With the beginnings of the Samuel Adams Brewery in Boston in the 1980s, some claim New England as the home of America’s craft beer movement. The good news is that many locations in the U.S. now brew locally, which makes for less negative environmental impact from transportation and, in the right hands, better beer and fun taprooms and beer gardens. Here are 10 of New England’s finest to visit.
Lawson's Finest Liquids, Waitsfield, Vermont — Photo courtesy of Lawson's Finest Liquids
Unarguably one of America’s best beer makers, this destination brewery in the Green Mountains began in small, nearby Warren, and expanded with a new facility featuring a taproom, outdoor beer garden and retail store.
A full food menu featuring apps such as hummus, sandwiches and salads, mostly made with local ingredients, is offered alongside the rotating list of draft beers. Those range from the flagship Sip of Sunshine IPA – a perfectly hopped, citrusy and bitter brew – to the small-batch Triple Sunshine, a triple hopped IPA aged in tequila barrels.
Uniquely, the Warren site, which operates as a test kitchen, has a three-bedroom Airbnb rental for long distance devotees.
Jack's Abby Beer Hall & Kitchen, Framingham, Massachusetts — Photo courtesy of Linda Laban
About 20 miles west of downtown Boston, Jack's Abby Craft Lagers is a specialty brewery that makes lagers and only lagers. Still, the recipes this family-owned brewery brings to the craft beer scene cover many bases, from the hopped up Hoponius Union, which combines citrusy notes with subtle bitterness from West Coast hops, to the malty amber lager, Shipping Out of Boston (its name a play on Boston’s Dropkick Murphys' song).
The expansive taproom and beer garden, however, also serves beers from its other brewery, Springdale, an experimental test kitchen and barrel-aging taproom, right next door, where IPAs, traditional European beers and fruity kettle sours are explored. And you won’t go hungry here; choose from a menu that includes grilled salmon with succotash, thin crust pizzas, salads and excellent sandwiches such as a succulent fried eggplant. Enjoy inside the cavernous industrial warehouse or in the outdoor canopied garden.
Liars Bench, Portsmouth, New Hampshire — Photo courtesy of Linda Laban
Located on Islington Street, a few minutes from Portsmouth’s charming town center, Liars Bench is a young brewery with attitude. The indoor-outdoor tasting room has a cool blue-collar industrial vibe, and brews, such as Slurps Up or the Love Duck, a complex American Pale Ale created from three hop varieties and four different malts, are among several exceptional beers on tap.
Pair with excellent sandwiches like a roasted sweet potato grilled cheese with creamy spinach spread, or one of their intriguing hot dogs.
Night Shift Brewing Lovejoy Wharf Restaurant & Brewery, Boston, Massachusetts — Photo courtesy of Linda Laban
Night Shift Brewing began in a small kitchen in Somerville, just north of downtown Boston. By 2012, the larger Everett warehouse and taproom opened on Boston’s North Shore, followed in 2019 by the flagship Lovejoy Wharf Restaurant & Brewery near the locks, overlooking the magnificent Zakim Bridge in Boston’s busy West End.
This waterfront location includes Night Shift’s seasonal and signature beers. There’s also Night Shift craft cider and Hoot hard seltzers, as well as Detroit-style pizzas and super salads and sandwiches.
Hog River Brewing Co., Hartford, Connecticut — Photo courtesy of Connecticut Office of Tourism
Tucked into Connecticut’s capital city’s vibrant Parkville neighborhood, this boutique craft brewery and taproom offers a constantly rotating list of its finely crafted beers, as well as guest taps of local hard ciders, along with wines. All are enjoyed in the former Hartford Rubber Works building, where the country's first pneumatic tires for automobiles and bikes were manufactured. Turn-of-the-century machinery is absorbed into the design aesthetic, adding a touch of local history, as well as looking plain cool.
