Category: Year in Beer

Sunday was somewhat of a day of rest for us. Well, everything is relative, right? We got up and out of the hotel around mid-morning and headed to Southie (South Boston) for the parade.

You hear so much about the Boston St. Patrick’s Day parade and the first time I came I was expecting something along the lines of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade. Nope. This is an honest to God neighborhood affair that about half million people attend.

While people from all over the City and beyond attend the parade, the theme of the day (besides St. Patrick, of course), is definitely Southie pride. Think thousands of people all talking like Goodwill Hunting. One of my favorite groups of the day included the Irish Prison Service Pipe Band. Now that’s a little different from the usual fire or police department band. Hey, I guess prison guards are a public service people, too.

The other highlight was an accordion band that came all the way from County Donegal. A bunch of teenagers dressed in purple outfits with their accordions. It was a sight to behold. They were followed by the mayor of some town in Donegal. All I got was that his name was Paul. Chris very proudly introduced himself as having great grandparents from Donegal “City”. He was politely corrected that they consider it a “town”. I don’t know the city (or town) that Mayor Paul came from, but it was pretty cool nonetheless.

For all you Star Wars geeks, there was even a whole section of fellow Star War geeks dressed up in the finest costumes. Storm troopers with green plastic hats and shamrocks on their uniforms. I’m not a Star Wars geek, but even I know that there is something inherently wrong with this picture.

After the parade, we made it out to Brookline and The Publick House. Now this might be a record…our first beers of the day were not until 5:30pm! But good ones they were. We saw our new friend Harry (and, yes, he is in fact an opera singer) and he recommended some great beers. I had the Brownstone from Sixpoint Brewing in New York. It was a very drinkable 5% unfiltered brown. Chris also took one of Harry’s suggestions and had the Avec Les Bon Voeux, a saison from Brasserie Dupont. At 9.5%, it also was very drinkable. Besides the amazing beer selection at The Publick House, they also serve great food. So, we played a game of Scrabble (I won 296-251), and had some dinner.

We finished up the night at a bar a few doors down from the hotel. Bukowski’s is recommended by the Dropkick Murphy’s as a “must drink in” bar, so we decided to check it out. We were a little unsure, though, so Chris tried to send me in first. It was a very cool place, with a great beer selection (even if they were charging $25 for a bottle of Lost Abbey’s Devotion). We had one beer each and were in bed by 10:30pm.

All rested and ready to go for the big day, we’re headed to the Black Rose for a traditional Irish breakfast. We’re not getting the earliest start this morning and I just hope that we can get in! This time of day will probably be our best chance, though!

 

As I have said many times, Merideth and I are creatures of habit, so when we go to Boston we usually end up at the same places year in and year out. It is not really a bad thing because we hang out at some pretty cool places and drink great beer. Also, in our defense, we kind of had to go to all the old haunts for our episode of One Pint at a Time.

Mother nature is a creature of habit too. So, when we woke up Saturday morning in Portsmouth, NH and it was snowing, we were back on familiar ground. It has snowed almost every time we have been here for Paddy’s Day.

Since St. Patrick’s Day is on Monday (and Saturday, too, if you are good Catholic), I think people are treating this as a three day party weekend and places are going to be jam packed.

Boston is such a sports crazy town and we recommend to anyone who visits to take in some sporting event.

Our particular passion is hockey so we had the Bruins v. Flyers as the first event of our day. Since this is not hockeygeek.com, I won’t bore you with the details of the game. The Bruins won 3-2 in overtime after tying the game with 15 seconds left.

But beers were needed prior to the game so we stopped at Boston Beer Works which is conveniently a block from the TD Banknorth Boston Garden (or whatever it is called now). Beer Works also has a location next to Fenway Park. And one in Salem, MA as well if you are into the witch thing.

Beer Works is one of those breweries that maybe does a few too many beers – I am not saying any are bad – but there some really gems in their lineup that I think get lost in the sheer number of beers. I particularly enjoy their Curley’s Irish Stout, Fenway Pale Ale and Beanpot Brown.

After the game, we were off to the Harpoon Brewery to pick up some beer for our tasting and to meet up with our friend Brad Ruppert. Oh, we also tasted some of the free beer they pour.

A 15 minute walk from central Boston, Harpoon is a must stop on a tour of Boston. In case you missed it in the previous paragraph – free beer. All you have to do is listen to a short talk about the beer and the staff keeps on pouring. But be a good beer citizen and please buy something.

Our visit to Harpoon was the first evidence – well second if you count the long lines to get in the Black Rose at 4pm on Saturday – that things are going to be crazy this weekend. We walked upstairs to a packed tasting room; something we have never seen on the past 4 visits.

