The Cradle of LiBEERty: Baahston - Part 2

Our first full day in Boston began with a visit to a familiar brewery: Aeronaut. We arrived fairly early, and the place was only just starting to fill up in the front area where the bar is situated. With a floor plan that seems to sprawl the distance of a city block, the brewery is quite spacious. We set up shop in the back room, which coincidentally houses a few "free-play" (no quarters needed!) classic arcade games. I'm always good for a game of Ms. Pac-Man or Dig Dug. Thankfully, there was no hipster douchebag serenading his special lady-friend with an acoustic guitar this time.

Hello Aeronaut.

Keeping things light and airy, I began the day with a pour of Citra Galaxy, a soft session IPA with notes of tangerine, orange and peach. At 4.6% ABV, this seemed like a pretty good place to start. The mouthfeel was pretty solid for a lighter beer, and the fruity, citrusy hops came through enough for this to be enjoyable overall.

Hops dominate the charts at Aeronaut.

As we sipped our beers and partook in some people watching, the place was starting to fill up with St. Patty's people (I need to create a name for these fair weather drinkers). Fortunately, it was too early for anyone to start acting like a dick bag. I decided to take a quick stroll around the premises to take some photos. Since the brewery is situated in an old warehouse, there's lots of antiquated devices strewn about in a decorative fashion to provide some eclectic ambiance. Case in point:

What can this strange device be?

I hadn't seen one of those in quite some time. It's kind of like stumbling across an old pay phone booth in a random part of a big city. I returned to my seat and it was time to select another beer. This time, I went to the other side of the spectrum with 4 Years with Dr. Nandu, Aeronaut's 4th anniversary DIPA hopped with Citra and Galaxy.

This beer looked identical to the Citra Galaxy I'd just drank. It did, however, have a more viscous body and pronounced hop character albeit a tad muddled. I wasn't as wowed with Aeronaut this time around; that's not to say that I didn't enjoy our beers, though. They were pretty solid. I just didn't experience any depth of character with my beer choices this time. Perhaps I should have strayed from the hazy IPAs, which was tough considering 9 of the 13 available beers could be considered "hoppy." I should have tried the Smoked Porter. Fail. Maybe next time.

Adios, Aeronaut!

When we arrived at our next destination, Remnant, we had stumbled into a block party of sorts out in the courtyard of the small shopping plaza where the brewery was situated. Turns out this is called the Bow Market community. The weather was cooperating nicely and the temperature was warmer than usual for mid-March, especially in New England. All of the shops and eateries had their doors and windows open, allowing patrons to browse freely among the plaza. Unique beers and craft coffee served daily.There was actually a guy manning a greeter stand near the entrance to the courtyard, so I asked if we could walk around with beer. Of course the answer was yes; I was just being responsible. Go figure! He also happened to mention there was a record store up on the second level, so naturally I had to check that out. It was mostly new indie music, so I didn't leave with anything to add to the collection. Still, it's always fun to browse for a bit.

We headed back down to Remnant and ventured into the crowded tasting room. The main room (where the bar and adjacent coffee bar was located) was pretty full, so we dipped in the back room to check it out. I was able to snag two seats overlooking the brewhouse, which was down below ground level. This served as a pretty cool view during our visit. Turns out there was a back bar as well; we just couldn't see it because the narrow back room was jam-packed with people.

Pleeps like wheezin' the juu-uice!

After a quick look at the beer list, I decided to go with Dream Pop, a soft, smooth pale ale brewed with juicy Mandarina and Mosaic hops. The silky mouthfeel comes from the use of oats in the grain bill. As the name implies, Mandarina hops impart a Mandarin orange flavor, while Mosaic shakes things up a bit due to the complex nature of the hop. Think bright summer melon and summer fruit salad.

The other beer we tried, Lightform, is a farmhouse style gose. This tart wheat ale features coriander, sea salt, and - wait for it! - peach purée fermented with a saison yeast blend for a hint of funk. Another peach beer for the win! The beers here were solid, although we just couldn't get comfortable on the small barstools amid dozens of people constantly wading through the brewery. We did grab a pair of coffees on the way out, which kept us company on our quarter-mile walk back to the car.

