In honor of the first ever Worcester Craft Beer Week, it only makes sense to do a feature on all five of the incredible breweries Worcester has to offer.
Wormtown Brewery
First up, we have Wormtown Brewery. Wormtown Brewery opened March 17, 2010 in an ice cream shop on Park Ave. Yes, I said ice cream shop. In fact, it was in the old Peppercorn’s Ice Cream Factory and the original name was supposed to be Worcester Brewing Company, but according to their website, “Wormtown was simply way cooler”…I agree. Their current location on Shrewsbury St opened in January 2015 and has allowed them to make significantly more beer, start distributing to liquor stores, and open a tap room (with a pretty sick year-round patio).
Wormtown offers a great selection of beers year round, from their flagship Be Hoppy IPA to seasonal favorites like Blizzard of ‘78 (an English-style brown ale) and Fresh Patch Pumpkin Ale.
My favorite thing about Wormtown is their Black Ales Project. Some of the proceeds from the beer on this draft line are donated to support different causes, including veterans, first responders and their families, and food banks. A lot of breweries will do a special beer to benefit a charity, but few have a dedicated draft line all year long.
Flying Dreams Brewing Co.
It only makes sense to talk about Flying Dreams next. Why? Because their Worcester brewery opened up in Wormtown’s original space in 2015. The space is super tiny and is really best if you’re just going to pick up some beer to go, but it is really cool to see such a significant piece of Worcester brewing history. Flying Dreams did, however, just open a second location in Marlborough, MA that is significantly bigger. While I have not personally had a chance to stop by yet, I highly recommend that you check it out! (No dogs allowed though, unfortunately.)
The crew at Flying Dreams really marches to the beat of their own drum, and I cannot applaud them enough for that. Sometimes they have some pretty basic style beers, while other times they push the limits of flavors. They definitely have something for everyone.
Apologies for the lack of pictures; I went to Flying Dreams pre-blogging days.
Greater Good Imperial Brew Co.
Greater Good Imperial Brew Company opened its doors on Millbrook St in 2018 and is the very first all-imperial brewing company in the United States. What does that mean? It means that all of their beers are at least 8%.
My husband tends to like Greater Good more than I do (they do quite a lot of imperial IPAs), but I do enjoy Pulp, what I would consider to be their most popular beer, every now and then and I desperately need to try their imperial Belgian IPA, Citra.
The space at Greater Good is massive, they have a ton of games, including some retro arcade games, and they have KILLER grilled cheese! There is also plenty of parking so I highly recommend a visit.
3Cross Fermentation Coop
3Cross Fermentation CoOp, founded in 2014, was easily one of the coolest hidden gems I had found in Worcester…unfortunately their super awesome tap room is temporarily closed due to facility issues, but they will apparently be re-opening at another undisclosed Worcester location.
3Cross was the first ever community-owned brewery in the great state of Massachusetts. They pride themselves on serving their local community, and at the time of this writing had no plans to expand distribution too far outside of Worcester. Bike culture was huge at their old brewery (and in their logo) and I fully expect that to be incorporated into their new space as well.
Once the new space is up and running I will be sure to come back and update this with pictures and more info.
Redemption Rock Brewing Co.
Rounding out the Worcester “Five Families” is the newest addition to the mix, Redemption Rock Brewing Company. Despite being open for less than a year, you will be hard pressed to find anyone that hasn’t at least heard of the brewery. Redemption Rock’s motto is “Beer for people”. Instead of having what you would consider a “flagship” beer, they aim to always have at least the following 4 beers on tap: a kolsch, their dry irish stout, a hefeweizen, and their War Castle IPA. On top of these four regulars, Redemption Rock is also super “seasonal” heavy. Whatever you’re in the mood for because of the particular season, you can probably find it at Redemption Rock.
My favorite thing about them is their B Corp status. This is a designation based on a point system, where the business needs to earn at least 80 out of a max of 200 points in order to be certified. There are four areas that the business can focus on: community, governance, employees, and environment.
I did a whole long feature on Redemption Rock that you can read for even more awesome information here.
Worcester Craft Beer Week
What’s up for the rest of Worcester Craft Beer Week???
On Friday there will be free shuttles taking you from Union Station to all the breweries. They will be running 5PM – 11:30PM.
Saturday is the event I am most looking forward to: A beer themed scavenger hunt! Tickets are $15 each and you are divided into teams (with special Worcester Craft Beer Week t-shirts) and sent out to explore the city. At the end of your adventure, you will find yourself at a secret location for an exclusive tap takeover. You can buy tickets here.
Want to read more about Worcester? Check out my other #WorcesterWednesday posts below!
January 2019: Worcester, MA: Why It Should Be Added To Your Bucket List
February 2019: Worcester Art Museum
March 2019: Redemption Rock Brewing Company
July 2019: 6 Best Coffee Shops in Worcester
August 2019: The Best Diners in Worcester
October 2019: Worcester Hauntings
November 2019: Holiday Shopping in Worcester