An agreeable stop for snacks and a beverage at the outdoor Notch Brewing Biergarten next to their Tap Room.
Very generous scotch eggs turned out to be almost a meal in themselves. The two of us could have split one had we known how much sausage surrounded the egg.
The pretzel seemed especially good, probably because the menu says Notch gets these from A & J King Baking nearby.
Notch specializes in session beers that clock in at 4.5% or lower alcohol. I found that to be a welcome difference from the IPA styles that seem dominant these days. Some higher alcohol varieties on tap as well.
No tasting flights of beer here, though Notch lets you opt for smaller seven ounce pours when you want to taste more than one kind. I favored their crisp, light Kolsch.
That pretzel looks like a meal too. Did they have many beers to try?
I find some breweries will have just a few of their brews available at a time.
Thanks for posting…
I believe that they have 12 beers on tap. A few of these are part of their Voll series that strays from the 4.5% or under concept, but they’re beers they want to do (most of those fall in the range of 5-7.5%).
Notch has been on our list for a long time but we’ve passed it up due to our (unfounded?) fear of the crowds on nice summer weekends. The first time I looked into notch was Father’s Day a couple years ago. B put the kibosh on it. We have enjoyed Notch’s traveling beer garden at Trustees events this summer so we too are appreciative of the lower ABV beers once in a while.
We hit up Trillium in Canton yesterday and it wasn’t as crowded as we were expecting so maybe that fear is unfounded.
A few weeks back—before the cold set in—we visited Notch for the first time in a long while. Still a most agreeable experience. Half-pours available instead of flights, and the snack menu pairs well with their brews. Check out the impressive amount of pickled vegetables on the sausage board we ordered.
Notch is one of the few breweries making trad Czech style beers around. Them and schilling from NH. Somehow they get it right. Whenever I’m up in Boston (from NYC) I always try and hunt down some of their Standard and other Czech pivo’s. The other week i was unsuccessful and very sad.
Indeed. Notch has also added a tap room in Brighton that might be more convenient, if you happen to be visiting Boston again.
And should you ever make your way up to southern Maine, Sacred Profane Tankpub in Biddeford is another for your list. Brienne Allen, formerly of Notch, and her husband are the co-founders. Each has serious brewing cred. Only their light and dark lagers brewed on-premises are served from the gleaming copper tanks above the bar. Very much an intentional homage to the best of Czech tradition, I understand. We managed to visit last year after they opened and I’d dearly love to return there too.
One of my favorite taprooms in the state. It’s great and their outdoor space is also awesome and overlooks the water. The pretzels are awesome and they make a mean shandy. What else could anyone possibly need?
Agree 100 percent. Interested to hear about any other fave taprooms in MA, should you care to share. I’m noticing new taprooms up opening more than I ever have before.
(Hmmm, “Favorite beer tasting rooms in MA” might even be a worthy topic for another thread to liven up the Boston/New England board.)
