What's brewing in Boston? A beer tour

Author: By Richard P. Carpenter, Globe Staff

Date: SUNDAY, April 28, 1996

Page: B13

Section: Travel

Old Town Trolley Tours has teamed up with three Boston area microbrewery-restaurants for a three-hour tour that provides a sampling of several kinds of locally brewed beer, porter, ale and stout, along with appetizers and a look at the brewing process. Along the way, tour-takers get a bit of scenery and beer history.

Tours are conducted in Old Town Trolleys, which are cleverly disguised mini-buses that seat up to 41 people. The places visited were John Harvard's Brew House in Cambridge, the Commonwealth Brewing Co. in Boston and the brew moon restaurant & microbrewery (which apparently has an aversion to capital letters), also in Boston. At each, passengers get a 10-ounce sample of two kinds of beers plus appetizers. And the guides, thankfully, do not join in the brew sampling.

Even while waiting, we were put in the mood for the evening with the playing of pub songs through the trolley's speakers. And while the songs are not played during the ride, our guide for the night, Michael Wall, switched on the theme from ``Cheers'' as we drove by the Bull & Finch pub, inspiration for the long-running TV series in which many a brewski was downed by a character named Norm. En route to our first stop, John Harvard's Brew House, Wall took us back to the beginning of beer history -- 6,000 years ago in Mesopotamia. We were served a sprinkling of stories such as:

- The word ``bridal'' refers to bride's ale. In the Middle Ages, it was customary for the bride to pour the ale for the wedding guests.

- The Pilgrims may have landed in Massachusetts because they were out of beer.

- In Colonial America, pregnant women sometimes drank a powerhouse ``groaning ale'' while in labor.

- George Washington was an enthusiastic home brewer. Porter was his favorite.

- Twenty people drowned in beer in 1814 when a vat in a London brewery exploded.

- Women beer-makers are called brewsters, not brewers.

- Charlestown's Warren Tavern, dating to 1780, is the oldest tavern in America. However, it was closed for a spell, so Boston's Bell in Hand, dating to 1795, is the nation's oldest continually operating tavern.

Facts are fine, but all this talk about beer was making us thirsty. Fortunately, we were almost at John Harvard's Brew House. We passed Harvard University, where we learned some non-facts: The statue of John Harvard mistakenly calls him the university's founder, has the wrong date for the founding and isn't a likeness of John Harvard anyway. Then we were on Dunster Street, out of the trolley and into the microbrewery, with its hum of conversation, copper kettles, six kinds of beer, varied menu and stained glass window.

Stained glass window?

Right, a big stained glass window depicting a half-dozen figures. But despite their ancient garb, these are not religious figures but relatively contemporary people. Part of the fun of visiting is identifying the people in the window, so we won't tell you who they are. We will tell you, though, that the one on the left is not W.C. Fields, even though some employees may mistakenly tell you it is.

Out came the beer samples. We were invited to try the Brew House's flagship beer, John Harvard's Pale Ale, and also the Nut Brown Ale. And if you're used to drinking bland national beers, the first sip of these -- or virtually any microbrewery beers -- should come as a revelation. They are so much more flavorful, so richer and smoother that you may find it difficult to go back to popping a can of Old Milwaukee ever again. The copper-colored, hoppy pale ale originated in England hundreds of years ago, and the Nut Brown Ale is dry, malty and lightly hopped. Along with the ale came a sampling of appetizers, including the Brew House's homemade sausage.

Departing Cambridge, the trolley took us along the Charles River and past Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which has its own brewers' club called the Wort Processors (get it?). Wort, we learned, is the fermented malt that gives beer its alcohol content.

Stop Two, just a block from the new FleetCenter sports and entertainment arena, was the Commonwealth Brewery on Portland Street, which modestly calls itself the Birthplace of the American Brewing Revolution. In any case, its opening in 1986 did mark the return of fresh beers to Boston. Here, on the bottom floor of the two-floor brew pub, with its brass and copper interior, we sampled the award-winning Burton Ale (full-bodied and copper colored, with just a touch of bitterness) and one of the other seven brews on tap. For a change of pace, we chose Blond Light Ale, straw colored and light bodied. We also cheerfully dug into the restaurants Best Damn Yankee Ribs, big and juicy and also prize-winners.

