Boston Beer Haul: Trillium Artaic + Others, Night Shift Santilli, Singlecut plus Oysters

Growing up in the suburbs of Boston, the city is what I consider my "home town" and its one of the best culinary city in the country, by all regards.  Two things Boston does really well are beer and oysters.  Trillium Brewery is doing amazing things in Boston's rapidly gentrifying Fort Point neighborhood in the South Boston Seaport.  Very easy access to the financial district and lots of open space are a recipe for surging real estate prices.  Trillium focuses on hoppy beers and they are one of the most coveted breweries on the beer trading forums around.  Artaic is a Double IPA brewed with honey, very clear and transparent in contrast to many of Trillium's other brews.

Trillium recently opened a secondary location in suburban Canton, MA and are now offering limited distribution through the state.  I was in a prominent liquor store south of the city and picked up a couple bottles including their flagship Fort Point Pale Ale and Scaled IPA.  I also grabbed a Singlecut beer that was quite nice, although I can't remember the name of it, nor can I make it out from the picture.  It used NZ hops though and was surprisingly good!  Finally, I grabbed a 4 pack of 16 oz cans from Night Shift Brewery, out of Everett, MA.  Their Santilli IPA is one of the handful of beers they distribute and is a good every day value, although definitely inferior to Trillium or Tree House out of Western Mass.

A visit with my parents meant that I was grabbing a dozen oysters to enjoy with my dad and cracking a beer or two.  These oysters are from Duxbury, MA's Island Creek Oysters.  Lucky to have such easy access.

Recent New England IPAs: Gray Sail Captain's Daughter, Lawsons Sip of Sunshine, and Trillium A Street IPA

Gray Sail Brewery out of Westerly, RI is a relatively new brewer who has struck quite a hit with their Double IPA, Captain's Daughter.  Pretty hoppy, but still drinkable.  Only available in MA/RI, as far as I know, but I enjoyed it!

Sean Lawson of Vermont's Lawson's Finest Liquids most famous beer is Double Sunshine, his double IPA produced in extremely limited batches.  When Mr. Lawson decided that he needed to scale the business a bit, he set up an agreement with Two Roads Brewing on Connecticut to brew his modified Double Sunshine recipe as Sip of Sunshine.  Originally packaged and sold only in kegs and 22oz bombers, the transition to 4 packs makes a ton of sense, especially in light of local competition in Vermont and the superior QPR of 16 oz cans.  This is brewed monthly in CT and then distributed in both CT and VT.  Great beer, comparable to Heady Topper in my opinion.

Trillium Brewery, in my view, is Boston's response to the Vermont beer scene's relentless quality.  While Boston and the vicinity has a number of good breweries, none are truly great, especially when it comes to producing the renowned IPAs that are coming out of Vermont.  I have had a number of great beers from Trillium, including Melcher St IPA, Congress St IPA, and Fort Point Pale, which drinks more like an IPA.  Unfortunately, A Street, does not live up to the others or its $10 price tag.  Still a good beer, but nothing special.  

New Boston Craft Microbreweries

Boston is the capital of New England, a region with an extremely high concentration of craft beer drinkers, but always lagged behind as far as high quality breweries. Cities like Burlington, VT and Portland, ME have many more excellent craft breweries. There are a number of reasons for this, including the prohibitively high cost of real estate in Suffolk county and the surrounding area as well as local giants Sam Adams and Harpoon Brewery. However, since the summer, a number of new breweries have emerged and there are even more on the horizon.

Backlash Brewing is a new contract brewed company, which seems like the new business model for MA brewers, due to high real estate cost as well as the success of Clown Shoes and Pretty Things.  These guys are apparently brewing at Paper City Brewery in Holyoke, out in Western Mass, but distributing mainly in the 617 area for now, due to limited supply. Their first beer was Groundswell, a Belgian Pale Ale, and their second was Convergence, a saison.  I am hoping these guys do well, but I do not love their aesthetics, like the brass knuckles and the Russian Riveresque "Convergence" name.  I am a sucker for wax sealed bottles and the price points seem reasonable based on the quality.

Mystic Brewing is a production brewery located in an up and coming area of Boston that is still a bit industrial, Chelsea.  These guys seem to be the most ambitious of the new breweries, offering a Founder's Club, aiming to compete with places like The Bruery in LA.  They are currently brewing and distributing their Saison, which already has 25 reviews on BeerAdvocate (B+ rating) and several other beers are in the near future.  I am excited to try Entropy, which is a high ABV brew that should be complex and exciting.
 

Idle Hands Brewery is another brewery a little bit northeast of Boston, located in Everett, another industrial area.  They had a bit of an issue in getting their license, including the big issue with farmer/brewer licenses, which could have drastically affected the scene for small craft breweries in the Bay State, but ultimately was resolved favorably.  They call themselves a "nanobrewery" and like both Mystic and Backlash they seem to be focusing on Belgian styles.  Their two beers that I have seen offered so far are Pandora and Patriarch.  These guys are currently only doing growler fills ($10 + $5 for the glass) at odd hours.  Be sure to follow them on Twitter for more info.  I expect 22oz bombers in the near future.

SlumBrew is based out of the Somerville suburb that is the most rapidly gentrifying neighborhood near Boston.  Based on the colloquial nickname "Slummerville," hence SlumBrew.  These guys are about to have their first tasting on Friday Oct 28 at Craft Beer Cellar in Belmont, MA.  I really like the website, which obviously does not affect the quality of the beer, but it certainly suggests that they are thorough, which bodes well for the brand.  I heard that they are contract-brewing at Mercury in Ipswich and I am sure they would be happy to be as successful as Clown Shoes has been with a similar model, as well as receive the additional Somerville boost.

Trillium Brewing has not officially opened, but it is on the horizon.  The brewer wants to brew and open a brewery in Fort Point, and Boston is home to lots of yuppies, granola eating hippies, young professionals, and academia.  This is the perfect hotbed for an innovative microbrewery.  I will add more info as it emerges, but based on Trillium blog entries, this new brewery will focus on Belgian styled beers and ales, like many of the other new breweries.