Boston was a rushed trip. With a full slate of work activities and many of the city’s best craft breweries and craft beer bars a train ride away from the core of the city, I had to make due with some selective and time-efficient sampling. I got a good start by picking up six cans at The Urban Grape, an independent beer and wine store a ten minute walk from my Back Bay hotel. I got very lucky as these were all at least solid and interesting beers. Three were real standouts – the Devil’s Purse Kolsch (a style I’m really gravitating to lately as a result of this particular can), Whirpool’s American pale ale (the citrus, the crispness, the thoughts of summer it induced… perfect!) and the Lamplighter Cuppa (a British pale ale infused with coffee which sounds strange, but was a slice of alchemy) all made me very happy. What made me sad was the limited time and work responsibilities meant I wasn’t polishing off any of these cans in full. Pouring half of the Cuppa out almost brought a tear to my eye.

With very limited time in Boston for exploring some craft beer, I stuck to a couple of places within close walking distance of my Back Bay hotel. Cheeky Monkey Brewing across from Fenway was a place I could sneak away to after a day of conference activities, try a tasting flight, and get back to an early evening commitment. In hindsight, I should have just stuck to enjoying a relaxing and full can of one of my hotel beers. The bar, while polished and attractive, seemed to be more for the party crowd than the craft beer crowd. Sadly, that shone through in the beers. I think this is a place that makes its own beer only because it’s trendy. There was no passion or creativity exhibited here – the beers in the tasting flight were dull and uninspired. Oh well, live and learn.

With that disappointment behind me, a couple of beers at Bukowski Tavern renewed my faith in craft beer the next day. Again stealing some time between the end of a conference day and evening obligations, I really enjoyed this visit. The bar itself is dark, cozy and smells slightly of stale beer spilled onto the floor. For my money, that is a good sign, because a place like this can’t survive in a prime Back Bay location selling bad beer. I tried two small glasses here and loved both of my choices. The first, a cascadian dark ale with the grin inducing name of “Handsome Norm” by Brazo Fuerte was perfect for a chilly late fall day. Roasty and malty, it warmed me up from the inside. Enjoying the ambiance of the bar and some “me” time to refresh before a social evening ahead, my second choice was “Due Diligence IPA” by Barewolf Brewing. This beer was my favourite – a bold American IPA that was full of mango flavour and had a deceptively lighter body and flavour than a 7% beer normally has. It was refreshing way to start an evening, and to end my tastings in Boston.