Great New England Beer Run

EDITOR’S NOTE: On September 22, five people attempted to do the unthinkable- or, at least, that which no one ever bothered to think of before. Their mission: to consume a beer in each of the six New England states in one calendar day. Project 413 reporter/beer critic Chris Nopper gets back to us with the results.

We pulled it off.

As some might say, we did it by the skin of our teeth.

The event kicked off in Adams, MA, when 5 adventurers piled into a mini-van with a cooler of water, a laptop, and matching T-shirts. They had a fair amount of confidence that it could be done. But none of them knew what was in store.

12:55 PM
City Steam Brewery
Hartford CT

After one extra trip around the block the group found its way to their first stop. Jammed in the middle of downtown Hartford is the City Steam brewery. A bar, restaurant, and night club, this place was huge. And it was empty. I guess the people of Hartford have a thing or two to learn about getting started early.

Their beer is excellent. Adding any more than that would be robbing people of a chance to enjoy some of the best beers that I have ever tasted.

The venue itself was a sight to behold. The brewery uses steam to run its brewing process. And, as our bartender was happy to show us, they also use it to entertain. Steam powered whistles, both inside and outside, are controlled by various knobs and pull chains behind the bar. Our only complaint about this place is that we were there too early. All of us would have loved to see this place in full swing.

We spent a bit too much time at our first stop. That would later come back to bite us.

Rating – 5/5
What food we had was excellent.
What beer we drank was unrivaled
The staff and the venue were top notch

4:05 PM
Trinity Brewhouse
Providence RI

After a long journey across the state of CT (And any of you who have ever done that drive know just how much the time can slip away from you) the group arrived at Trinity.

The group didn’t have much to say about the place itself. It was a little dark, a little quiet, and a little uninteresting.

Again, the group hit the bar before it got into its evening mode. Though I have to note that just a block down the street was a small pub with tables on the sidewalk and two guys on guitar harassing passers by with their mocking improve songs. So there was no real excuse for Trinity to be as empty as it was. There are people out having a good time in Providence at 4PM on Saturdays.

Trinity’s beer selection was good. With quite a few to choose from. Overall I think they fell a little flat on taste. After the shock of City Steam, we could have been expecting more than could be delivered. On any other day, I think we would have enjoyed their beers just fine.

Rating – 2/5
No food sampled at this location.
Beer was good, but nothing spectacular.
Service was slow for the place being as dead as it was.
Would be willing to go back when the place was hopping to see if any of these things change with the atmosphere.

7:00 PM
Salem Beer Works
Salem MA

Now we’re getting into evening mode. The place was packed. And I mean packed. Saturday night. Tourist town. End of summer. Packed.

We were told that there would be an hour wait for a table. And with the group picking up some friends, who live locally for this stop, there was no room for the 8 of us at the bar.

Panic set in. Salem was planned (a bad move on my part) to be our dinner stop. I have had the Beer Works’ food before and the timing seemed right on for good grub. But an hour wait for a table, then however long it was gonna take to get food, was going to devastate our timetable.

So we decided to try the “Special Treatment” bait. I sent our best confidence man up to the hostess station. I equipped him with one of our flyers detailing our trip. And I told him to smile.

It seemed to have worked. 15 minutes later we were sitting at a table for 8. Drink orders placed, drooling on our menus.

The manager on duty come over and introduced himself. He asked us about our mission. And wished us the best of luck in completing it. Excellent treatment in a place that was so big, that we would have never noticed had none of it taken place.

Rating – 5/5
Their food is always top notch.
Their beer selection is huge. Every one of them is excellent.
Service and atmosphere went above and beyond what we thought possible. I have had mixed experiences at the Beer Works at Fenway Park. But after this trip, I would forgive them all.

9:20 PM
Portsmouth Brewery Restaurant
Portsmouth NH

Now for the fun part. It is getting late. We are getting tired. And we are only halfway done.

Including Salem, these few stops are all relatively close and easy.

We zipped across the border into NH and just an exit away was Portsmouth. A booming New England downtown, with brick buildings and little storefronts everywhere. And coming as a shock to someone who grew up in western Mass, they all had stores in them. Another interesting note about this quiet little shore town. It was full of people. Thousands of people under the age of thirty were walking from one bar or restaurant to the next. Spilling out into the street, the masses seemed to love this place.

The bars were packed. At our destination, the bouncers gave us a quizzical look as we filed in with our matching T-shirts and, by now, exhausted faces.

We really were trying to put the spurs into the trip at this point so we wasted no time squeezing into the bar and flagging down the bartender. To our shock, as she was pouring drinks at about the speed of sound, she actually stopped and took a moment to read our flyer (which we handed her to read later at her leisure) and ask us how the trip was going.

Several patrons then took an interest, and we found our selves having to cut conversations short in order to move on to our next stop.

In all of this I think the only problem was, we never really got to enjoy our beers. This really was an indicator to how the rest of the night was shaping up. And for that I am sorry to the others on this journey.

I can say with confidence that the Portsmouth Brewery’s beer selection deserved more time than we could give it. If you are in the area, please stop by and try them out. (And let me know what you think)

Rating – 4/5
Great crowd
Great Beer (What we could try of it)
Excellent response from a service staff that was absolutely swamped!