The Commonwealth was the site of that night's brewery tour as well, and we learned perhaps more than some of us wanted to know about malts and hops and mash. (I found myself humming an old moonshining tune that goes: ``Get you a copper kettle/get you a copper coil/Cover with new-made corn mash/and never more you'll toil.'') But it was fun to look around the place, with its five antique brewing kettles, copper tabletops, copper bar top and even copper ventilating ducts.

The final stop, at the brew moon microbrewery & restaurant on Stuart Street just opposite the Wang Center for Performing Arts, put us in a sweet mood. That's because desserts, including a chocolate sampler and fruit tart, were served. And appropriately enough, one of the brewery's six custom-designed beers was Mayberry Wheat R.F.D, light and fruity and a dessert beer if such a thing exists. Other kinds range from Boston Special Reserve, a pilsner that meets even Germany's strict purity laws, to Eclipse Extra Stout, which is full-bodied indeed. In contrast to the other two brewery-restaurants, brew moon offers a more contemporary, whimsical look, with sculptures, glass panels and moon-like textures in the floor, walls and ceiling.

The tour was over. Our thirsts were slaked, our appetites were tamed and we knew a little bit more about real beer. What more is there to say but: Ahhhhh!

Passengers are given a ``passport'' that entitles them to two beer samples plus appetizers at each stop. There is no drinking aboard the trolley, and the tour reserves the right to not serve alcohol to anyone who appears intoxicated, perhaps through extra-curricular imbibing. Tours begin at the Trolley Stop at 3 Park Square and end at the nearby brew moon. For tickets or more information, call (617) 269-7150.

John Harvard's Brew House is at 33 Dunster St., Cambridge; telephone (617) 868-3585. Brews include John Harvard's Pale Ale, Old Willy's India Pale Ale, Nut Brown Ale and Pilgrim's Potter and All American Light Lager. There are rotating seasonal beers as well. Menu items include grilled fresh tuna steak salad, old-fashioned chicken pot pie, grilled pesto marinated chicken sandwhich, house rack of hickory smoked ribs and center-cut sirloin. Dinner entrees range from $5.95-$14.95.

The Commonwealth Brewery is at 138 Portland St., Boston; telephone (617) 523-8383. Brews include Blond Light Ale, Golden Ale, Boston Burton Ale, Famous Porter, Boston's Best Burton Bitter, Amber India Pale Ale, Black & Tan and Classic Stout. There are special offerings as well. Menu items include calamari, wings, steak, seafoods, salads, pasta and those Best Damn Yankee Ribs. Most dinner entrees are $12-$18.

The brew moon restaurant & microbrewery is at 115 Stuart St., Boston; telephone (617) 523-6467. Brews include American Moonlight Ale, Mayberry Wheat R.F.D., Boston Special Reserve, Orion's Red Ale, Grasshopper India Pale Ale and Eclipse Extra Stout. There are seasonal beers as well. Menu items include spiced bronzed swordfish, shrimp, basil, pesto, roasted red pepper, three cheeses grilled pizza and sausage stuffed pork chops. Most dinner entrees are $12-$18. There is also a brew moon on Route 1 north in Saugus and a third moon is scheduled to rise in Harvard Square, Cambridge, in June.

Not on the tour is the Samuel Adams Brewhouse in the Lenox Hotel, 710 Boylston St., Boston. But a separate, express tour via Old Town Trolley takes members of the Honorary Ancestors Club from the brewhouse to the Samuel Adams Brewery in Jamaica Plain every Thursday at 5:15 p.m., and then returns to the brewhouse. The brewhouse is a 65-seat dining pub that serves appetizers, sandwiches and a variety of Samuel Adams beers on tap, such as Boston Lager, Honey Porter, Cream Stout and Triple Bock. There is a one-time charge of $25 to join the club, which also entitles members to other goodies such as pilsner glasses, a T-shirt and food and beverage discounts.

For membership information and tour reservations, call (617) 536-BREW and ask for Sam (honest!).