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Friendship Beers? That's a Paddlin'.

5/30/2018

Hello again! We're back! And we're just straight-up chuffed to tell you all about all the cool stuff we got goin' on around here!

First and/or foremost, we're gonna take a step "behind the scenes" to discuss a moderately ridiculous tradition that we're continuing on the production floor around here. But first, a bit of background: when Jared landed his first Big Boy Brewery gig back in the day, his friend Dave somehow came up with the rad-yet-wildly-impractical notion that every brewer would be bringing their own mash paddles to work every day (the brewery in question had a 100+ BBL brewhouse, hence the impracticality). But now that we've got a real-ass brewery of our own, that's pretty much exactly what we do! We've got our own personalized paddles and each one has a more-or-less specific job - Jimbo's paddle gets used for mashing in, Jared's for graining out.

Anyway, I told you that story so I could tell you this one: our cellarman Ben, who we've mentioned a time or two in the past (though it's mostly been to do things like blame the bad weather on him), has been here for about a year by now so we figured he needed his own dang ol' paddle on the wall! It's all bright and shiny and new right now (and clearly handmade by a non-expert in the woodworking arts), but it's ready for some dang ol' action don't'cha know!

I mean who wouldn't want that paddle/weapon of destruction

Speakin' of production staff, have we mentioned that we're hiring? We have? Oh. Well we're gonna mention it again - we're now accepting applications for production staff, so if you wanna help make the best damn beer in town you should probably apply! (details here)

You want job? We have job.

And while we're talkin' about beermaking (aren't we always?), we'd be remiss if we didn't mention the fun collab beer that we brewed this week! Our friend Liz from our main hop supplier - Four Star Farms* out of Northfield MA - came on over and brought a big ol' bag of their new(ish) hop blend CrysCade and then we made a beer with it! And in the spirit of things, we tossed in a buncha grains from a couple other local ingredient suppliers that we're friendly with, namely Valley Malt and Blue Ox Malt. Beer friends are some pretty great friends to have, I tells ya what!

LIZ POWER

Anyway. Back to the task at hand: we have a cask this week! Just like we always do! And this time it's Extra Naked, which is our favorite beer in general, made all the more favoriter on cask! Tasty times!

A thing of beauty.

Speaking of casks, in a few short weeks we'll be bringin' it strong at a cask fest all the way down in Cape Cod and y'all should probably come check it out because cask fests are the best fests.

But gettin' back to the beer itself for a second, this week we're gonna reintroduce y'all to an old favorite of ours - a beer that was originally brewed to commemorate the anniversary of our first (admittedly somewhat disastrous) brewday - Joybringer! We've got a nearness and dearness in our hearts for Belgian Tripel, and this sneaky lil'** beer - which will be on tap starting Friday - is one of our favorite ways to celebrate a special occasion! Whee!

Just a straight up glassful o' delight up in here.

And while we're talkin' about the weekend, on Saturday we've got our friends from Gulu-Gulu Cafe and Smokin' Betty's drivin' a big ol' meat train right into our taproom! We've got it on good authority that they'll be catering our Year Two birthday bash at the end of August, so come on out for a sneak preview!

Meat friends!

And since Sunday is for sweets, we've got donuts!

Always good.

And if you're lookin' for something to do with your hands in between bites of donut and swigs of beer, we've got Alice's Table up in the house for Peonies on the Patio! I dunno if there are tickets left, but I bet Liz does!

We are now called "Wholesome Activity Brewing Company"

Looking a bit farther forward, it's only two short weeks until we introduce our long-awaited*** Simpsons Trivia Night! So if you're a Know-It-All Neddy and you wanna strut your stuff (or if you just wanna get a gander at the ridiculous prizes we'll be dolin' out), come on by on Thursday the 14th at 8 (7 central)!

Look, Super Nintendo Chalmers, I'm learnding!

* Did you know that about half of our hops are grown in-state? They are (and they're fantastic).
** Well, it's 8.6%, so I dunno if it's really all that "lil"
*** By us

In Which We Experience Serendipity

5/23/2018

Well hello there! We've got lots of good things lined up for you this week and we hope you enjoy them!

First up, it's a holiday weekend which means holiday hours! Woo!

Hooray for summer!

And on toppa all that, we got not one but two new beers for your mouths this weekend! First up - on tap now, as a matter of fact - is Serendipity! It's a masterful blend of delicious beers that we came up with almost entirely on accident and dang but it is tasty - a little dark and a little farmhousey and a little barrely and a lot delicious - we got more than a little but less than a lot, so come on down and drink some!

If you got to try Ginger Jamboree last week, this is Even Better (in our humble opinion).

After that we're gettin' back to our roots as it were and we're puttin' on Comet Bomb! It's a single-hop pale ale made in our usual style (that is, balanced and drinkable instead of off-key shouting about hops) and with a true-to-style hop (that is, one that very few people care about these days) and we are just all kinds of excited to drink this beer. It's gonna be so good! It's gonna be good, you guys. Anyway, it's gonna be on tap on Friday assuming we free up a draft line by then (which is pretty likely).

