I think a fresh thread is fine, someone doing a search will find both of them.
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^ Yes to this. One of the things I admire about Notch.
Plus the vibe of the taproom in Salemâhavenât visited Brightonâhas been chill and convivial when we visited. Thatâs another important aspect I look for.
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And here! If anyone spots Hill Farmstead Conduct of Life, give a shout
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May I audition to be your frisky, loud young puppy so that you could throw me those to hush me?
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Last week we visited Armsby Abbey again after a trip to see the orchid show at Tower Hill Botanic Gardens. (Note: Charming, yet not as big an orchid exhibit as my mindâs eye had imagined.)
I wanted to share this look at Armsbyâs draft beer menu from this second visit. Quite a different lineup was different than at the beginning of the month. I very much enjoyed a Novachord from Brick and Feather Brewery of Turners Falls, MA. This was a Czech-style Polotmavy (amber) lager at 4 percent alcohol.
Noticed, but did not try, the Czech-style Pilnser from Schilling also on the list.
Hmmm, could it be that Czech-style beers are having a moment here in New England?
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I have heard good things about Fox Farm Witch Meadow and IPAs with Riwaka hops like Pora are always great.
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Ah, something for HO friends who may find themselves in Connecticut. Thanks!
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Keep an eye on Armsby Abbeyâs taplist - thatâs going to be your best bet. Not too many places have HF on tap
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Re-posting an earlier visit to Pivotal in Bristol RI just to keep taproom content in 1 thread:
Pivotal Brewing in Bristol, which was on our way. Awesome space and the campus is rife with food businesses, including Brick Pizza and Borealis Coffee in gorgeous mill buildings. But as we were making our way there, I saw old school places like Andradeâs Seafood market and various other restaurants and packies. We obviously need to delve into Bristol. Pivotal is in a beautiful space, good beers. They had a makers mart and a folk singer today and good beer (loved the soul fire DIPA). But most important, they had Yahtzee, which kept all of us happy.
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Nice post. My sole experience eating in Bristol was Tweet Balzanoâs!
So I finally made it to the relatively newly opened Widowmaker Taproom @ 190 N. Beacon Street, Brighton (Boston). On this fine spring day I biked there to check it out. It is located in the location formerly occupied by Brato Brewhouse, which I never made it to.
Even though it is only steps from Market Street, that end of North Beacon is a lot grittier than I remember it being - lots of construction and a storage building located nearby. I can kind of see why Brato didnât make it there.
As I was biking I limited myself to just a half pour, I was more on a reconnaissance mission to get a sense of the vibe there. On a Saturday afternoon it was moderately busy, maybe half the tables/booths were occupied with several families present along with the other patrons.
Black appears to be the color of choice for both the outside of the building as well as the inside, and the music choice on this day was pretty loud metal. Not my idea of a cozy pub but to each their own!
Extensive draft list - 11 beers split between hoppy IPA variations and lower alc. lagers and dark ales. I really like Widowmakerâs Blue Comet and it did not fail. Hazy 7%+ IPA with loads of hops both in the nose and especially zingy in the mouth. A couple of full pours of those would put me down for the night.
There is also a full kitchen with sandwiches, ramen noodle bowls, salads, and various snacks.
For IPA aficionados, this is a nice addition to the Boston taproom scene. If IPAs are not your thing, fear not, as Notch Brewing (@ the Speedway) is only a few minutes walk away and offers a 180 degree different taproom experience.
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@Stiv, thanks for this intel! Was there an outdoor patio available? The website says that it is to open in Spring 2024 âŚ
The patio in that space was one of our favorite parts of Brato - an outdoor beer option within biking distance!
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I didnât look for it, it must be out back? Certainly there is no room in front of the building!
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Thanks for sharing, @Stiv! Helpful to know that Widowmaker and Notch are close to each otherâin Brighton, that is.
Nice when there are multiple taproom options located within walking distance of one another. Have run across that in Portland (Maine) but not so much here in MA.
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Are you talking about the paved parking lot next to the building? With the metal fence and loading dock? I was so disappointed being stuck outside on that pavement at Brato. It felt like a rush job for covid.
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Yep, it was definitely just a paved area to the left of the building, not anything fancy. I donât recall a loading dock but there were some planters or such when we were there that may have obstructed that view.
Maybe I should have clarified that it wasnât the beauty of the outdoor space that we liked, but rather its existence that made Brato a viable option for us at that time. At that point, with a baby and toddler, sitting outside with beers and food (made by someone else!) was pretty great.
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@kumquat Totally agree. When we visited some blurry time during the pandemic, we were happy to be (1) out-and-about; (2) drinking good beer and eating decent bar food; and (3) bring outside with our 5 or 6 year old (damn, I canât remember). I forgot to post about our Brato experience. It was a good one and so Iâm sad they are gone. Allston-Brighton is a PITA from Arlington.
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We visited Burlington Beer Company last weekend. Reported here.
Today, we had a non-fun errand up north at Lowes (new dishwasherâŚwe went with a Bosch Series 500) tied with a fun activity NW of us so we decided to check out Treehouse Tewksbury for lunch knowing it would be a s#!tshow. And s#!tshow indeed it was. But we eked out a space in the quieter anteroom (the 2nd floor âLookout Roomâ was also full). It was my first time (B had visited on a quiet Friday with a friend). The beautiful main room is LOUD but lovely with its timbered ceiling. Pizza was underwhelming (Deerfield was better but the kitchen was taxed; B canât remember how the pizza was on his visit) draft beer was uniformly good. Beer-to-go robot was fun to watch. Weâll return on a non-weekend day. We didnât see kids gone wild as @tomatotomato unfortunately experienced. I think in warmer weather, more folks will hang outside, making the inside space more tolerable.
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Tree House on a weekend is very tricky. Itâs almost always at capacity a few hours into each day. The best way is to go at open. Been to the Tewks location a few times (itâs 15 minutes closer to me than the one in Charleton) and I absolutely love it. I too had the pizza and it was heavy on the parmesan which I thought was great. The crust was nice and the pan they serve it on is awesome at keeping it from being soggy. Is it the best pizza? No. It is awesome for what it is? Absolutely, and then some.
Donât sleep on THâs coffee in cans as well as their Mai Tais served up at the bar. They hit so nice.
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About a mile from my house. Although I wasnât actually IN Tewksbury pretty much all day. 
Iâm just hoping the Commonwealth fixes the rest of Rte 38/Main Street this year, because that stretch in the center of the shopping area is SO chonky and chewed upâŚand has been for at least 5 years. 
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