If you have ever spent time at the Beacon Hill Pub, The Tam, Sullivan's at North Station, Our House West in Allston or the immortal Mary Ann's at Cleveland Circle you may have come face to face with Boston's worst beer.
BRUBAKER
While most dive bars in the city have adopted Papst Blue Ribbon as the swill of choice the bars metioned above and a handful of others carry Brubaker.
It comes from the Lion Brewery in Wilkes Barre, PA and nobody buys it because it tastes good.
It is cheap and comes in 16 ounce bottles.
One word of warning. The 16 ounce bottles are refilled over and over again and you can rest assured that the bottle you are putting your lips on has tasted many, many lips for almost 20 years.
Years ago Henry Vara who owned many bars in Boston ( including the Father's chain ) sold Knickerbocker Beer in 16 ounce bottles and in the early 90's he decided to brew a cheap beer for in house use. The result was Brubaker.
It is what it is....cheap and almost guaranteed to give you a hangover.
What was really odd was I was reading about the beer in the Improper Bostonian while watching the end of the Sox game this morning at Sullivan's. I had not had it in years since the Bow and Arrow Pub in Harvard Sq left some 10 years ago.
So I had one for old times sake.......couldn't even finish it.
Without question it is Boston's worst beer and they seem to be proud of that.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Boston's worst beer
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2 comments:
For someone that 'loves' Boston you seem quite unappreciative.
First off, to define it as a Boston beer and then state it is brewed in PA is a contradiction.
Further, the beer is exclusively brewed for the bars you mentioned and has been for the last 20 years - think of it as a gift to the city like the Xmas tree we receive every year from Nova Scotia. Yeah, sure, some years it is missing a few branches and may lean to the left a bit but you never hear anyone complain cause its a GIFT!
Most bars don;t even advertise that they have it because it is for the SPECIAL customers who ENJOY and APPRECIATE what it is all about. The Lion Brewety doesn;t even mention it on their website.
Lastly, how is someone like yourself who is worried about hangovers and recycled bottles of beer even allowed in Sully's?
P.S. - not only is it the cheapest beer on the menu but it has managed to fight inflation as well - it has been $3 for as long as I can remember - I'm guessing because there still on the first batch.
Enjoy drinking your beers with the born-on dates....seriously though, keep up the good work with the blog.
GO SOX!!!
Your comment about "other lips" being on the bottle is sad and plain silly. There was a time in this country when EVERY bottle was "reused" (not recycled as anon says) and most bottles are in other countries like Germany. These bottles go through extensive cleaning and are cleaner than the forks and spoons that have had "other lips" on them at restaurants while you eat your boston baked beans and Clam chowda.
Funny, Boston used to have many beers it called its own, as well as the region (Narragansett) but they have lost them because simpletons like yourself are programmed by Madison Avenue to be seen drinking Anheuser-Busch products because you think you will look fit, young, attractive and always have a bunch of attractive people around you. Get out from Madison Avenue's spell.
"Guaranteed to give you a hangover." Enough of any alcohol will, genius. Get thee to a high school chemistry class.
"COuldnt drink it." Do you know what beer is made of? Water, Hops, Barley Malt, Yeast and on this level, an adjunct either corn or the cheaper rice in Budweisers case. There really is no difference to beers at this level other than you are paying for the image. I guarantee you I give you this beeer in a blind taste test and you rate it higher than the big, commercial breweries that are shoving themselves down your throat on your vapid TV programs you stare at for long periods of time.
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