West of Boston
Jack's Abby
Family brewery that brews lagers and only lagers. You won't find any ales here. They have won numerous awards for their lagers. With 24 taps, this is one of the largest lager brewers in the United States and provides customers with a lot of variety in the choices. Most, if not all, of the ingredients are locally sourced. Some of the lager styles include IPL, dubbel/tripel IPL, smoked lager, barrel-aged, cocoa-nut, PB&J and Cuvée. I found all the beers I tried to have great flavor. There's a good food menu with a nice variety from which to select. A large wood-fired pizza oven sits in the center of the bar. Location: 100 Clinton Street, Framingham Updated Nov '15
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Jack's Abby Pizza Oven
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Springdale Barrel Room
Springdale Brewing is a spin-off of Jack's Abby and as the name implies, they focus on barrel-aged beer - both lagers and ales. They are side-by-side with Jack's Abby but have a separate entrance. the taproom is quite large with a great view into their barrel-aging area which impressively contains hundreds of barrels. Their barrel-aged collection sports a wide variety of styles, including wild ales.For food, you can bring in your own, order from local restaurants or order pizza and wings from Jack's Abby. Location: 102 Clinton Street, Framingham Updated Oct '18
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Tree House Brewing Company
The long-awaited new brewery is finally open, well, at least partially open. Mostly, they are just open for can sales - Wednesday - Friday. Saturday, pints are available, but their is usually a 2-pint limit. Expect to see long lines but expect them to go much quicker. There is a lot more wait-staff at the new brewery, so the long-line wait times have been reduced. On the day I went, it only took us a total of 30 minutes to find a parking spot, wait in line and return to the car. They still may only have a couple of beer selections on any given day and they update their website immediately upon releasing a new beer. They also Tweet out the same information as well as information about the movement of the line and wait times. There are still limits on the quantity of each beer you can buy, based on availability. Glassware and clothing sales are still available. To go along with the Saturday pint sales, there is a food truck and entertainment. The new location is about a half hour closer to Boston. It is still well worth the drive and the line waits. You'll make lots of new friends waiting in line. The new location is huge with lots of outdoor space - a nice pond and large covered patio. New Location: 129 Sturbridge Road, Charlton Updated Aug '17
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Old Tree House Line - Rain or Shine
New Tree house
Tap Room/Can Sales
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Wormtown Brewery
Open since 2013, Wormtown is located in Worcester, west of Boston. It is a convenient stop on the way back to Boston after visiting Tree House. Wormtown tries to source as many ingredients locally as possible. Only snacks are served here for food. Interestingly, they have a barrel-aged maple syrup that they sell. I did not try it, but they give out small samples to taste. I found the beers I tried to be very good. Location: 72 Shrewsbury Street #4, Worcester Updated Aug '16
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Wormtown Brewery
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Exhibit 'A' Brewing
Exhibit 'A' Brewing opened in 2016 in the former Jack's Abby location and quickly made a name for themselves with some tasty IPAs. The "smallish" taproom was cozy and friendly. There were about 8 beers on tap when I was there. The bartender was very knowledgeable about their beer and I enjoyed a nice beer conversation with him. Location: 81 Morton Street, Framingham Updated Aug '16
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Entrance
Taproom
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