Boston Craft Beer: Then and Now

Remember the time when a craft beer brewer became a billionaire? How about when craft beer was the subject of a snarky Super Bowl commercial? It’s obvious that the industry has experienced astronomical growth in the last couple years – as well as growing pains. Nationally, branding litigation has made headlines, and locally, pay for play allegations have made waves. It would be easy to dwell on the negative side effects of the craft boom, but the truth is we’ve made some wonderful progress.

Here are three Massachusetts brewers on what’s changed since I first interviewed them — and what’s around the corner:

, Boston Craft Beer: Then and NowAdam Romanow, Castle Island Brewery

What do you think about the state of craft beer brewing in Boston, two years ago and now?

I think craft in Boston has come a long way in a very short time. Consumers are becoming more educated and scrupulous, breweries are dialing in quality and learning to play to their strengths, and retailers are finally giving craft the attention it deserves. Two years ago it was difficult to find a truly great IPA on tap, let alone at a place that regularly cleans its tap lines and knows the difference between a clean glass and a dirty one. But that dynamic is changing, and everyone in the supply chain is paying more attention to the fine details that make the biggest differences, and it’s becoming much easier to find quality products all over the city.

What’s in the pipeline for Castle Island?

So, Castle Island looks pretty different than it did last time we chatted. Our search for a spot in Southie ultimately didn’t pan out, but it turns out this ended up being a blessing in disguise. In March we signed a lease on an incredible 20,000 square foot building right off Route 1 in Norwood. The building is a perfect (and hard to find) blend of high-bay warehouse space coupled with pre-existing office space and tons of supporting infrastructure for a brewery operation. The town has been incredibly helpful and encouraging; in addition to creating a destination facility that will draw people to the area, we expect to create 5 new jobs at launch and up to 10 more within the first 18 months. As we’re tied up in the licensing process at the moment, there’s no telling exactly when we’ll open, but we’re aiming for a late Summer/early Fall opening.

, Boston Craft Beer: Then and NowChris Lohring, Notch Brewing

What do you think about the state of craft beer brewing in Boston, two years ago and now?

I think every brewery in the US is eyeing entry into the Massachusetts market. At the same time, new MA breweries are coming on-line at a good clip. Something has to give, and all things being equal (quality, availability, price), I hope consumers chose local.

I still see a lot of bars giving more tap space to San Diego than New England, and in all honesty, I find that predictable and boring. The best tap sets out there right now have diversity, and include a local presence. That takes dedication, knowledge and a point of view, and we need more of that.

What’s in the pipeline for Notch?

Working on our Salem MA brewery. It’s big project for us, and getting it right is more important than doing it fast. We are still in the planning phase, but will break ground later this summer and be on-line in 2016. Beer-wise we just released Saison in cans as our warm weather seasonal, and continue to roll out our Single Series on draft. Out right now is Zen Arcade, a crystal clear unfiltered wheat beer dry-hopped with Equinox, Citra and Mosaic.

, Boston Craft Beer: Then and NowAlex Rabe, Portico Brewing

What do you think about the state of craft beer brewing in Boston, two years ago and now?

Boston is really interesting to talk about right now because it feels like everything is exploding all at once – from the luxury condos going in everywhere you look, new restaurants opening up all over the place, a major casino development in the works, and the city being even in the running for the Olympics – it’s hard to even conceptualize how craft beer fits in Boston right now and figure out where it’s going.

What is clear is that breweries are opening taprooms; a great sign that the relaxed pouring laws are working. It feels like Boston is headed in the right direction of looking a little more like Denver, Seattle, or Portland (ME or OR) where taprooms are more plentiful and the beer culture is more developed. This is definitely a major change from two years ago when many brewers were afraid to open a brewery without a taproom and miss out on that retail offering, which, judging from the hordes of people who visit Night Shift or Jack’s Abby, is clearly what the people want.

What’s in the pipeline for Portico?

For the last couple of months we’ve been working hard to get our beer into bottles, and we can finally say we have released our first-ever bottled product.  We’ve packaged Chroma, our amber rye ale, in six packs, which will join Fuzzy Logic as our second year-round beer. To make each six-pack extra special, Alex and I, with some help from our friends, individually stamped each carrier by hand, making each one unique. We even designed, carved, and laser-cut the stamps, which was a project unto itself. Needless to say after being available on draft only for almost three years, we are pumped to get our first bottled product out there.

We’ve got a busy summer ahead of us – we’re re-releasing Saison Charrette, as well as a new beer we’re currently test batching, so we’re excited about the beers to come.

About AmericanCraftBeer.com

AmericanCraftBeer.com is the nations' leading source for the Best Craft Beer News, Reviews, Events and Media.
Scroll To Top