BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS

In December ’07, got to frequent older version of BOSTON BEER WORKS, located across Fenway Park. Opening to an auxiliary service bar with glass-encased brew tanks, this spacious sportsbar widens to a gigantic back dining-bar area (including multiple TV’s) boasting superb left wall beer bottle collection and many rear silver kettles. Winter Celebration menu included sea bass, lamb, and duck while yearlong fare comprised turkey, salmon, ribs, chicken, and meatloaf. Check newer Fleet Center-based Beer Works for beers sampled there.

Banana-melted vanilla-clove-backed peppery-hopped Victory White reminded me of Hoegaarden’s Belgian ale. Hazelnut coffee-roasted mocha-finishing Beantown Nut Brown, dry-malted unripe yellow-fruited lemon rind-embittered Fenway Pale Ale, and lemony-hopped barley-oats-backboned Boston Garden Gold sufficed.

Better were espresso-chocolate-like cola-walnut-charred black cherry-tinged Buckeye Oatmeal Stout and overripe cherry-sweetened banana-bruised kiwi-mango-backed hop-charred barleywine-styled Hercules Strong Ale.

Next day, after walking Boston Commons with family, tried goodly date-fig-centered holiday warmer White Christmas Ale and peculiar Belgian-styled Winterfest Gruit, an un-hopped prune-date-fronted clove-coriander-allspice-tingled sugar-plummed herbal delight.

Better was cask-conditioned Baby Hercules Pale Ale, a soft cream-whipped ‘small beer’ with whiskey-dabbed rye frontage, honeyed tea linger, and fig-date slip.

www.beerworks.net

If you like this, try:

1. BOSTON BEER WORKS – FLEET CENTER
2. UNION BARREL WORKS
3. BETHLEHEM BREW WORKS
4. PITTSFIELD BREW WORKS
5. THE CHURCH BREW WORKS
6. OCEANSIDE ALE WORKS
7. MOTOR CITY BREWING WORKS
8. KUHNHENN BREWING
9. BARRELHOUSE BREWPUB
10. RIVER CITY ALE WORKS