All Categories - Bone Up Brewing Co.

In Which We Try - and Fail - to Avoid Focusing on the Pandemic

3/24/2020

Hello friends, I hope you're well! We've been slowly settling in to what seems like it's gonna be the New Normal for a while, and we're doin' our best to keep our chins up and focus on the bright side and all that fun stuff, so here's all the goods we got!

First on up, hot on the heels of the more recent, more stringent restrictions put in place to try to tamp down the current health crisis,* we found out that we qualify as an "essential" business, which means we're able to continue making beer and continue with to-go sales onsite! That came as a bit of a surprise - we consider ourselves essential, but The Powers That Be don't always think that way when it comes to the beverage alcohol sector. But we're glad we get to keep doin' what we do (even in a limited capacity), because we feel that it's important for you to treat yourself, especially when times are trying, so we're stoked we get to keep providing that Valuable Service for y'all!

And speaking of Providing a Valuable Service, if you happen to place an order for pickup on our website, we'll be happy to do some Curbside Service and run the order out to your car once you get here - just give us a holler on the brewery phone (781 691 9092) and we'll have it out lickety-split!

We've also got a couple beers that were in the ol' production pipeline prior to all the pandemic pandemonium, which means we've got two on-deck beers just waitin' for draft lines** to open up, and it just so happens that we've got a line or two that's right on the cusp of kickin', so keep them eyes peeled for some new beers right soon!

Oh! And! Lastly! It bears mentioning that, given the circumstances, we're accepting electronic submissions for our monthly coloring contest! So if you wanna submit, send us a scan or a photo of your submission (or, better yet, tag us on Instagram) and we'll put it in the running! And even if you can't make it here to get your blank coloring page, we went ahead and put them up for download, which means you ain't got no excuse to miss out on all that sweet coloring fun!

* In case this doesn't go without saying: don't let the sass fool you - just because we're flip about it in writing doesn't mean we're not taking this situation seriously. We very much are, but we figured you didn't need another "these are the steps we're taking" rundown, since you've definitely spent the last week or so getting covid emails (and it's always the same email) from every company you've ever interacted with.
** Canning takes a lot of planning, so we weren't able to pivot and get these into cans, hence the draft/crowler/growler only option.

In Which Times Get Weird

3/18/2020

Hello again, friends. As you've no doubt noticed, we try to look on the bright side on this here blog - keeping things sassy and all around trying to be a ray of sunshine, even when the chips are down. But this week... this week it's tough to see the bright side. As you almost definitely* already know, we've had to shut down all on-premise operations in our taproom until (at least) April 6th; which means we're only able to do to-go sales (and distribution) until then, and that's assuming things get better and/or the lockdown is lifted at that point.**

Don't get me wrong, we fully understand that this needs to happen for the greater good, but our taproom is pretty much our entire business and it's hard not to feel helpless or to worry about what happens next - for us, or for our staff, or for all the other people who are going through similarly shitty situations all because of something that's not their fault.

But despite all that, we're gonna keep going as long as were able to, because that's all we know how to do. We're doing everything we can to get beer into your hands - we're open 12-8 every day for to-go sales (and will gladly stick around later if you can't make the eight o'clock cutoff), and we set up an online preorder system for beer so you can have beer waiting for you when you get here, and we're gonna try to get four packs on as many store shelves as we can, and we're looking into the legality/practicality of working with delivery services.

We were hoping to introduce this beer with more fanfare, but we do have a new release for you guys this week: Big Boots '20! Our annual Pink Boots Society collab brew is a dark saison this year, and we daresay it's turned out quite tasty! All the women of Bone Up brewed up a lil' thing perfectly suited for springtime. Brewed with fistfuls of our favorite fermentables (including brewery-made candi sugar) and hopped with lightly fruity Galena, Big Boots '20 has lovely notes of caramelized pineapple, chocolate, and a dry finish. We've got it available here in the taproom for growler and crowler fills, and you can preorder crowlers through our online shop!

So if you're able, come on by and treat yourself to some beer to go (and maybe some merch while you're in the neighborhood?) and support our weird little brewery, it sure would mean a lot to us. And if you happen to suggest to your local beer store that maybe they should stock Bone Up (we're self-distributed, which - if nothing else - streamlines the ordering/delivery process), we certainly wouldn't turn you down.

