Boston, MA Brewery Crawl Guide

Boston has a great beer culture and tons of awesome breweries. With so many great spots to try, we’re here today to present our own brewery tour of Boston.

In this guide, the brewery crawl will be broken down by section of the city– starting with Allston/Brighton and ending in the Fenway area.

Stop 1: Notch Brewery and Taproom (Brighton)

When you are on a brewery crawl, it’s a marathon not a sprint. In this case, it makes sense to start at Notch, which specializes in Czech and German-style pilsners and lagers. The beers here are light, crisp, and packed with flavor. There are German beer hall tables both inside and outside in the large courtyard located in the center of the building. In true Oktoberfest fashion, you can even get a full stein. We don’t recommend standing on the tables and chugging the entire stein like they do it over there– but to each their own. Notch is in Charles River Speedway, which houses a number of good spots for food, a hidden speakeasy beneath, and a sake bar. You could do your own bar crawl here without even leaving.

Stop 2: Widowmaker (Brighton)

Right down the street from Notch is the gothic, ski house-themed taproom of Widowmaker. This Braintree-based brewery now has a Boston location where you can try all of their absolute juice bombs. For the purest form of the New England IPA, look no further. Widowmaker’s hazy IPAs have intense flavors of pineapple, peaches, orange, and other tropical fruits. They also have an extensive fruited sour line called ‘Blender Ender’ which rotates quite often. Bone and Bread runs the kitchen here, slinging smash burgers and out-of-the-ordinary ramen. The birria ramen here is out-of-this-world. The rich stewed meat comes along with a taco to match. Another great one is the grilled cheese & tomato soup ramen, which takes the classic flavors that you know and love and adds an Asian twist. And for our last food recommendation, the grilled halloumi cheese provides an epic cheese pull.

Stop 3: Trillium (Fenway)

Just a short Uber ride away is Trillium’s Fenway location. With a large outdoor patio, this spot is especially great in the summer and is the perfect last stop on a brewery crawl before a concert or Sox game. Constantly coming in as one of the top breweries in the world, Trillium is on every beer lover’s bucket list. What started as one of the O.G. breweries specializing in the New England IPA, Trillium has since risen to the top in a variety of styles. Their stouts are rich, flavorful, and ever-changing. The ‘Daily Serving’ series is a killer take on the smoothie-style sours that seem to have to popped up everywhere. They even have an expansive offering in farmhouse-style saisons.

This also a great last stop because it is right near Fenway Park, The House of Blues, and MGM Music Hall. There is always a show, event, or game going on in this neighborhood. Also right next to Trillium is Timeout Market, a robust food hall that has everything from pizza and burgers to sushi and ramen. It’s not your ordinary food court.

And pro tip: you can even order food there and bring it right in to Trillium.