ORLEANS, MASSACHUSETTS
Coming to life one year after nearby Devil’s Purse, Orleans-based HOG ISLAND BEER COMPANY (with a second newer white-housed Wellfleet location) has created winningly familiar stylistic fare since 2016. Once the local lockup, the historic countryside haunt with old stone foundation became Old Jailhouse Tavern before turning into a microbrewery.
Inside a gray cedar-age shingled colonial edifice with sidled silver silo, Hog Island’s large cement-floored interior includes a two-toned pine top bar, decorative back-walled Winnebago RV with windows and tires, small stage area, several barreled tables and chairs, stooled metal tables and white tile ceiling. Brew tanks, handled by head brewer, Taylor Hirst, are to the left. A large umbrella-strewn deck provides outdoor seating.
The 40 right side tap handles below the centralized TV serve proprietary and outside local beers ranging from mostly easygoing, slightly mainstream fodder to a seaweed-induced dark ale. Mixed drinks, flatbread pizzas, sandwiches and desserts were also available as my wife and I visited on a bustling Saturday afternoon, September ’24.
Brisk floral-perfumed citrus grazed maize-dried grain rusticity and sweet corn sugaring for mildly pale-malted Four Reels Pilsner, leaving dank herbal hop astringency and light lemon licks on the musty backend.
Spritzy lemon zest sparked Summer Ale, a moderately hop-embittered light body with mild herbal spicing.
Sourdough breading sashayed thru White Shark Wheat Ale, receiving a light raw-honeyed musk as well as latent corn sugaring.
Sweet dewy peat and mild tobacco crisping engaged Irish Red Ale, Ack Red, gaining lemon-rotted desiccated orange musk and raw-honeyed melanoid malting for malt-forward moderation.
Flagship East-West-styled IPA, Outermost, let sunny lemony grapefruit bittering and musky orange oiling pick up mild currant-dried herbage seeping into the dry wood finish and toasted rye base of perfectly centrist medium body.
Dry Chatham Kelp Stout utilized briny oyster-shelled kelp seaweed to contrast caramel-burnt dark chocolate and nutty coffee roast, gaining hop-charred black peppering and black tea bittering.
Upon my June 2026 Cape Cod journey, Hog Island had become part of the Trinity Beverage Group, merging with locally owned breweries Cape Cod (Hyannis) and Mayflower (Plymouth). Head brewer Taylor Hirst recently took over the tanks at this ‘chic’ Nauset Beach pub.
A kiosk-like kitchen now serves rangy pub cuisine such as sandwiches, pizza, salads and more. I sank three more proprietary draughts (plus a few previously untried Mayflower brews such as Watermelon Sour, Beer-First Landing Lager and Crispy Business Kolsch – listed in Beer Index) on my two-hour stopover.
Equally crisp, American Wheat, one of Hog’s most popular draughts, relegated Cascade-hopped lemony grapefruit fizzing for pale wheat malt sugaring in a simple, sessionable way.
Newly brewed and redefined as a Belgian witbier, White Shark, let light lemon misting sprinkle stylish orange-peeled coriander sweetness contrasting musky herbal fungi atop delicate white wheat base.
Meanwhile, New England styled IPA, Nauset Haze, allowed grapefruit-juiced naval orange peel sweetness and mild pineapple-guava-passionfruit tropicalia to soak up resinous pine tones contrasting vanilla-daubed oated wheat creaming.