And, lastly, to all of you who have come by to stock up on four packs or bottles or gift cards, or even to just drop by with a kind word, thank you. It means the world to us that we get to see so many great people and be a part of their lives, and we're gonna keep going as long as we possibly can. Stay safe out there.

When this finally passes (and it will), we cannot wait to celebrate with all of you!

* And if you don't already know about this, kudos to you for your news-avoiding skills. Particularly since you still manage to read our blog.
** It would be nice if that ended up being the case, but we like to consider ourselves realists.

In Which Some Things Are Brewed

3/10/2020

Well hello there! It's right on time we set to ramblin' on about beer and fun times and probably a buncha snacks, so getcha readin' pants on and saddle up!

First on up, we got us another dang ol' weddin' beer! Yes indeedy, Mark and Arch (who have been Taproom Friends for a ways now) thought to include us in their wedding revelries, which straight-up melted our ol' heartstrings, so we went and brewed up a tasty lil' amber (named Something Brewed) to drink during the festivities and also it's on tap in our taproom right now and you should come drink some!

And! We got all excited about brewin' up Something Brewed (AKAed as that wedding beer that I was just talking about), so we went right on ahead and put some in a cask and that's also on tap this week, except not until Thursday, and also we tossed in a handful of MA-grown Centennial and dang but it's gonna be tasty!

And speaking of Thursday, this Thursday we're doin' up yet another installment of Simpsons Trivia!

Then movin' right along to Friday we've got Eat More, Mexican! in the house slingin' their delicious burritos!

And then on Saturday we've got our Snack Friends from Brato back in the house gettin' spicy! Thassright, we challenged their chefs to bring us the hottest treats they could handle, and we're calling it Inferno Night!*

Then on Sunday we've got new-to-us Silver Whisk Bakery bringin' a buncha cupcakes and poppin' up for the afternoon, so come on out and say hi to the new kids and get yourself some sweet treats!

* Which is a bit of a misnomer, but "Inferno Afternoon" doesn't really have the same ring to it.

In Which We Send Out the Bat Signal

3/3/2020

Howdy do, friends and, uh, other friends! We're keepin' the ol' schedule packed wall-to-wall with fun times and tasty beers, so read on and check out all the stuff we're doin' for ya!

First on up on that ol' docket: we're hiring! Thassright, we're in need of a production person or two, so if you're lookin' to get in to the "manual labor and dangerous chemicals" industry, check out the job description and drop us an application!

And speakin' of More Production Stuff, we're comin' out with more cans! On Friday! Woo! Yes indeedy, we're releasing two more beers in cans and the first (well, the "first" of two simultaneous releases) is tried-and-true taproom-favorite Shut Up Kelly! AND we're releasing cans of our new-to-the-world, soon-to-be-on-tap three-way stout collab (with Widowmaker and Remnant): Tres Brujas!

Also this week: we put our fourth annual batch of Big Boots in the tanks! Big Boots is a beer brewed each March to celebrate all the awesome women that work here at Bone Up (and in the whole brewing industry), and the 2020 recipe is a dark, tropical saison! We had piles o' fun brewing it, and we think you'll enjoy the dang heck outta it! Look out for Big Boots '20 in the taproom in early April, and on tap at the annual Pink Boots Society Arm Wrestling Showdown at Bow Market at the end of April!

Goin' back to Shut Up Kelly!, this Thursday we're once again takin' the ol' girl for a ride on the beer engine, and this time around she's straight-up unadorned and just tasty as all get out so come on out and getcha cask on!

Also on Thursday, we're doin' up our regularly scheduled music-themed trivia: Audio Triviality! This time around, the theme is "The Year 1985" which was a pretty good year for music, so it should be a right fun time!

Movin' right along into the Weekend Proper, this Friday we've got Boston HotChix back in the house slingin' their delicious chicken sandwiches all evening!

Then on Saturday we've got Cherry Blossom Foods servin' up empanadillas and other Puerto Rican comfort foods, so come on by and eat some tasty eats!

The gold goes to @chambersmaddy!