10:00 PM
Shipyard Brew Pub
Eliot ME

Maine! At this point in the trip it was really starting to set in that we were trying something ridiculous. It was dark and we were a long way from home.

After going about 3 miles past our destination on a small road (much of it in the woods) we finally found the Brew Pub. An unassuming little place nestled in a strip mall. Walking up to the door, we are all apprehensive about going into what appeared to be a dive bar. Shipyard brewery is not a small-scale outfit. Their beers are sold all over New England. So I was shocked to say the least that this was the place I had read about. And I was hoping for the best as I opened the door.

The best is exactly what I found inside.

When we entered, everyone (and I mean everyone, there were about 10 people inside) turned to check us out. They saw our shirts first I think. As we approached the bar, the bartender asked us directly, “What’s with the shirts?”

We explained the mission. And the manager (who was sitting at the bar, apparently off shift) said, “Well then, I think we better pick up their drinks for them…”

Unlike most places I have been to in the past, no one at the bar (or at the table for that matter) turned back to their drinks. They all got up, came over, introduced themselves, and started giving us directions!

I really have to stop for a moment and say thank you to all of the people we found in that bar that night. From the employees to the patrons, you were the highlight of this trip for all of us! The welcoming atmosphere, the camaraderie, that stuff just doesn’t happen at my local bar.

After lots of directions on how best to get to Vermont, we enjoyed our beers quickly. To many cheers of “Drink Faster!” and “You better hurry up and drink that if you are gonna make it in time!”

We thanked our hosts and made for the van.

Side Note: They even asked us to autograph our flier so they could frame it and give it to the brewmaster. Again, you guys rock!

Rating – 5/5
We didn’t have a chance to try any food.
The beers we had were superb! (Though we drank them too quickly to really get to enjoy them.)
The people at this place were the best by far of any place on this trip. Quite possibly the best bar crowd I have ever been around.

1:12 AM
McNeill’s Brewery
Brattleboro VT

And now for the final stop. I have been dreading this.

As we set out from Maine, shooting our way across southern New Hampshire, we quickly realized that making it to McNeill’s before midnight was out the window. We accepted that and all came to the conclusion that we weren’t going to let that get in the way of us completing our mission. After all, it was our mission, and we could change the rules at any time.

So as we shot past Manchester, I called once again on our confidence man. He was tasked with finding out when McNeill’s stopped serving. After he hung up the phone, we were relieved to find out that they served until 2:00 AM

Now I have to repeat that. We called McNeill’s, and were told that last call was at 2AM. 2AM.

Looking at the clock, we had plenty of time to do the hour and a half or so of driving left. So I asked our designated driver to take it easy. We were on unfamiliar roads, in the dark, in wooded New Hampshire. Who knows what kind of furry (or otherwise) life forms could jump out into the road? I wanted to end the night with a celebration. Not with a trip to a hospital.

We arrived at McNeill’s just after 1AM. We parked the van and all headed around the corner for what we thought would be our great victory.

As we walked into the bar, the bartender took one look at us and said “I already called last call, you can stand around if you want.”

I think my jaw hit the floor. I took a moment to let it sink in. Here we were, standing two feet from a beer tap that marks the end of a journey of epic proportions. And it is dry. My heart broke. Not for me, but for the group. These people who I had spent weeks getting excited for this trip. Talking them into spending the better part of a day in a 9’ x 5’ box.

I quickly moved into disbelief stage. A patron turned around to ask us what was up. I must have sounded like a 5 year old at that point. “We came all this way and now she won’t give us our beer!”

So once again (hey, it worked before) I sent the man with the big smile up to the bar. Armed with a flyer, and the knowledge that we had confirmed last call.

The bartender stopped what she was doing and listened to him tell our story.

She then threw the glass she was drying into the sink (Hard enough to elicit jeering and “ooohs” form other patrons) and poured a beer. Putting it on the counter and walking away muttering something under her breath.

Well, folks. This was it. Our moment of triumph. All taking a sip from the one beer that the bartender was gracious enough to give us.

To her credit, she did come back as we were sharing our final beer. She asked us “Is there anything else you need from me for your little project?” It was said with the level of contempt usually only heard from the mouths of people who like watching puppies getting kicked.

I replied. All I will say is that my reply was far friendlier than she deserved.

We tried so hard to feel good about finishing our quest. But every one of us felt defeated. We piled back into the van that had carried us to so many great places that day. I spent the next hour fuming. But eventually I got to a point where I could reflect on what we had done. Setbacks and problems aside we had done it. We had finished our quest. And we found great beer, great places, and some of the greatest people I have head the pleasure of sharing a drink with!

Rating – 0/5
I will not rate beer that was consumed in the fashion described above. The beer doesn’t deserve it.

On a postive note:
You can read about what beers were sampled at each location, was well as getting more info on our route at:

2007 Great New England Beer Run

To the participants of the 2007 Great New England Beer Run, you have my thanks! You made this event happen.

And to everyone else, thanks for reading! Be on the lookout for our next beer run. We learned a lot about what works and what doesn’t. And we hope to put an even better run together next year!