Page 5 - Next Draft News Today

Co-founders Bob and Nancy Bixby brewed this versatile Berliner Weisse for their taproom guests who sought something other than beer.

After a bitter fight to stay in Lancaster, Bull Spit Brewing Co. is finding a warm reception in Winchendon.

By Matthew Tota Timberyard Brewing Co. spent much of 2020 pivoting and belt-tightening. The East Brookfield brewer furloughed all five of its part-time servers last March, then tried for the better part of the spring and summer to find the hours to piece its staff together again. This year, though, Timberyard has already hired six new servers and a kitchen assistant. Production has increased by 200%, as the brewery signed a new distribution deal and hired on its first assistant brewer. Area bre...

Stories of misogyny, sexual harassment in craft beer hit close to home, spur reckoning in industry

Matthew Tota Correspondent The first time Andrew Woodward handed me one of his beers, his brewery only existed on paper. In June 2019, the 90-year-old barn at Oakholm Farm in Brookfield looked worn and dusty, an enclave for spiders, and had not yet transformed into Woodward’s handsome taproom. A broken concrete foundation occupied the spot where his 10-barrel brewhouse now sits. And instead of a beer garden, wild grass grew into the woods. We stood under a tent, drinking beers from a trailer ...

The Next Draft: Draft beer no longer a dirty business Matthew Tota Correspondent Next time you order draft beer, particularly an ale or lager, take a moment to inspect your glass before taking it back. Look for small spinning bubbles consistently rising from the bottom, rushing heavenward toward a creamy, roughly 1-inch foam head floating delicately above. These signs indicate you have received a beer poured perfectly from a draught beer system pressurized with the correct blend of gases. Few t...

The Next Draft: A guide to all your Polar Park beer needs Matthew Tota Correspondent Polar Park’s vice president of hospitality believes success in his line of work comes from remembering the most important adage in minor league baseball. “People come here to eat and drink and have a good time; it just so happens that theres a baseball game going on,” Cody Malone told me last week as we walked through Polar Park, joined by Rob Crain, a senior vice president for sales and marketing at the ...

Taproom in Sandwich faces stormy seas, brewery in Deerfield smoother sailing Matthew Tota Correspondent Daniel J. Bailey III and the Sandwich residents he represents do not care we think they rank among the biggest buzzkills in the state. In trying to stymie one of the most popular breweries in the world’s bid to open a beachside oasis, they expected to face an angry sea of detractors. But Bailey said his clients have no gripes with Tree House Brewing Co. the business, only the way in which S...

The Next Draft: Getting beer fridge of news ready for a busy spring, summer Matthew Tota Correspondent In anticipation of a spring and summer filled with many more brewery visits than last year, I have started working furiously over the last few weeks to clean out my beer fridge. Rough task, I’ll tell you: shoehorning in that extra beer or two during dinner. Then there have been the challenging, life-defining decisions of which older purchases to pour down the drain. But like the news, the be...

The Next Draft: Sam Adams-Wormtown collab showcases brewers local roots Matthew Tota Sometimes, a certain kind of success in the craft beer business can bring criticism. Brewers putting out millions of barrels of beer get accused of growing out of the so-called craft category. For producing at such a massive scale, they are lumped in with the big commercial guys — accused of losing the independence that propelled their achievements in the first place. I have often been such a critic, perpetua...