Oh! And! Lastly but not leastly, we've got the winners of last month's coloring contest! Adequate work, everyone!

In Which We Can!

2/26/2020

Howdy, friends! It's time again to celebrate our (apparently annual) made-up holiday that was started to honor expansions and/or bureaucracy and/or moderately-forced reasons to celebrate, and that holiday is Kafka Day! We'll be gettin' on with the sweet deets in just a few, but we went and crammed a buncha cool stuff into the days leading up to the weekend, so let's talk about that first!

And startin' off strong, we brought back a lil' ol' favorite from the ol' Barrel Hold, and that's Skeleton Key and it's on tap right now!

Movin' right along slightly farther into the future, on Thursday we're tappin' up another cask of Southern Star, and this time we crammed it fulla citrusy-pineappley Galena!

Also on Thursday we're doin' up yet another trivia night, and this time around it's "Vaguely-Franchise-Based Star Wars Trivia," which will almost definitely be a hoot, even though we have pretty much no idea how to interpret that description.

And! Speaking of things that are a hoot, we're also bringin' in Boston HotChix to make your Thursday spicy!

Then on Friday we're bringin' in our friends from Eat More, Mexican! and they'll be slingin' delicious burritos all evening long!

And then startin' on Saturday we're celebrating Kafka Day! Just like we said we would! We've got at least a medium amount of festivities - new beer and the joyous return of some old favorites and tasty food and more new beer and friggin' cans and it's just gonna be an all-around good time, so come on out and hang out with us! And if you're lookin' for a little more info on what all we got goin' on, read on!

New Beer! We blended up a special new blend of barrel-aged beer just for Kafka Day! And also probably for several days after that, because we made a bunch of it, but anyway it's an amber-ish Belgian Strong called Soiree and it's gettin' tapped on Saturday and it's tasty as heck!

Old Favorites! We're draggin' out the ol' jockey boxes to give ourselves a little "wiggle room" on the draft list, and that means more beers on tap simultaneously and that means we're gonna loot our cellar!

Tasty Food! We've got our friends from Po' Boys and Pies comin' in to do a crawfish boil for us all afternoon, and whoo-ee are we stoked! It's been a dang ol' while since we had some good crawfish, so come on out and hang out and get some before Jared eats 'em all!*

New Beer! We've got more new beer! It's been too dang long since we've released a new Critters beer, so we're releasing a Critters beer! This one - cleverly named Critters 6 - is nice 'n' light and it's got a touch of floral fruitiness on account of we put a bunch of plums in there, and we enjoy the heck out of it, so we figure you probably will too!

Cans! We - finally - have beer in four packs! We teamed up with our pals from State 64 to can up a couple beers - namely Key Lime and the return of Wellington IPA - and we're doing our first-ever four-pack release(s) on Saturday! And also Wellington will be on tap!

Sunday! Girl Scout Cookies! Since it's Kafka Day, we can't rightly constrain the festivities to just *one* day, so we're spillin' over into Sunday and we're doing another beer and Girl Scout Cookie pairing! This one's the last one we plan to do this year, so if you been draggin' your feet, come on out and experience the majesty!

* He has, loudly and repeatedly and without any provocation, claimed to want to "start off with ten pounds or so, and then get serious."

In Which Collabs Are Brewed!

2/19/2020

Hello again! We've got some new beers (again) and some treats (again) and some fun stuff (as always), so check out all this stuff we did for you!

First on up, lookin' into the moderately-near future, we gotta ramble a bit about a cool collab that we're doin'! Long story short, our beer friends and fellow stoner metal fans over at Remnant and Widowmaker wanted to make a collaborative beery homage to the song "Tres Brujas" by The Sword, so we did just that! We've spent much of the week firin' up our respective brew kettles and hangin' out and havin' some laughs and/or beers along the way, so keep an eye out for this lil' beer in a few weeks!

Speaking of beer, and bringing things back to right now, we've got a new beer on tap! This time around it's a single hop saison brewed exclusively with a new-to-us South African hop called southern star, so we named the beer Southern Star! It's nice and light and easy drinkin' and you should come have some!

And what's more, this Thursday we've got Southern Star on cask - dry hopped with, uh, southern star!

