I’ve never lived in a city where beer was so celebrated as it is here in Boston. And rightfully so. The Hub is not only home to the Boston Beer Company and Harpoon Brewery, but also to many other quality craft breweries. Hoppy IPAs and refreshing lagers are certainly an integral part of our city’s culture.
In fact, as Oyster.com points out, our state “owes its very existence to the stuff.” This is because “the Pilgrims had originally set sail for Virginia, but (supposedly) due to a beer shortage on board, the boats docked a few weeks early in present-day Massachusetts.”
Oyster.com, a travel and hotel review website, recently featured the 7 Best Cities for Beer – and (no surprise) Boston landed on the list. The site’s blog, which was featured in the Huffington Post, calls Boston “America’s original beer town.” And points to our booming brewing business. “Sam Adams, the New England juggernaut brewery, once started as a small mom-and-pop business itself, and today many small breweries are following in its wake. Harpoon Brewery and Trillium are two such favorites.” Indeed, they are.
According to BeerAdvocate’s Beer Guide to Greater Boston, we’ve got a total of 41 breweries in the area. This includes other nearby towns as well. Boston’s “juggernaut” brewery, Boston Beer Company, reported $739 million in annual sales for 2013. As well as a total of 3.4 million barrels sold last year, alone. Things are certainly looking up for the Boston Beer Company – as well as other, smaller craft breweries in the area.
In a recent report, Time Magazine pointed out the rise of both the craft beer market as well as the hard cider market. The article notes that “craft beer’s growth in the U.S. has been amazing, rising from 11.5 million barrels brewed in 2011 to over 15 million barrels in 2013.” An optimistic sign for brewers nationwide, including Boston.
Other cities that made the Oyster.com’s list included Portland (Oregon), Denver, San Diego, Philadelphia, Austin, and San Francisco. But none of them were labeled as the original beer town of America. That, my friends, would be us.
