Region & History

Who is Samuel Adams, whose name graces Boston's best-known beer? The leader of the American Revolution inherited his father's malt house in 1748. He produced and sold malt, though there's no evidence he actually brewed beer himself. An advertisement in the Boston Evening Post from 1751 offered malt to anyone who preferred to brew their own.

Brewing in Massachusetts began much earlier. As far back as 1629, the colony already had two brewhouses. In the 19th century, German-American families shaped the Jamaica Plain neighborhood, the Haffenreffers among them. Nationwide Prohibition from 1920 to 1933 shut down many breweries.

The restart came with Jim Koch. In 1984 he founded the Boston Beer Company with partners, and Rhonda Kallman joined as co-founder for sales in 1985. The first Boston Lager was poured on Patriots' Day, April 15, 1985, in about 35 bars and restaurants, mainly in Back Bay and downtown. According to the brewery, the recipe traces back to Koch's great-great-grandfather, Louis Koch. The beer was first brewed in Pennsylvania, and since 1988 it has been brewed in Jamaica Plain.

A year after the launch, Harpoon Brewery was founded in 1986 by Rich Doyle, Dan Kenary, and George Ligetti. In 2000 it took over the former Catamount Brewery in Windsor, Vermont, and since July 2014 it has been employee-owned through a stock plan. Later came Tree House, started in Brimfield in 2011, and Trillium, opened by JC and Esther Tetreault in Fort Point on March 21, 2013.

According to the Brewers Association's count, Massachusetts had roughly 228 craft breweries in 2024, though depending on the date of the count, some sources cite around 212. There's no EU-style protected designation of origin for beer from Massachusetts, so names like Samuel Adams or Harpoon are simply brands.