And while we're on about tasty beer, we're continuing our "Melvin World Tour" with the (re)introduction of Melvin Goes To Jamaica - on tap right now! This time around, Melvin (our "barleywine") has returned from a months-long slumber in a rum barrel, and dang but he brought back some good tastes!

Anyway. Getting back to Thursday, this Thursday we're bringin' in a new-to-us trivia host to do up Daria trivia! So if you think you're "up to snuff" on your snarky teen cartoons, come on out and get trivial with us!

Movin' right along into the weekend, this Friday we're doin' cheese flights! We've got a bunch of cheeses from New England creameries and they've been expertly* paired with beers from our menu and you should come have some!

And speaking of good tastes, this Saturday we've got Boston HotChix in the house again and we ain't even need to tell you how tasty these sammiches are, so come on out and get while there's gettin' to get got!

Then on Sunday we've got a new-to-us event goin' on - Cheer Up is bringin' in a buncha games from local game designers and you get to play them and/or grab a copy if you have a hankerin' to play said games elsewhere! They'll be settin' up shop from 4-7, so come on by and say hi!

Oh! And! I daresay it would behoove us to remind you that next week is our Second Annual Kafka Day! There's gonna be at least three beer releases (Wellington IPA, Critters 6, and a special surprise**) and we're releasing our first-ever four packs (Wellington and Key Lime) and there's gonna be tasty treats (Po' Boys and Pies is doing a crawfish boil on Saturday, and we're doing more beer and Girl Scout Cookie pairings on Sunday) and we're gonna bring back some cool barrel-aged beers for the weekend (probably definitely Skeleton Key and also some other stuff) and it's gonna be a good time and you should come hang out!

* Truth be told, our "experts" are mostly experts in "wanting free cheese," but sometimes you gotta make do with what you got
** Truth be told, this "special surprise" is really more of a "beer that we don't have a name for yet," but that's pretty much on par for us

Barrels, Releases, and Cans, Oh My!

2/11/2020

Howdy do, cats and kittens! We got a bit of time to while away before we celebrate this year's Kafka Day, so we got us a whole host of tasty new beers and fun times and probably some snacks and friendship and all that good stuff, so let's get to it!

But before we get to all them new beers, we gotta take a minute to go Behind The Curtain so's we can ramble about something that's durned exciting for us and probably nigh-on meaningless to all of y'all. Anyway, long story short, as our barrel program (which includes the Critters) beers has expanded, we've been forced to come up with some... creative storage solutions that often amounted to garbage (well, scrap wood) being mounted to moving dollies, which we promised ourselves was a "temporary solution" that we'd fix "probably next month." Well, as you've probably guessed, it's been almost three years, but we (and by "we," I mostly mean "Jared's dad") finally stepped up to the plate and got us some brand-spankin' new custom barrel racks! Look at all that organized majesty!

Anyway, onto beer (some of which came out of them barrels):

The first stop on that ol' New Beer Express is Centennial, which just so happens to be on tap right now! We had a need for some good old-fashioned regular-ass pale ale and we've been meaning to showcase MA-grown centennial, so we took those dual hankerin's and made us a beer!

And speaking of beer that's on tap right now, Critters 5 is on tap! This here was made with a little bit of ginger and a dab of honey and we've got a very limited quantity (even by our standards), so if you wanna taste these tasty tastes, come on out and getcha some!

Also on tap for a hot minute is a treat you may remember from Horatio Day: Melvin the Mammoth (Goes to Belgium)! This here's a barleywine/farmhouse ale blend that's been slumberin' in whiskey barrels for some time, and it's boozy and spicy and just a lil' fruity, so come get while the gettin's good!

And since we're on about beer, we'd be remiss if we didn't mention this week's trusty Thursday cask, which is once again Extra Naked, only this time we dry hopped it with bravo and crystal!

Also on Thursday, we've got this month's round of Simpsons Trivia and word on the street is there's gonna be a little "extra something*" for the winning teams, but we ain't gonna divulge no details so come on out and find out for yourself!