Bad Martha Farmer's Brewery, East Falmouth & Edgartown, Massachusetts — Photo courtesy of Linda Laban
The original Martha’s Vineyard locavore brewery in Edgartown expanded to a mainland location on Cape Cod’s southwestern corner. Both have the same laid-back barn atmosphere, with beautiful wildflower beer gardens where live music and lawn games are played. Falmouth includes an Amish-raised post-and-beam barn, which has a cozy loft lounge atop the bar and a plant-lined patio.
Food at each runs from thin crust pizzas to charcuterie, cheese and veggie platters. The beers on tap are brewed at each location from ingredients sourced as locally as possible, including the wild island grape leaves used in the mash, which distinguishes the brand. From hard seltzers to sours, and from the original Vineyard Summer Ale to a selection of IPAs, there’s a beer for every taste.
Hermit Thrush Brewery, Brattleboro, Vermont — Photo courtesy of Little Pond Digital
This specialty brewery in southern Vermont’s artsy Brattleboro creates new American sour beers using locally cultivated yeast, locally grown ingredients and traditional brewing processes. The taproom is set in a former Chrysler dealership, which informs the room with some 1950's Americana cool.
Still, the 210-year-old salvaged barn wood lining the walls clearly says "Vermont." As do the brews: the kettle-soured Party Jam comes in different varieties, including a refreshing blackberry, and there are several wild ales, which are exposed to natural yeasts and bacteria (the good kind, that is) during the brew process. Truly an exploration in brewing.
Lone Pine Brewing Company, Portland, Maine — Photo courtesy of Linda Laban
Located in hip Portland’s even hipper southern industrial area, which is awash with artisan startups and art studios, this small indoor-outdoor tasting room offers a glimpse into the wide-ranging, often experimental selection. (Lone Pine has a second tasting room located in Gorham, Maine.) Food is down to whichever food trucks are parked outside that day or night. Being Portland, it’s a good bet that the truck is serving up something worthy of these fine brews.
Along with the signature hop-finished Portland Pale Ale, the fruity Raspberry Sparkler sour and three different IPAs, Lone Pine joined forces with Portland’s famed Holy Donut bakery to create several different varieties. Those include Holy Cannoli Ginger Glaze Imperial Stout made with fresh ginger and Holy Donuts' ginger glaze potato donut, and the Blueberry Glaze Imperial Sour, which includes blueberries, vanilla, lactose and blueberry glaze potato donuts.
Newport Craft Brewing & Distilling, Newport, Rhode Island — Photo courtesy of Linda Laban
Just a few minutes' drive from Newport’s historic seafaring downtown, this taproom and outdoor pavilion serves up beer and spirits, including new editions and seasonal varieties. For those non-beer drinkers, there are cocktails created from the Thomas Tew Rum (named for a notorious local pirate), and Sea Fog Whiskey.
Among the brews usually on tap, eclectic choices include Rhode Trip, a cloudy unfiltered New England IPA made with pale malt and oats, and Are You Afraid of the Dark?, a milk stout. Food is BYO.
Halyard Brewing Co., South Burlington, Vermont — Photo courtesy of Halyard Brewing Co.
The delightful taproom on the south side of Vermont’s hippest city is not your average brewery tasting room, but then Halyard is not your average brewery. No traditional beers will be found here. Instead, Halyard’s brewers use organic and fair-trade ingredients to brew naturally fermented and gluten-free ginger beers using recipes dating to the 1750s. In the 1920s, the prohibition against alcohol put a stop to the production and sale of alcoholic ginger beer, which Halyard revived.
In the tasting room, the beers are served straight or in cocktails. There’s the light, slightly lemony Volcano Juice, a ginger beer shandy brewed with organic lemons, and the crisp Mountain-Aid, a black currant ginger beer. Try a Halyard Dark & Stormy made with your favorite Halyard and pair it with locally made Chinese dumplings.
Linda Laban is a freelance writer who enjoys finely crafted beers made with organic, local ingredients.
Read more about Linda Laban here.
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