Beer. Board Games. Brewery. Bears. Beets. Battlestar Gallactica.
Those are most of those things you can find at Dorchester Brewing Co., the rest is just Dwight Schrute nonsense. Anyone who has visited South Bay recently has probably noticed the giant Dorchester sign and the massive metal silo outside of the converted warehouse to brewery located at 1250 Massachusetts Avenue in Dorchester. While most of the space is an actual brewery, the real attraction is the tap room which has an active events calendar with revolving food vendors, great music, board games to play and obviously the main event, tons of BEER on tap!
The tap room at Dorchester Brewing Co. has the cozy feel of a beer hall lined with community tables and a bar in the middle of the space that is pouring up some delicious drafts. There are no servers, but they have a great system if you decide to sit at a table as their service bar is clearly designated for those not sitting at the bar. I think I waited about three minutes total when it got busy last Saturday night to get a beer. They don’t serve alcohol or wine, but they have about 15-20 beers on tap that are all phenomenal. All types of beer too…IPA, Double IPA, Stouts, Ales, Porters and even a Mango S’Mores IPA.
The reason Dorchester Brewing Co. tap room has been so popular is their revolving calendar of events. While I sipped on some brews, I was able to enjoy some plates from the famous Moody’s Delicatessen in Waltham. I suggest heading to their website to see all the upcoming events which include revolving food vendors, trivia, brewery tour hours and even YOGA!
The free brewery tour was awesome. It was basically a 10-15 minute crash course in beer, from the origin of alcohol all the way to the new innovations brewers are implementing today. The guide will escort you around the brewery explaining the whole process from breaking down the ingredients to bottling the cold ones available for sale in the tap room. They also show you their beer fridge, which was one of the biggest fridges I’ve ever seen. It would reduce the size of your boyfriends mini fridge he still keeps from college to the size of an ant.
After you go on your tour and grab your beer, sit down with friends at the community beer hall tables and have some fun. While you drink some beer you can help yourself to their closet full of board games. Personally, I played a few hands of Gin Rummy, Battleship and Trouble. The tap room was also playing some great music from stuff like Led Zeppelin to Biggie, their playlist had me singing along the whole time.
Now I was skeptical to visit this places as beer is not my first drink of choice. The beer at Dorchester Brewing Co. made me forget that you can make alcohol from grapes or potatoes or agave. During my tour I was told that the bartenders in the tap room pour their beer a certain way that aerates the beer during the pour. This means it releases all the oxygen bubbles and reduces the beer (makes it lighter) making you feel less full. Since the brewery is in the building, the beer is also brewed so fresh which makes the flavor pop when you take a sip. I sampled a lot of different beers off the menu and while each one was unique in its own right, each one I tried was better than the next. It was impossible for me to name a favorite.
Dorchester Brewing Co. tap room is open Tuesday to Saturday 11:30 AM to 11:00 PM and Sunday to Monday 11:30 AM to 9:00 PM
Let us know if you go!