And we were off to another familiar destination. Since our last visit a few years ago, it seems that Lamplighter has become one of the hip craft breweries in Boston. The previous night's wait in line outside of Cheeky Monkey primed me for another equal wait outside Lamplighter. The main different, though, was that I already knew the beer was good here, so waiting in line didn't really phase me this time. They have since added a back room area, likely for overflow caused by their recent explosion. Based on our previous visit, we knew what to expect: wild ales, sour beers, and plenty of funk. The back room was packed to the gills, but we found a quiet corner where we hung out for the duration of our visit.

...oh my!

After scoping out the beer list, one concoction jumped out at me immediately: Princesa Peach. There goes me and my infatuation with peaches again! A collaboration with UX Brew based out of São Paulo, Brazil, this effervescent Brut IPA is brewed with peaches and treated with an amylase enzyme to eliminate residual sugar. Brewed to mimic a Bellini cocktail, this semi-dry IPA boasts hints of nectarine, juicy peach, and mango.

Pleeps loves two-pawing it.

Brewslut settled on Black Pearl, a dense oyster Stout brewed in collaboration with MA-based Medusa Brewing Co. and Island Creek Oysters. Steeped in the hot wort before fermentation, oyster shells impart a mineral-like, briny quality amid more traditional notes of espresso and cocoa. I wasn't a huge fan of the flavor, although the texture was spot-on.

Pleeps is lit up at Lamplighter!

We didn't feel like standing all day, so we decided it was time to move on to the next attraction. Besides, it was fast approaching dinner time, and we craved sustenance. Luckily, our next stop has excellent food to match its world-class beers.

When we visited Minnesota last summer, I was surprised that two of the "old guard" breweries still produced what I'd call the best beers I drank during our two-day visit to the Twin Cities. The first was Masala Mama from Minneapolis Town Hall, and the other was a 2017 vintage of Surly Darkness. While there was plenty of great beer to be had by all the hipster magnet breweries and up-and-comers, the fact these two old school breweries - in my humble opinion - provide the benchmark for all others to follow. And let me tell you, people... these dinosaurs can still hang with the fresh-faced new kids on the block. The same can be said of Cambridge, the oldest brewpub in the greater Boston area. It's always a pleasure to visit this world-class place, and this time would be no different.

When we arrived, I was beyond giddy (i.e. at half-mast) to see one of my favorite barleywines of all time on tap: Blunderbuss! It had been several years since I had enjoyed a pour of this masterpiece, but its flavor was still fresh in my mind. The fact that I still regarded this as a favorite of the style says a lot to me, because I've had beers on a Friday that I have no recollection of having drunk by the time it's Sunday. Yeah, this is beer is that good. But more on Blunderbuss in a bit.

We kicked off with a pair of delicious beers. The first was Silly Hats Only, a light, refreshing tart Berliner Weisse kettle-soured with Lactobacillus. A process that seems pretty run-of-the-mill these days, CBC was actually one of a small handful of breweries involved in the development of this type of sour beer production almost 15 years ago. This sucker was bone dry with a pleasant amount of pucker on the palate.

The other beer, Dance Band on the Titanic, was pretty f'n epic! Described as a "wild sour ale with mangoes and peaches," this mouthwatering wild ale spent eighteen months in neutral oak wine barrels and was initially fermented with a wild yeast culture already residing in the barrels. The base beer provided plenty of tartness and funk (courtesy of the Brett), but the true magic didn't happen until they blended in mango and peach juice. The result is an intense yet insanely drinkable balance of sweet fruit and funky Brett. To quote the beer description: "Like a dance band on a sinking ship, this beer goes down easy while playing pleasantly on your palate." This beer was unbelievably good and a highlight of the trip.

