Harpoon Brewery Take 2

You can never get enough of a good thing--like BEER!  This weekend, thanks to a Noah and Hannah, I stopped at my old stomping (drinking) grounds Boston and revisited the good 'ole Harpoon Brewery.  Things have changed since a year ago when I last visited: 1) Harpoon is expanding (New Tanks. More Beer. = Happy People!) 2) The Saturday tours are very popular.  Arrive early to guarantee a ticket.  

However, somethings never change like the $5 fee for the tour & tasting (a total deal).  And, Tyler our wize (spelt with a 'z' for flair) tour guide is still here to answer ALL our questions.

While Tyler was pouring us unfiltered IPA, the rest of us either look very distracted (Couper), somewhat attentive (Reese) or very excited (Hannah).

But not as excited as me for the tasting! 100 Barrel series, Belgian Pale Ale are among the varieties they didn't have last year.  This time around I think they filled the tasting glasses a little fuller, so that people would not have as much time to try as many beers, so if you're interested in getting your bang for the five bucks, go straight for the Leviathan.

In Need of Some Beer-vation

Where's a recent graduate to find motivation? Hmm... how about in BEER? Yep, this post is dedicated to beer-vation--one in a series of things that inspire me.

My love for GOOD beer started last semester when I studied abroad in London. Beer drinking was like breathing; you went to the pub for a pint during lunch, you grabbed a pint before bed at your neighborhood pub, and good beer was cheap (£3/pint avg).

Here's a photo of my roommate Larissa and I in London drinking a pint of locally brewed TIMMY TAYLOR at the Cheshire/Devonshire/Whoknowswhatshire Arms:
I didn't like beer at first. I remember my first beer being an MGD and not finishing it. It's also hard to love it when in America you're drinking Natty Ice, Bud Light, Coors and High-Life in large quantities out of a red solo cup. I recently saw a friends Facebook status that said:

"You know what we think of you're American beer? It's like having sex in a canoe. Fucking close to water." -BEERWARS

Pretty funny. I haven't seen it, but Beerwars is a documentary about small American breweries trying to fight the big guys (Bud, Miller & Coors) by winning people over with its unique taste and quality. Here's the trailer:

Anyways, today my roomates and I decided to take a tour and tasting of Harpoon Brewery in Boston (I've visited a brewery before, the Heineken Brewery in Amsterdam... cool exhibits and fun games, but bad beer). Well, turns out Beer does have a direct correlation with graduating from college, because two Harvard Business Grads started Harpoon after they went backpacking in Europe (one of them also quit his job at Lehman Bros after a year) and realized America was missing this local brewery culture. They opened the brewery in 1986.

The tour and tasting lasted an hour and was $5 all-you-can-drink for 30 minutes and a keepsake glass. Inside the brewery:
Store room with 20,000 cases. Gabs trying to look attentive.Freshest and coldest beer I've ever had.By the end, I had tried a bit of all their beers. My favorites were the UFO White, Leviathan (10% alc/vol), Ale and cider.
Bathroom signs:Lesson of the tour: Spend your life producing (and maybe drinking) what you love.
I left the tour very happy with a 64 oz. Growler of Harpoon Cider. It's definitely worth checking out if you're in Boston. The Silver Line #2 bus stops right in front of the brewery at the Harbor St. stop.

Although American beer has its down-sides, there is one thing American beer is good for: 40s.