Then on Friday we're doin' something a little different** from our usual - we're doing another trivia night, and we're doing it in the name of Galentine's Day (even though technically it takes place the day after Galentine's Day, but hey. Yay women)! And - probably more importantly - we're doin' up this whole Galentine's Extravaganza in support of Boston GLOW and $1 of every pour will go to support them!

Also on Friday, since we're doin' it up Galentine's style, we've got woman-owned Brazen Eats in the house cookin' up some tasty dumplings!

And speaking of dumplings and/or dumpling-related foods, on Saturday we've got Matilda's back in the house with more tasty pastelitos!

And since we're all about bringin' back the tasty treats this weekend, we're doin' another beer and Girl Scout Cookie pairing on Sunday! So if you've had a hankerin' for Caramel deLites paired with Wasted Life (if you're like us, that is a constant hankerin'), or if you just wanna get flights on flights on flights, come on by and cram yourself fulla cookies!

Oh! Remember that exciting news from last week? About cans? Well, our art department's been toilin' away in the background all week to get some new labels done up for our new slender cans, and we daresay the mockups are looking good!

* And since this "extra something" wasn't bought by Jared, it might actually not be terrible. Might.
** No, it's not a three-course prix fixe dinner

In Which There is Talk of Cans

2/5/2020

Well hello again, friends! We're back in action with the hip haps and beer and cheer and treats and eats and we might even have a lil' ol' "big announcement" about future times, so step right on up and read on!

But first, we gotta give you the "lowdown skinny" on an upcoming celebration of sorts that we've got coming up. See, when we finally opened our expansion nigh on a year ago, we wanted to celebrate that fact (whilst paying homage to the bureaucratic... hurdles that we had to endure along the way) so we tapped up some cool/rare/barrel-aged beers and had some food friends bring in some good eats and just had a good ol' time all weekend and we called it Kafka Day!

Well, it's about a year later and we've got some more reasons to celebrate (and we've had a new handful of red-tape-related headaches, because of course we have), so we're doin' up yet another Kafka Day the weekend of 2/29! We're gonna tap up some more cool beers and release a few things (including, but not limited to, another Critters beer) and we've got a crawfish boil (partly but not entirely because it's Mardi Gras weekend as well) and we're gonna release our first-ever four packs of 16oz cans (including, but not limited to, a rerelease of taproom-favorite Wellington IPA) and it's gonna be fun and you should come out! Because cans! And friendship!

Gettin' back to now(ish), we're startin' things off with a bang, and we tapped a new beer! Several days ago! And it's on tap right now! More to the point, we had a hankerin' for some good old-fashioned pine 'n' citrus hops so we threw a shitload or two of 'em into a beer and now we've got I See A Dankness! It's a resiny, caramelly, old-skool IPA and if you need a break from haze and lactose, this is just the ticket.

And speaking of hops, this week's trusty Thursday cask is beer-engine-favorite Extra Naked, which we "goosed up" with a buncha MA-grown centennial!

And while we're on about Thursday, this week brings back another installment of Audio Triviality! This time around the theme is "The Big Four of Thrash Metal" and we're pretty darn stoked to spend the evening gettin' thrashy (even though we personally know basically nothing about two of the four bands in question)!

Then on Friday we're doin' up a little something new to us (and which we hope will turn into a bit more of a recurring thing) and we're bringin' in our friend (and beer history expert) Malcolm Purinton to give a talk about the history of beer and brewing in New England! The talk is free to attend, so just swing on by if you feel like gettin' your learn on about local beer history!

Also on Friday - should you be looking for something to munch on while you get all historical - we've got Boston HotChix back in the taproom!

And speaking of tasty foods, on Saturday we've got Cherry Blossom foods back in the house with some empanadillas and other Puerto Rican specialties!

And to cap off the weekend with a sweet treat, on Sunday we've got Bakes by Ari comin' by to do beer and cookie pairings (and also the debut of her Key Lime Pie and Maple Oatmeal cookies. I think that's two different cookies and not one really complicated one, but also I didn't read the email all that carefully so we'll see)!

And in anticipation of sweet treats, we just tapped an ol' favorite - Joyrider! Our barrel aged Belgian tripel is full of all the things that are good - oak, vanilla, spice, and a hint of boozy heat. We bet its gon' be real good with those maple cookies, but you'll have to come try for yourself!

