Local breweries offer the best of the season
Put away the hard seltzers for the year. Actually, put themaway for good. If you want something with suds, Boston’s breweries are reinventing old favorites and introducing new creations throughout the fall. From Oktoberfest beers to twists on India pale ales to cans packed with funk and berries, here are the best local brews of the season. print with a spike of Flintstones vitamins than legitimate seasonal offerings. But Jack’s Abby remembers that sweater weather equals an Oktoberfest brew. What the brewer gets right with Copper Legend is that these autumn beers should exist in the narrow space between light and heavy. This lager is smooth but has a malty punch to it. It is full of flavor but doesn’t overwhelm after a couple of cans.
Somerville’sWinter Hill Brewing does a lot. The company brews all sorts of beers andmakes a fine espresso in their cafe/tap room. Thankfully they do everything with skill and whimsy. Winter Hill’s first sour arrived this fall and it’s wild: a kettle sour made with raspberries that jumps outwith a tart bite and a funk that George Clinton would dig. Before you decide you hate sour beers, give this a try. If you decide you still hate sour beers, try Winter Hill’s Tommy Point -- a light and smooth IPA named for Celtics legend Tom Heinsohn.
HazeMaze
Night Shift Brewing’s latest flagship delivers a hoppy and hazy (obviously) fog of flavor. The double dryhopped double India pale ale has loads and loads of hops (obviously) -- Citra and Ekuanot Cryo hops to be exact. But the slight fruit tang and sweetness make it an easy drink (obviously, after all Night Shift has become one of the area’s great brands).
Spooky Spice
Another curious creation fromNight Shift, Spooky Spice puts a hour of trickor-treating in a can. Adult trick-or-treating of course. This seasonal candy stout is made with Everett-based
Teddie Peanut Butter. And you can taste the Teddie along with notes of sophisticated flavors such as Snickers, Reese’s Cups and your grandparents’ peanut brittle.
Fresh Boysen
Springdale has managed to dream up a beer that’s classy like fine wine and earthy like something the Greek god Panwhipped up for an autumnal full moon rager. Fresh Boysen is a sour beer aged with boysenberries, about a quarter pound of berries per bottle, in red wine barrels for a year. The next full moon is Nov. 19, plenty of time to pick up a few bottles and plan your own fall rager.