Which brings me to Blunderbuss! People, this beer is special. It's a rare breed. You simply can't fathom how excited I was to see this beer on the board. Double-mashed with nearly a ton of malt, five different hops, and cold-aged several months with French Limousine* oak, Blunderbuss boasts a complex array of caramel, dried fruit, vanilla, oak, toffee, and spicy hops with a pleasant alcohol warmth in the finish.

*NERD ALERT: Woods from the following regions in western France are usually called Limousin: Deux-Sevres, Vienne, Hautes de Vienne,the northern part of the Correze,the Creuze,the eastern part of the Charente and the southern part of the Indre. These regions tends to produce oak with wide grains. These woods are more tannic than the tight-grained woods and are most popular with brandy makers.

Pleeps' first Blunderbuss did not disappoint!

Afterward, we went to check out Lord Hobo, but it was pretty packed there, and the beer prices were ri-god-damn-diculous! I think the cheapest pour was $8.50 but most beers were between $9 and $12... and not even pints! Fuck that hoodwink! So we went back to Cambridge and pretty much polished off the rest of the line-up.

Upon our return, we enjoyed Non Stop Ecstatic Screaming. What an evocative name for a beer brewed with cinnamon, vanilla, Pasilla Negro chili peppers, candy cap mushrooms, cacao, and coffee from Lighthouse Roasters (an iconic old-school Seattle company employing an antique cast-iron roaster). Its initial ecstatic energy of “pastry” goodness – notes of coffee, chocolate, and maple, hints of spice from chiles and cinnamon - blends into the fuzz/background noise and the insistent bumping beat of its classic base beer style - soft, lingering roasted malts and fruity English yeast.

I decided on something more straight-forward for my next beer: Can I Buy a Vowel, a straight-up, no frills Czech-style pilsner. I always enjoy a crisp, refreshing, mildly hoppy Bohemian pilsner, and this one hit the mark. Czech-style pilsners differ from its German counterpart in that the malt character is more toasty and biscuity. German pilsners tend to have more of a mineral-like finish and livelier hop bite. Overall, this was a fine interpretation of the style. Well done!

We closed out with a pair of NE-style IPAs - Ella Sings the Brews and The Fog that Surrounds - the latter actually DIPA (and with a name derived from Phish lyrics to boot!) that were tasty, although I think I enjoyed all of the other beers more than these.

And the old guard takes the trophy again! I was so glad to experience Blunderbuss again. I've often cited this as one of my top three barleywines of all time, which is quite a feat because I hadn't had it in several years. Here's another photo just because it's so awesome:

After finishing up at Cambridge, we decided to head over to Meadhall, one of Cambridge's beer drinking institutions. Surprisingly, the crowd was light compared to the shit show that was Lord Hobo. Fine by me. We were able to grab seats and the large, wrap-around bar and just chill for the rest of the night and reflect back on our favorite beers of the trip thus far. Speaking of beers, here's what we enjoyed at Meadhall:

Charms & Hexes - Banded Brewing - sour ale with blood oranges

We'd visited Banded Brewing once before (known as Banded Horn) during my birthday trip back in 2016, which happened during my blog hiatus. I didn't make the connection when I ordered the beer because I remembered the "horn" part of the name rather than the "banded" part. Still, this was a nice effervescent sour ale with a juicy citrusy backbone.

Night Fever - Night Shift - stout with coffee and chocolate

Brewslut fell in love with this beer, and for good reason: it's pretty damn delicious! Even though we'd be visiting there the following day, she wanted this beer. Fair enough. More on Night Shift coming up in the third and final installment of this blog series.

Cultivé - Allagash - wheat beer aged on peaches

Yup, more peaches! Over the years, I've come to adore this brewery. I love everything about it: the beer, the people, the brewery itself. It's also one of only a handful of breweries I follow on Instagram. Every time I visit, it's an amazing experience. So I felt inclined to try this beer I'd never had; a wheat beer aged on peaches that had previously spent time with Farm to Face, another tart peach beer from Allagash. This delicate beer presents notes of ripe peach, nectarine, tangy lemon, and spicy tropical notes.

And with that, the evening had concluded. Join us next time for the wrap-up of our Boston Blitz. Until next time...