In Which There is Beer to be Had

1/28/2020

Alrightyroo, kiddos and squiddos, it's time to live life to the fullest and that means drinking beers and eating snacks, so here's all the beers and snacks we got lined up for all y'all!

And the first stop on that ol' tasty train is this week's Thursday cask which brings back another oldie-but-goodie that just so happens to be featuring an extra pinch or two of a hop we're particularly partial to, which (in layman's terms) means we're tappin' up a cask of Wasted Life with locally-grown Pepite!

After that we're scurryin' right on into weekend tasty times on Friday with some dumplings from our friends at Brazen Eats! They're pretty into "plant based" food which we're pretty sure just means "vegan" but without all the connotations of veganism and anyway what really matters is they make tasty food and you should come have some!

And speaking of tasty food, we've got our pals from Matilda's back in the house on Saturday slingin' pastelitos and tasty times!

And the treats don't stop comin' on Sunday, no way no how! See, we like having our lil' cheese menu, but we also started to miss the good ol' days of cheese flights, which made us realize that we should probably just do some cheese flights, so we're doin' cheese flights!

Congrats to our winner, @mermaidtailz!

Oh! And! Speaking of Sunday! The winners are in for January's coloring contest!

There was some stiff competition this month, so we have a bunch of runners up! Adequate work, everyone!

In Which Critters Critters Critters Critters

1/21/2020

Howdy, friends! It's time to get back in action with all the hips and haps all around here, so get comfy and get readin', cuz our dance card is full and our beer is cold and our seats are just waitin' to (re)make your acquaintance!

And we'll start things off right with a little "old favorite" - namely Shut Up Kelly - for our trusty Thursday cask, only this old favorite has a bit of a "new twist" in the form of cocoa nibs (sourced from the DR) and oak chips (soaked in Amandine, natch)! The way we figure it, we like Kelly on cask and we like cocoa nibs and we like Amandine, so there's no way* we can go wrong combining so many things we like!

And speakin' of old favorites, we've still got a bit of "holiday leftovers" from Horatio Day and we'll be tappin' them up in no particular order** and right now we're briefly saying "hi" (before we say "goodbye forever") to Melvin the Mammoth (Stays Home), so if you want that particular tipple to tickle your tastebuds one more time, come on out and give it a go!

Oh! Also! Speaking of things that are available right now, we've got taproom-favorite Critters IV available in bottles now! We figure it's a "better late than never" kinda thing and either way we're stoked to sock a few away in the ol' "beer cellar***" and now you can too!

Anyway, back to Thursday, we'll be makin' a modestly-rare appearance out in the Big Scary World, and this time around our gracious hosts are the fine folks at Polkadog! We'll be hangin' out at their South End location startin' at 5:30, so come on out and say hi (and/or bring your pups so we can meet them)!

Next up, we're mixin' things up on the ol' art front and bringin' in a sequel to Images From The Pit, imaginatively titled Images From The Pit 2! This time around we're featurin' photos from the likes of two MA-based photographers - Hillarie Jason and Omari Spears - and opening day is this Friday!

And since Friday is a special occasion, we're gonna celebrate the only**** way we know how: with chicken! Thassright, we got Boston HotChix all up in the house so you can eat some tasty sammiches while you look at rad photos and drink delicious beer!

And speakin' of things that are tasty, we've got our friends from Matilda's back in the house on Saturday and they'll be slingin' pastelitos all evening!

And to round out that weekend fulla tasty fried foods, we've got a Sunday treat that we've been looking forward to for months: a sundae bar! See, we were talkin' to the fine folks from TC Scoops about how much we like ice cream and how we need more ice cream in our lives (theirs in particular) and anyway they got the hint and now there's gonna be a sundae bar! On Sunday!

* There are lots of ways this can go wrong, like that time you tried using ice cream instead of sour cream in your burrito.
** Except for the order determined by us, which is based on a constantly-shifting metric of convenience/laziness, personal tastes, and whether or not we've printed new menus lately.
*** The corner of the cold room, which has been intentionally made hard-to-reach so we don't drink all the goodies we've got stashed back there.
**** That's definitely not the only way. We know at least two other ways. Maybe three.