The Resy Guide to New England Breweries

GREATER BOSTON AND MASSACHUSETTS

This brewer’s original Canton HQ continues to serve from its outsized patio with a little help from food trucks Naco Taco and Keane’s BBQ, which together constitute the “Trillium Summer Kitchen.” Naco Taco, on duty every Thursday and Friday, offers fried shrimp or chorizo tacos and turkey leg tortas; and on Saturdays and Sundays Keane’s BBQ supplies brisket sandwiches with pickled beets or smoked kielbasa with barbecue mustard. That’s to say nothing of the two dozen Trillium beers available on site, which include Canton-only exclusives like the Blueberry Super Soak or the Brimming Bin wild ale aged on sauvignon blanc and chenin blanc grapes.

Trillium Fort Point is at once a brewery and a full-fledged, three-story restaurant. Take your pick of either an indoor dining room, roof deck seating, or a beer garden-esque courtyard patio to dine on warm buttered lobster rolls or a fried chicken sandwich with green chile mayo and smoked cheddar. Wash them down accordingly with any of the 16 beers on-call, including the hoppy yet low-ABV Skimpy Sparrow or the Vanilla PM Dawn made with Barrington Coffee cold brew. And if you’re a little farther west, don’t forget about Trillium’s Fenway location, which is open as well, with day-of reservation.

The tap room attached to Lord Hobo’s Woburn brewery features indoor high-top seating, and an expansive outdoor patio with beer hall-style benches and a tent. To soak up the 13 beers on draft (including the cheekily named “New Normal” American light lager), you’ll have your pick of seven scratch-made pizzas available by the slice or pie, such as sausage and onions, buffalo chicken with herbed bread crumbs and gorgonzola cheese, plus a classic margherita.

The patio is back at Night Shift’s original Everett location, and you can secure your place with a reservation. After doing so, you’ll encounter a draft list with a whopping 34 beers on draft, plus two hard seltzers. Thankfully, the menu is broken down into sections including “Easy Drinking,” Hoppy,” “Dark,” and “Sour & Funky.”

Night Shift’s location in Boston proper features a patio with views of TD Garden, Boston Harbor and the Zakim Bridge. Soak up the scenery with your choice of 19 beers on draft, as well as four hard seltzers. For solid sustenance, count on snacky, unpretentious fare like salt-and-pepper fries with garlic aioli, a Philly cheesesteak with melted provolone, or a classic Fenway Frank with sautéed onions and peppers. And don’t forget their seasonal Owl’s Nest beer gardens, on the Esplanade and in Allston — where reservations are similarly a smart bet.

The off-kilter Somerville brewer has shifted seating to its outdoor courtyard, where picnic table seats coexist with a unicorn statue and a wall mural depicting palm trees and oversized flora. Once you’ve booked your table, you can sample over a dozen Aeronaut brews from the draft list, including a Cocoa Sutra milk stout and World’s Forgotten Boy, an oak-aged saison.

Iron Duke, located inside a century-old warehouse at the Ludlow Mills Complex just outside Springfield, offers indoor seating and a tented patio. The latter happens to fall closer in proximity to the in-house food truck, which serves chile-lime shrimp skewers, and sweet-potato fries with honey-maple mustard and scallions. On the pouring side, the 10 beers on its draft list range from a Raspberry Key Lime Cruiser fruit beer to the 4 A.M. New England IPA.

MAINE AND VERMONT

The Freeport brewer has opened a portion of their rustic beer-barn tasting room, and also offers outdoor seating. House classics like Lunch IPA and Dinner DIPA can be found among the eight beers listed on the draft menu, and actual lunch or dinner can be had via a selection of pizzas, with toppings that include soppressata and olive with housemade tomato sauce and fresh mozzarella, or roasted corn and poblano topped by queso fresco and lime crema.

Morrisville’s Lost Nation Brewing touts one of the better biergarten setups in Vermont. Claim a long green table below its covered deck with a reservation, and help yourself to drafts, including its Mosaic IPA or Vermont pilsner, plus guest picks from Boyden Hard Cider or Rookie’s Root Beer. The food menu provides plenty of reason for even non-beer drinkers to swing by, including steamed littleneck clams with kielbasa and corn in a saffron-beer sauce, or smoked chicken legs with Citra hop vinaigrette.

Foam is seating within its brewery, as well as on its back and front patios (the latter of which has clear views of Burlington Bay). The eight beers offered by its draft list include the Does It Float DIPA brewed with oats, and the Flavour fruit smoothie-style triple IPA; the non-beer-inclined can opt for Citizen Ciders or the rotating kombucha selection. The food menu is simple and satisfying; think wood-roasted onion dip with crunchy chile oil, pork-and-beef meatball subs with ricotta and Grana Padano, and a fried-chicken sandwich with pickled slaw and house hot-sauce mayo.

RHODE ISLAND AND CONNECTICUT

Opened in 1994, Rhode Island’s Trinity Brewhouse was among the first generation of New England brewpubs. They’re still brewing on premises, allowing you to taste their RI IPA or Screaming Viking ginger wheat straight from the source. Currently Trinity is seating in its dining room, brewhouse pub, and deck, providing a choice of settings to enjoy a Belgian wit beside hearty pub fare, like a corned-beef reuben or lobster mac and cheese.

Connecticut’s Dockside Brewery has an enviable deck that faces the Housatonic river, and a draft list of 40 beers that includes their own, plus contributions from other local brewers. Grab a table on the deck to enjoy a Califragilistic American IPA with a lobster Cobb salad and chicken empanadas, or get closer to the water by booking a spot at their beachside biergarten, where a menu of brick-oven pizzas is served.

Two Roads Brewing in Stratford, Connecticut, has opened its tasting room and an outdoor “Hop Yard,” both of which require a reservation to enjoy. However, the Hop Yard is the only place where you can enjoy a rotating selection of Two Roads brews, like their Passion Fruit gose, in “beer slushy” form.