Boston Beer and Cheese Festival

This Saturday we decided to take part in some local libations at the Boston Beer and Cheese Festival. Sponsored by Drink Craft Beer, this excursion has been a recent addition to the Boston festival circuit. The festival centers around the support of local craft breweries and creameries. In total, there were 20 beer and cider brewers ranging in location from right here in Massachusetts to Portland, Maine, as well as 8 creameries based throughout New England. After making our way through the cold streets of Boston, we were definitely ready for a few samplings to warm ourselves up!

Our tasting began with Bantam Cider, a hyper-local brewery that started only three years ago in Somerville, MA. We sampled their original cider, Wunderkind, which is made from a variety of apples grown in Massachusetts, champagne yeast, and local flower blossom honey. The Wunderkind was followed by their newer blend, Rojo, which is a tart cider flavoured with sour cherries and black peppercorns.

Following Bantam was a sampling of aged soft cheeses from the Vermont Creamery. The cheeses are all sustainably produced from goat's milk, and we sampled such varieties as the coupole, bouche, and cremont.

 We proceeded to make our way around the perimeter of the festival, where there was a plethora of local brews and cheeses for us to indulge in. Halfway into our exploration, we happened upon Mayflower Brewing Company. Mayflower is a microbrewery, founded in historic Plymouth, MA by the tenth great grandson of John Alden. Alden was a beer barrel cooper aboard the original Mayflower, thus the namesake for the brewing company. We sampled their red Spring Hop Ale, Porter, and Golden Ale, all of which are made using water from the brooks surrounding Plymouth, where the original pilgrims landed.

Following Mayflower Brewing Company, we made our way to Cellars at Jasper Hill, a Vermont creamery specializing in cow's milk based cheeses. Jasper Hill utilizes Ayrshire cows for their cheeses, resulting in high-solids cheese with an exceptionally creamy texture. The cheeses we sampled were mostly made from raw cow's milk, meaning that the milk was not pasteurized before being turned into cheese. Though there is much debate over the effects of bacteria on cheese flavor, and how pasteurizing can remove that bacteria, our group was quite enamored with the variety of cheeses we sampled, which included bleu, brie, and alpine cheeses.

The end of our festival samplings took us to the Wormtown Brewery. This brewery, based in Worcester, MA, is listed as the only brewery that uses Massachusetts-grown ingredients in every one of their beers. This company is known for their Hop Back and Double Dry Hop brewing proccesses, which give their beers extra hoppy flavor. Wormtown was voted the 2014 Grand National Champion at the U.S. Open Beer Championships, and won this year's Boston Beer & Cheese Festival award for the King of Hops. Even with these accolades, the bitter taste of this hoppy beer was not a favorite amongst our group.

The final cheese tasting we enjoyed was with Crystal Brook Farm, a creamery based in Sterling, MA, specializing in cheese made from goat's milk. The soft cheeses they provided were both decadent and unique in their flavors. Crystal Brook sampled their Australian Ginger, Chive, and Lemon-Lavender cheeses. The favorite amongst our group, and seemingly the majority of the festival attendees, was the Australian Ginger Cheese. This particular cheese was brimming with the typical flavors you find in cheesecake, making it a sweet ending to our samplings.

In the end, the festival was an entertaining way to spend a Saturday night, and provided some much-needed exposure for local businesses. Sampling the many craft brews, ciders, and cheeses allowed us to try products that we would not normally know of, and sample brews that we wouldn't typically be inclined to purchase. I would recommend this festival to anyone wishing to experience a taste of New England in a fun, casual setting.

Cheers!