Once we finished at Harpoon, the next stop was of course the Barking Crab. Seafood shacks are pretty famous in these parts and the Barking Crab is no exception. It doesn’t look like it from the outside (hence “shack”) but there you will get some of the best seafood in Boston and a good beer selection too. I chased down some wonderful fried clams and oysters with a few Harpoon IPAs. Merideth had some Ipswitch Ale with her lobster roll.

Last night’s excitement at the Barking Crab was that there was a Paramount Pictures private party where Ben Kingsley and Leonardo DiCaprio were going to be in attendance. We tried to crash the party but our beer credentials weren’t enough to get us entrance.

Then it was on to Cambridge Brewing for a nightcap. I think they brew the best beer in Boston and the though it is not the easiest brewpub to get to, it is worth the trek. We only know how to get their by landmarks: Get off the Red Line at Kendall Square, walk down to the Legal Seafood and hang a right. Go left at the Residence Inn, cross the street and then go off to the right after the billboard. It’s a little way down on the right.

As I said, I think they brew the best beer in Boston and the IPA, porter and stout didn’t change my mind. Merideth tried a 9.4% Belgian golden ale called Om and actually liked it. Merideth is really starting to branch out.

Cambridge was a great last stop to finish a good beer day.

 

We made it safe and sound to Boston yesterday. And because we got in at 6am, we had the whole day to drink beer! We started the day off by going to the childhood town of Chris’ parents; Manchester-by the-Sea, MA. As a testament of how outgoing we have become, we had breakfast at the home of one of their best friends growing up. Woody and his wife, Gretchen, were very nice people and very hospitable. We even got a tour of the town, including where everybody lived as kids. Well, Woody still lives in the home he grew up in, so that one was easy.

It got to be 10am and Chris was jonesin’ for a beer. So, we headed to Cape Ann Brewing in Gloucester. They were very cool guys. Jeremy (on the left) may look familiar to some of you. He and his friends filmed “American Beer”. If you haven’t seen it, check it out. It documents this cross country beer trip they took. While at the brewery, we also met a nice guy named Nick who lives in Sacramento. He was very curious about how to get into beer journalism and asked us about it. Does that mean we really are beer journalists now?

Next, we drove to Portsmouth, NH and Smuttynose Brewing. There, we met more Californians! Gosh, I didn’t come all the way across the country to see Californians…I see them all the time! Anyway, Harry, with his friend Kai, hails from Santa Rosa, but now lives in Boston. He told Chris that he was a singer. Chris wasn’t sure, but he thinks Harry told him an opera singer. No joke, well, unless Chris heard him wrong. The other cool thing about Harry is that he works at The Publick House in Brookline. I think we’re headed there on Sunday and he is working that night. It is a small world, isn’t it.

For our third brewery of the day, we went to Portsmouth Brewing, which is the sister brewery of Smuttynose. We met an interesting woman at the Smuttynose tour, who we saw again at Portsmouth. Telling the story in print doesn’t do it justice. So, if you see us somewhere be sure to ask about the Portsmouth story. Suffice it to say that Chris took one for the team and I owe him big! We also planned a reunion with Chris’ cousin Kerrie with her husband Andy. We hadn’t seen her in years and I think Kerrie and I talked non-stop. Poor Andy must have been bored stiff as we all reminisced about high school! I guess Andy took one for the team…way to go Andy!

It’s Saturday and we’re back in Boston…filming, Bruins hockey, and meeting up with our friend Brad Ruppert are all on the agenda for today. Oh, and by the way, it’s snowing and it’s expected to do so all day!

 

We have survived the January and February installments of the YiB as well as a few side trips, so now it is on to the third month; Boston for St. Patrick’s Day.

Boston is probably our favorite city to visit in the U.S. and not just because of the beer; the history is pretty cool too. Thus, when we first conceived of the YiB almost two years ago, after Munich, Boston was the second city we chose.

This will be our fifth trip in the last six years for Paddy’s Day. Our only wish is for warmer weather than we have had in the past.

We will be returning to some of our favorite beer haunts… Beerworks, Cambridge Brewing, Harpoon, Barking Crab, the Black Rose, and the Publick House. We will also be picking up some new breweries though all are outside of Boston.

Here are the new breweries we are going to visit:

• Cape Ann Brewing in Gloucester, MA
• Smuttynose in Portsmouth, NH
• Portsmouth Brewing in Portsmouth, NH
• Watch City Brewing in Waltham, MA

We also will be meeting up with Brad Ruppert and his wife. Brad was a fellow finalist for the Chief Beer Officer position.

Outside of beer, we will be catching a Bruins game as well as checking out the St. Patrick’s Day parade in South Boston.

If there is one disappointment about this trip, it is that we are not seeing a Dropkick Murphys show. Besides being one of our favorite bands, DKM was included in the original conception of the YiB. We tried to get tickets but were thwarted (anyone have extras?).

In their place, we are seeing another Boston celtic punk band… Larkin Brigade.

As always, if you want to meet us for a pint, just contact us. If you have extra DKM tickets, that would be even better.