Crisp piney goodness balanced with all your hopes and dreams. I think

And speaking of new beers,* this Thursday brings back an old favorite on cask: Shut Up Kelly! And this ain't no ordinary Kelly cask (we're savin' that one for the cask fest in a few weeks) - this one got goosed with some Amandine-soaked oak chips!

Just what the doctor ordered for some patio drinkin'!

Back to Friday for a minute, we once again succumbed to the delicious call of grilled cheese, which means our friends from Brato are back in the house! There will be so many good tastes, and a similar number of good smells to go along with (if you're the smellin' type).

And meats. There was talk of meats.

And by the way, in case you missed the memo, we're hiring production staff! So if you wanna take part in brewin' up the best dang beer around (and/or if you really like scrubbing things), shoot on over to our jobs page and check out the details and then apply and all that fun stuff.

Woo! Jorbs!

* Except not really

In Which We Empty Some Barrels (Into Your Mouth)

5/15/2018

Hello again! I hope you like good things and good times, because we've got lots of both comin' atcha!

First and/or foremost, there's a little project that we've had percolatin' for the past several months that we ain't spent much time shouting about, but it's all really real now and that means barrel-aged Ginger Spectacular!

It all started when our friends over at GrandTen Distilling wandered into our taproom with an empty peach brandy barrel and then we brewed up a batch of Ginger Spectacular (because obviously) and now some months later we've got us a Ginger Jamboree! It's oaky and spicy and tasty as all heck and we ain't got much of it, so we suggest y'all get while the gettin's good!

Jimble Jamble Jambaroo!

Then on Thursday we've got the triumphant* return of Lawn Chair on cask! And just to keep things interesting, this time around it's dry hopped with a whole buncha Michigan-grown Chinook! We ain't yet familiar with this lil' ol' hop, but word on the hop bine is it's hella fruity, which sounds like a perfect pairing with Lawn Chair don't'cha know.

This beer is goddamn sunlight in a glass.

And on Friday we've got fried empanadas from Matilda back in the house! If you like delicious things, then you should probably eat the heck out of their food.

And if you don't like delicious things, then what the heck is wrong with you?

Movin' along to Saturday, we've got more tasty times just for you, and this time it's Spoko!

Pierogi pals!

Also on Saturday, for those of you who like to venture out into the big scary world outside our taproom (which we seldom do), we'll be reppin' at the Phantom Gourmet Phest at the Cyclorama all day! There will be beer, there will be fun times, there might be a small amount of celebratory dancing.

Woo! Beer fest!

Oh and by the way: we're hiring! If you want to pursue a satisfying career in the fulfilling field of fluid cleanup - whether it's finished beer (as a bartender) or in-progress beer (as a cellarman or cellarlady), check out our jobs page and/or apply!

You want job? We talk about job.

* ...ish.

In Which We Receive Some New Toys

5/8/2018

Dang on a thang y'all, it has been a week around here. One for the ages, as they say. A non-stop action-packed thrill ride. Got us a big ol' bag of eventfulness. A real Texas Shimmy. Just a good old fashioned horn burner. Anyway, it was a busy week and we're going to tell you about it.

Breweries, they grow up so fast.

First on that list o' fun times this week: we got our new tanks! Finally! We went through enough delays and pushbacks and schedule changes that y'all were probably wondering if we had made up* them tanks, but they're in place and they look fabulous! We still gotta fit up some fittings and get some wiring wired before they're Fully Operational, but the time is dang near nigh!

A huge shoutout to our delivery guy Chris, who helped us unload them tanks without shedding a single tear.

The same can be said for our cellar and sales staff - Ben, Taylor, and Amanda! And thank you to our pals at Short Path for lending us their forklift on zero notice, and to Joe from CrossFit for his superhuman strength!

Aren't they beautiful?

And a Jimbo for scale, just like last time.

And then the day after we got those beauties in (because good timing ain't exactly our speciality around here), we met up with our Booze Friends down at GrandTen Distilling in Southie** and whipped up some Friendship Whiskey! It ain't gon' be ready for a ways yet (as in years), but that stuff is pretty much made of good vibes, so we know you gon' enjoy!

Kevin and Cassidy (and Matt, who was taking the picture) were the Best of Hosts!

Mash rakes! What luxury!

We even came up with a tentative label design!

I hope our yeast has fun at Whiskey Camp!

And what's the best way to celebrate a week like that? A cask of friggin' Lawn Chair, that's what. Thassright, we got that light 'n' bright goodness comin' atcha out the beer engine startin' on Thursday and goin' 'til Jimbo drinks it all!

She accepts this delicious challenge.

