Making the rounds

In old ports and downtowns region-wide, designer brews and friendly places await your pleasure

May 28, 2006|Brian MacQuarrie, Globe Staff

New Englanders, the abomination of Prohibition aside, have enjoyed the heady effects of a good beer almost since they arrived on these shores. Beer helped ferment the idea of the American Revolution in Boston taverns. Roger Williams authorized a Providence brewery after the dissident cleric was booted from Massachusetts. And the record shows that New Haven was making its own beer as far back as 1638.

But it wasn't until the 1980s, after decades of being bombarded by the bland offerings of giant breweries, that the notion of the brewpub, each concocting its own specialty beers, established a tenuous toehold on the region's drinking landscape. Now, brewpubs thrive throughout the six-state area, dispensing ales, lagers, and porters that usually are made on the spot and served to a clientele that treats its drinking like a culinary experience.

And an experience is what nearly all brewpub proprietors strive to provide, with a meticulous attention to craft complemented by the inviting, unpretentious atmosphere that characterizes the top-shelf establishments. Like the great pubs of Britain and Ireland, the brewpubs of New England seem to be as much about socializing as they are about the product.

Over and over, in a New England-wide tour of brewpubs, the staffs interviewed for this survey stressed the importance of making customers feel at home, almost as if that couple in the corner had their feet up on the back porch. No ear-splitting sound systems , just welcoming destinations where a premium is placed on the ability to carry on a conversation and savor the flavor, body, and aroma of a beer that is as different from the generic brand as one's kitchen is from a franchise restaurant.

The range of microbrews available in New England's brewpubs is staggering. But a discerning cognoscenti have developed since one of the New England pioneers of the genre, the now-departed Commonwealth Brewing Company of Boston, opened its doors near the old Boston Garden. In short, novelty will not make up for shortfalls in quality.

Today, there are more than 100 craft brewers, most of which cater to a strictly local base, but several of which have gained well-deserved regional attention for their product quality -- or for the fact that they're a great place to sit back, chat with strangers, listen to music, or watch the Red Sox over another version of India pale ale.