It seems like all the other people who visited this brewery had a much more positive experience than I did, so I hope this was just a fluke. I went with my friends the Saturday after Labor Day, and not one of the seven of us spoke highly of it after leaving.
The beer:
The porter was solid. I have to give them that. It was a little thin on the body, but it was the end of the summer, so I can't complain about that. Taste and aroma were spot-on.
The beach blonde was...a blonde. Maybe 7/10. I've had some good blondes (Eureka from Tree House comes to mind), but this was OK. Some good malty flavor with a light body to be sure.
The Harvest was unanimously disliked, in such a way that I wonder if it was a bad batch, because in addition to the usual smokiness I was getting aromas of wet dog and cardboard, and the flavor was complex to the point of being confusing.
The IPA was disappointing for an IPA lover. Essentially nothing on the nose, and plenty of bitter hang without any of the complex fruity, citrusy, or piney notes that usually drive the front and middle of an IPA's taste.
Didn't try the red, because all the non-porters convinced me I should cut my losses and go back to the porter to leave on a tasty note. I hear generally good things from friends, though.
There was Barefoot Wine for sale as well. That actually hurt me a little. I don't really like that a brewery that is part of on organization (Massachusetts Brewers Guild) that puts "DRINK LOCAL" on all their cards, shirts, mugs, and publications, would sell wine shipped across the country from the largest wine exporter in California.
The service:
The line control was deeply confusing. Our whole group lined up behind a customer making a purchase on the right, short side of the bar as you enter, only to have the bartender then ignore us while serving 4 or 5 straight customers on the long side of the same bar right next to us. Admittedly, we could have been more assertive, but once our first "excuse me" was ignored, we decided to shrug our shoulders and merge into the line that was then out the door. (Guys behind us were super-nice and let us cut our losses and merge after seeing what happened.)
Once we got our first tasting and finished them off at our seats, we went back in to learn that they had opened another tap bar on the other side of the tasting room. Awesome! We split up for a little friendly competition to see which one would be faster, only to have one group return when the original bar was closed. As we walked out, both bars were open again, and I started to get confused. On our way out that bar re-opened and they served some other patrons.
By the end, I counted three times that the woman tending bar at the original bar left her post, at a certain point putting up a sign that the bar was CLOSED about 15 minutes before the tasting room itself supposedly closed. None of this was communicated in the usual boisterous cattle call that I've come to expect for crowded brewery announcements, though it was the end of a long day, and probably the end of a longer week, so the lack of energy was understandable.
The place:
Not bad at all. A couple high-tops on the inside, picnic bench next to the brewing floor, and bunch of nice picnic benches outside. You can even play cornhole by the benches. My only major complaint would be the flow issue mentioned earlier. It is unclear where people are supposed to go for tastings, as there are signs in multiple locations of their selections, but nothing saying "order here" or "tastings this way" with some arrows. Those would go a long way. Also when it got crowded, and both bars were open, they were still forced through a single choke point on the way out to the benches around various store items like T-shirts and doggie treats (which are super cool by the way--their store had some nice things for sure).
Sorry about the novel, but I don't like giving 1- or 2-star reviews without good explanation. Really hope that experience was mostly a fluke. read more