And what of Lawn Chair, you ask? Right. We forgot to tell you about Lawn Chair. Well, it's our new Session Saison that snuck onto the menu just a few short days ago, which means it's on tap now, which means you can have your Lawn Chair any dang way you please!***

And if you ain't in a particularly sessiony mood, we've got some news for you's that is one thousand percent apropos: the return of Loretta! It's a tart 'n' sassy number that just so happens to be purple as the dickens and on tap now!

Pictured: May's beer and baseball cap pairing.

And we got a slew of scrumptious eats lined up to pair with these delicious new beers! On Friday night, the delicious fried empanadas from Matilda's Turnovers will be poppin' up in the taproom for your snacking pleasure. There will be pork! There will be cheese! There will be veggies! There will be Nutella!

Gooey, beefy, cheesy victory. It can be yours!

And if you're a bit farther out this Friday - say, somewhere in the Northampton area - come on by to Provisions and say hi to Jimbo and Jared! They'll be pouring Lawn Chair, Key Lime, Wasted Life, and Springtime Lies and rambling about beer between the hours of 4:30 and 7:30!

It will be a smashing good time!

And if you're the "active" type, we're hosting our first 5K on Saturday! It'll be a fun, chill run along the Northern Strand Community Trail, which starts about a block from the brewery! $20 gets you a guided run and a flight at the end, so sign up here if that's your thing!

And if (not unlike Jared) you're more of a snackin' type than an active type, we have got some hell of tasty snacks comin' your way in the afternoon on Saturday! New-to-us Wood and Fire, who hail from Melrose, are comin' along and bringin' it strong!

And as if we didn't have enough madness going on this weekend, we're bringin' back the Girl Scout cookie pairing this Sunday for those of you who missed it the first time (or who want to day drink with you mom, I ain't judgin'). Come on out, build a beer flight, and we'll pair it up with all the best cookies!

You deserve to end your weekend on a sweet note.

* Or at least you would have been if that weren't par for the course with everything around here always all the time.
** If you haven't made it to their onsite bar, you 100000% should. There's booze and a dog and shuffleboard and shuffleboard bowling and foosball!
*** Assuming, of course, that you want it one of the two ways we offer it.

Looking to Escape the Flood of Terrible Margaritas? Come Drink Beer!

5/1/2018

Hello again, one and all - be you friends or fans or confused people who accidentally ended up here while looking for dietary supplements. We've been rockin' and rollin' and doin' all we can to bring you good tastes and good times and so on!

Pictured: past good tastes. Past good times.

First and/or foremost, we'd like to officially announce the arrival of the newest addition to our draft list: Springtime Lies! It's pretty much the perfect beer for one of the (exceedingly many) days where you thought it would be patio weather but instead it's cold and rainy - it's delicious and dark and fruity and a little roasty and everything about this beer is Ben's Fault, including the fact that it's on tap right now.

Just in time for patio weather.

And speaking of tasty beers, we've got another dang ol' cask of Black Witow goin' on tap this week, only this time it's also got the "added twist" of some Rock & Rye soaked oak chips - it gon' be good!

Don't believe us? Come try it for yourself!

Then on Friday we hope you like hammers 'n' shit because we're gonna "fly the coop" and do some stuff with hammers out in Rhode Island. More to the point, Iron Mountain Forge is hosting us for their Sith & Smash event!

We're fairly certain this event is sold out, we couldn't NOT share it with you.

On Saturday we're bringin' the fun times all day here at Home Base, and we're startin' the day off right with more yoga!

We get our workout in moving all the taproom furniture out the way, you get to stretch and twist and reward yourself with beer!

And for those of you who (like us) aren't exactly "early risers" and maybe "haven't seen that side of noon in half a decade," we've got just the thing! We figured you might want a place to hole up away from the amateur-hour "drinking holiday" crowd, and what goes better with hiding from the world than beer and sandwiches? Better yet, this particular Sandwich Friend is somebody who thinks that the best pairing for meat is more meat and then maybe some additional meat on top (with a sprinkling of potato sticks for good measure) - that's right, we've got PapiVivi comin' in and bringin' the deliciousness with Puerto Rican tripletas!

A pocket of meat, no more, no less.

And I dunno if you've moseyed by the taproom lately but Jimbo's got one heck of a colorin' game goin' out in the expanded space! There's hops and goblins and skeletons and eels, all smilin' at you on your way in! One step closer to opening up our taproom addition...

Plus, the string lights make it even more magical.

And speaking of coloring, we'd be remiss if we glossed over April's coloring contest winners! Hats off to Zack, who dazzled us with his entry! Come on in and claim your prize!

Great jorb!

Aaaaand here's all our wonderful honorable mention entries. Adequate jorb, everybody!

Friendship Beers? That's a Paddlin'.

In Which We Experience Serendipity

In Which We Empty Some Barrels (Into Your Mouth)

In Which We Receive Some New Toys

Looking to Escape the Flood of Terrible Margaritas? Come Drink Beer!

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