1 Harpoon IPA | Harpoon Brewery | India Pale Ale | 6.0% | Seaport, Boston | Harpoon Beer Hall, Seaport | $$ | Citrus, caramel malt, classic bitterness | Pre-game near the Garden before watching the Bs forget how to play defense | The O.G. Boston IPA. Not the flashiest anymore, but like a veteran backup goalie, it shows up and quietly keeps you in the game. |
|---|
2 Birds of a Feather | Lamplighter Brewing Co. | New England IPA | 6.8% | Broadway / Inman, Cambridge | Lamplighter Broadway taproom | $$$ | Dank citrus, passionfruit, soft spruce | Late-night Phish playlist, data viz half-finished, no meetings tomorrow | Juicy without going full smoothie, hoppy without wrecking your palate. If the Celtics’ ball movement was a beer, it’d drink like this. |
|---|
3 A Year With Dr. Nandu | Aeronaut Brewing Co. | American IPA (West Coast-leaning) | 6.3% | Union Square, Somerville | Aeronaut Somerville taproom | $$ | Tropical fruit, pine, sturdy bitterness | Arguing about sci-fi movies over ramen at a late show | Spiky, in a good way. This is the IPA I grab when I want my tongue to know it’s working overtime — like debugging at 1 a.m. but fun. |
|---|
4 House Lager | Jack’s Abby Craft Lagers | Helles lager | 5.2% | Framingham (Greater Boston rotation) | Any sports bar with more TVs than windows | $ | Fresh bread, light sweetness, crisp finish | Day game, grilling, pretending you’ll “just have one” | The beer equivalent of a well-executed pick-and-roll: simple, efficient, always the right call when the playbook in your head is empty. |
|---|
5 Goody Two Shoes | Exhibit ‘A’ Brewing Company | German-style Kölsch ale | 4.5% | Framingham (Greater Boston rotation) | Bottles or cans at home when the spreadsheet is winning | $$ | Lemon zest, white crackers, subtle grape | Sunday afternoon books-and-laundry session | Crisp, low-key, and weirdly elegant. Like if a Kölsch and a pilsner had a very polite, well-hydrated baby. |
|---|
6 617 White Ale | Lord Hobo Brewing Co. | White ale / wheat beer | 5.0% | Woburn & Seaport, Boston | Lord Hobo Seaport taproom | $$ | Orange peel, soft wheat, hint of clove | Summer night at Fenway when it’s somehow still 82° at first pitch | Basically a citrusy timeout. When I’ve had one hazy too many, this is the reset button that still feels appropriately Boston-branded. |
|---|
7 Boomsauce | Lord Hobo Brewing Co. | Double IPA | 7.8% | Woburn & Seaport, Boston | Cans at a friend’s apartment before a show | $$$ | Tropical fruit, citrus, light sweetness, lingering bitterness | One-and-done nightcap after a long gig at the Sinclair | A very respectful haymaker. Two of these and suddenly you believe the Pats’ rebuild is actually ahead of schedule. |
|---|
8 Samuel Adams Boston Lager | Boston Beer Company | Vienna-style lager | 5.0% | Jamaica Plain, Boston | Sam Adams Boston Brewery taproom or any random pub with decent glassware | $$ | Caramel malt, spicy noble hops, clean finish | Explaining to out-of-towners that we drink more than just hazies now | The gateway beer that turned half my friend group into hop nerds. Still holds up — like rewatching an old Celtics championship run and realizing the defense was actually that good. |
|---|
9 You Can’t Beat Boston IPA | Harpoon Brewery | New England IPA | 6.0% | Seaport, Boston | Harpoon Seaport taproom or in a tallboy at Fenway | $$$ | Tropical fruit, soft citrus, low bitterness, hazy body | City pride mode: playoff game on, skyline glowing, everyone pretending traffic wasn’t that bad | Is it a little on-the-nose as a branding exercise? Yes. Do I still happily crush it while yelling at a Bruins power play? Also yes. Marketing works when the beer is actually good. |
|---|
TheLysts
