager named after him.
7. Jack’s Abby
Craft Ale Bar, American
It may be a 20-mile westbound trip on the Mass Pike (or a 40-minute commuter rail ride from South station), but this lager-focused brewhouse is definitely worth it. The cavernous, rustic-industrial beer hall serves up two dozen lagers and a base-building menu that ranges from wood-fired pizzas and bratwurst to swordfish tacos and seared scallops with risotto.
8. Notch Brewery and Taproom
Craft Ale Bar, Beer, Snacks
In an industry swamped with double IPAs and 11% ABV imperial stouts, Notch has carved out a niche by brewing session beers. These brews make it easier to sample its popular Left of the Dial session IPA as well as traditional European styles – like a crisp German kölsch or malty black lager – and still keep your wits about yourself. Notch’s brick, bar-like brewery and taproom in downtown Salem (17 miles north of Boston, or a half-hour commuter rail ride from North station) features a Skee-Ball machine and a beer garden perched on the South River.
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