Editorial
Boston's beer runs deep, anchored by Trillium and a New England IPA tradition the rest of the country chases. A lot of the old lists still name rooms that have closed, so this one is cut back to seven that are open and pouring. A brewery or two, a couple of beer bars, a seafood room with a serious tap list, and one Irish pub that earns its place. Sorted by what is in the glass. The closed names got removed.
Trillium is the headline of Boston beer, a New England IPA pioneer with a Fort Point brewpub and a Fenway taproom, both open Wednesday through Sunday for draft and food. Order whatever hazy double IPA dropped that week and a plate from the kitchen. Prices match the hype and the fresh stuff sells fast. Go on a release day for the rare cans, midweek for a seat.
Bukowski has run as a Back Bay beer bar since 1998, a loud dive at 50 Dalton Street with 21 taps and a deep bottle list heavy on hard-to-find regional craft. Cash-friendly, no pretense, burgers to soak it up. The Inman Square branch is long gone, so this is the one left. Go after work before the Berklee crowd packs it and the best taps blow.
Row 34 in Fort Point pairs a rotating craft list with oysters and New England seafood, drafts from regional names like Bissell Brothers and Upland beside the raw bar. It reads more restaurant than beer hall, but the tap list is serious and the kitchen earns the prices. Go early for the happy hour oysters and a fresh hoppy pour before the dinner rush fills it.
Night Shift runs a waterfront brewpub at Lovejoy Wharf and the original Everett taproom, both pouring the full range plus taproom-only one-offs. The Lovejoy patio is the move in summer, with harbor views and a kitchen. Fair prices for the location. Go to Everett for the deepest tap list, Lovejoy for the view and the food.
Democracy is a worker-owned brewpub downtown on Temple Place, with a second room now open in East Boston. House beers, a proper kitchen, and a politics it wears on its sleeve. The pints are honest and the lunch crowd is steady. Go for a weekday pour and the People's Pint, or the East Boston room when you want a quieter table.
Citizen Public House sits behind Fenway on Boylston Street, a dim English-style tavern better known for its whiskey wall than its taps, but the beer list holds its own and the raw bar is good. Open to two in the morning most nights. Prices run Fenway-high. Go late after a game when the kitchen is still on and the room has thinned out.
The Druid is an Inman Square Irish pub in Cambridge, more trad-session room than tap chaser, but the Guinness pours right and there is always something local on. Small, warm, packed on the music nights. Go for a pint and a session rather than a flight, and get there early, because the room fills fast when the fiddles come out.
Start at Trillium for the headline IPAs, then work the beer bars: Bukowski for the dive list, Row 34 for beer with oysters, Night Shift for the brewery taprooms. Democracy is the downtown brewpub and Citizen the late Fenway option. Boston leans hard into hazy hoppy beer, which is the part worth chasing.
Most of these fill between seven and ten in the evening, and the taprooms run shorter hours, so check before a Monday run.
Morten Andersen writes about beer and the kind of bars that do not ask for attention. He clocks the pour, the crowd and the prices before the decor.