Shortly after the earthquake off the coast of Miyagi Prefecture, the nuclear reactor crisis at the Fukashima Dai-ichi Power Plant, and the relentless cries from worried friends and family members, my boyfriend and I decided it was time to get away from Tokyo to wait, watch, and see what course the events would take. After waiting for 5 hours at the airport for the check-in counters to open, then another hour to just get though security and immigration (and top this off with a connecting flight in Newark, New Jersey — monstrous!) we finally made it to Boston.
After a week of worrying about aftershocks and radiation level spikes, we were finally able to breathe more easily while keeping up to date with the news and the containment of the reactors. Never did the phrase “I need a drink” apply more than during that time (I swear, I’m not an alcoholic!) so when we found out about the Free Beer tours in Boston (score!) we decided to take advantage of the fun.
If you plan on visiting Boston in the near future and are on a budget, may I suggest some brewery tours with free beer tasting? That’s right my libation loving friends: FREE beer.
The first brewery tour we went on was at the Samuel Adams Brewery which is easily accessible via the Orange Line. The tour starts approximately every 45 minutes and lasts about an hour (for actual starting times, please visit their website) on the weekdays and weekends.
As you enter the brewery, each person will have to show an ID in order to receive a Samuel Adams label. You can save this label as it will come in handy after the tour. As you wait for the tour to start, feel free to wander around the gift store and between the glass cases for all the trophies the brewery has won in beer contests.
Once the tour starts, you will learn the ingredients used in producing the mouth-watering, thirst-quenching drink as well as the equipments used and process that the brewer uses. After the somewhat brief lesson comes the fun part: Each member of the tour (provided you are the legal drinking age of 21) receives a Samuel Adams tasting cup which is yours to keep and used for tasting three types of beers the brewer produces and are on tap at the moment. And fret not parents! Your kids can also take part in the family fun with a free bottle of root beer!
You will receive a small tasting glass to taste three types of beer. They teach you the ways to drink a beer correctly, from head ratio to glassware to how to sniff hops (oh college, how you taught me nothing of beer etiquette). Further, it is during the taste testing when your tour guide will reveal the significance of the bottle label you received earlier.
After the tour, there is a free shuttle bus outside that takes you down to Doyle’s, a couple of blocks away, where they serve Samuel Adams’ beer. A tip: the Boston Lager glass the tour guide drinks out of can be found in the gift store for about $8 each or $30 for a set of four. However, if you go to Doyle’s, order a Samuel Adams beer on tap and show them the label, you will be able to keep your lager glass for a mere additional $5 to what you pay for the beer. What a deal. Doyle’s does get and stay fairly busy during the day because of the tours, but it is well worth the wait to enjoy the great beer and atmosphere.
Another fantastic free brewery tour to enjoy is at the Harpoon Brewery which is accessible by the Silver Line. Whereas at Samuel Adams you are able to get a look inside where the magic happens, Harpoon does not do a tour of the facility on the weekdays because those are the days when beer is being brewed. But that’s ok because it just means you get more time to taste-test the beer!
What I loved about the Harpoon Brewery is that you are able to taste all the varieties of beer they brew (unlike at Samuel Adams where you are limited to trying three of them). There is a lot of jibberjabber (or interesting useful information depending on your stance regarding taste, hops, and make) about each beer as they are introduced to you, but they do take breaks in between introducing each one so you are able to sample and gain firsthand knowledge about your beer. Unfortunately, you are not able to keep the glass they serve the beer to you in, but after the tour you are able to purchase a Growler (a 64 ounce collectors bottle) of any of the beers they have for a very affordable price.
Harpoons IPA is the most popular of all their beers, but they have many more to pick from like the “UFO flavors.” One interesting flavor they have, which I did not sample, was the Oyster Stout. Once I heard the name of that beer and saw its color, I immediately thought of Oyster Sauce; if you’re Asian you know what I’m talking about! My personal favorite Harpoon beer was the Harpoon Cider which is rather difficult to find as they only use apples grown from the New England area.
While walking around Harpoon trying to get as many glasses of beer as you can, you will find a very interesting wall to the left of the bar. This corner of the bar is filled with countless beer cans from all over the world. As a proud Canadian, I was pleased to find two Bubba’s of Molson Canadian and Labatt Blue! (Represent!)
Basically where at Samuel Adams you get a free glass, three types of beer to try, and only the beer they serve in the pitchers, at Harpoon you get all the free beer you want in a span of 30-40 minutes, on and off, depending how much and how fast your tour guide talks! But it’s worth it to visit both brewies.
You can go on two different days or go to both on the same day. Hey, why not? I think we could all use a drink!
Please let me know any beer tours you’ve gone on, free or not free… and what sort of experience you had!
[Pictures courtesy of onbeer.org]
