Favorite local breweries and craft beers (Boston, Waltham: prices, delivery, eat)

[timberline742]

Not surprised about Slumbrew. It just wasn't good. The space they built near East Cambridge was just too far from a subway stop really, and not good enough to go out of the way for... the beers were meh. Should have stuck with just the Assembly Row tent.


I really don't get how Clown Shoes does what it does.


Losing a head brewer can be a killer. Idle Hands, when it was over in Everett in that industrial space has another brewery in with it... I'm blanking on the name. Someone help me out. Anyway, that brewer also became the Idle Hands head brewer and stuff improved. His own brewing/brewery was great. When they got forced out he picked up and went on a working tour of Scandinavia and Norway mostly learning and doing brewing collabs (he came back a few times with some and did events at like Atwoods and similar places). He had a gift. I wonder what he is up to now. I never thought Idle Hands recovered even though they opened that place over in Malden or Everett or whatever.

[timberline742]

Enlightenment Ales, that was it. I see now he is a head brewer in Denmark.

[lrfox]

Originally Posted by timberline742

Enlightenment Ales, that was it. I see now he is a head brewer in Denmark.

Interesting. Didn't know any of this. I've been to Idle Hands twice. I really don't think it's anything special, but I do think it's good enough and located well enough (easy T access in Malden Center) to stay. Always seems to have a decent crowd.

I'm really interested in seeing how this all shakes out in the coming years. There's just a glut of breweries out there and if they're not either standout or conveniently located, they're going to struggle to remain open. I hope the the end result is better quality even if there's less quantity, but I also worry that the glut will hurt quality brewers too.

[timberline742]

There has been a number of closings in the VT scene recently. Trout River closed up a bit back, but then it started to snowball a little (Wolavers, Farnham, Infinity, etc)... I think there are just going to be more and more going down.

[lrfox]

Originally Posted by timberline742

Not surprised about Slumbrew. It just wasn't good. The space they built near East Cambridge was just too far from a subway stop really, and not good enough to go out of the way for... the beers were meh. Should have stuck with just the Assembly Row tent.

Looks like Assembly (the brick and mortar restaurant) was the problem, not the taproom: https://bostonrestaurants.blogspot.c...files-for.html

I haven't set foot in the restaurant, but the beer garden with shipping containers was nice and I know they got a discount on rent since that site was just vacant land at the time (now a construction staging ground). Actually worth visiting in spite of the sub par beer. I've also never been to the taproom, but I'm just assuming that overhead (rent in particular), material costs, and labor are all quite a bit higher at the Assembly Row restaurant than at the Ward St. taproom.

[Shrewsburried]

Originally Posted by lrfox

Looks like Assembly (the brick and mortar restaurant) was the problem, not the taproom: https://bostonrestaurants.blogspot.c...files-for.html

I haven't set foot in the restaurant, but the beer garden with shipping containers was nice and I know they got a discount on rent since that site was just vacant land at the time (now a construction staging ground). Actually worth visiting in spite of the sub par beer. I've also never been to the taproom, but I'm just assuming that overhead (rent in particular), material costs, and labor are all quite a bit higher at the Assembly Row restaurant than at the Ward St. taproom.

My limited data set suggests breweries should focus on being a brewery and restaurateurs should continue focusing on maintaining good rotating beer lists. A prime example of this is the Medusa + Hudson center relationship, where on any given day there are stacks of Rail Trail boxes in Medusa and a whole bunch of happy people, including the business owners.

Jacks Abbey is one of the few breweries who's managed to do the restaurant transition reasonably well. Most others have been extremely mediocre, including Slumbrew's Assembly spot. I suppose Trillium has managed it as well, however, I don't have much love the brewery's upper mgmt so it falls off my radar.

[timberline742]

Agreed on that, Shrewsburried. It's two very different things. Probably even wiser to go with the food truck / pop up type subletting of space, ala Long Live Beerworks or Tree House.


I actually think it goes both ways. Restaurants that have tried to brew their own beers afterbeing a brewpub rarely do well, IMO. Pro Pig own brews are significantly worse than the stuff that filled the tap list prior to their brewing their own. The food got kind of meh too, but they sold out to the Hen of the Woods people, so that should (I hope) turn around.

[lrfox]

Originally Posted by Shrewsburried

My limited data set suggests breweries should focus on being a brewery and restaurateurs should continue focusing on maintaining good rotating beer lists. A prime example of this is the Medusa + Hudson center relationship, where on any given day there are stacks of Rail Trail boxes in Medusa and a whole bunch of happy people, including the business owners.

Jacks Abbey is one of the few breweries who's managed to do the restaurant transition reasonably well. Most others have been extremely mediocre, including Slumbrew's Assembly spot. I suppose Trillium has managed it as well, however, I don't have much love the brewery's upper mgmt so it falls off my radar.

Agreed on all fronts. I'd add Night Shift to the list of breweries struggling to operate restaurants (specifically, their Lovejoy Wharf spot). The food is mediocre, and the space is underutilized most of the time relative to a standard brewery. My favorite breweries (from Bone Up and Lamplighter to Hill Farmstead and Treehouse) partner with food truck or stall vendors to handle the food and just focus on the beer. Oxbow's Portland taproom even has a Duckfat window outside. Leave the food to the pros, it's really the smart way to do it.

Re: Trillium - they'll be fine because they smartly made the ground floor mostly a taproom/bar space. But the food is overpriced/mediocre. It may be a financial success for the time being (again, largely because of the beer), but I have a hard time calling it a restaurant done "well."

[BosYuppie]

Originally Posted by lrfox

Looks like Assembly (the brick and mortar restaurant) was the problem, not the taproom: https://bostonrestaurants.blogspot.c...files-for.html

I haven't set foot in the restaurant, but the beer garden with shipping containers was nice and I know they got a discount on rent since that site was just vacant land at the time (now a construction staging ground). Actually worth visiting in spite of the sub par beer. I've also never been to the taproom, but I'm just assuming that overhead (rent in particular), material costs, and labor are all quite a bit higher at the Assembly Row restaurant than at the Ward St. taproom.

The food at the Assembly slumbrew was definitely not worth the trip, the couple times I’ve been there. The space is a little sterile too, especially compared to the really cool vibes at places like River Bar, Earls, Smoke Shop right there in Assembly.

It’s too bad because their little shipping container beer garden, one of the first in the area, was a cool scene.

[Shrewsburried]

Originally Posted by timberline742

Agreed on that, Shrewsburried. It's two very different things. Probably even wiser to go with the food truck / pop up type subletting of space, ala Long Live Beerworks or Tree House.

Different businesses and, perhaps more importantly, different passions. I have some social overlap with respected restaurateurs/chefs they are extremely devoted to the craft, maintain insane work ethic, and demand high standards from staff. Unlike a micro-brewery, which can function with a small competent crew outback and a few charming pourers, a restaurant has a ton of moving parts which command attention/oversight.

That's not to say running a brewery is easy, rather, that running a restaurant in a competitive market is really f____ hard. Mediocre 1980's-style brew pubs simply don't fly in 2019 ... too much competition for your dollar in this dense MA market.