Aeronaut Brewing Co, Somerville, MA - 2017

Aeronaut Brewing Co was one of the places from my 2015 visit that I revisited in 2017, along with the ICA, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Club Passim, Stoddard's pub, Arnold Arboretum, Doyle's cafe and the Sam Adams Brewery Tour.

Built like a Venetian palazzo on Boston's Fenway between 1899-1901, the inner courtyard of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum combines Roman, Byzantine, Romanesque, Gothic and Renaissance elements and stone columns with flowers, plants and palm trees and is as memorable as the art collection displayed in the surrounding rooms.

After visiting the museum on Saturday 7 October, 2017, I caught a Green line train to Lechmere on Boston's original subway line, much of which runs above ground.

The sun was setting as I rode the 87 bus from Lechmere to a stop on Somerville Avenue (Central Street). I took a photo and was admonished by a pedestrian striding past for taking a photo 'in the dark'.

Not to be dissuaded, I took a further photo from the steps of St Anthony of Padua parish church in Properzi Way, before arriving at Aeronaut Brewing Co in Tyler Street.

The taproom area of the brewery building was full of young people talking loudly to make themselves heard.

I ordered a tray of my choice of 4 x 5oz measures to sample a variety of beers and managed to find a seat at the end of a table where a small group were playing a Scrabble board game.

My favourites in descending order were Wiesner (6.7% ABV) a hoppy wheat IPA with wheat, spelt and American hops; NEIPA S.M.A.S.H. (7.1%) a juicy New England IPA with Blue Ox malt from Maine and Rakau hops from Massachusetts; Hop Hop and Away (4.8%) a hazy India Session Ale and Bruce Sumac (6.2%) a rosy and tart wheat ale made with wild foraged Sumac.

Perhaps I should have saved some money by ordering the $12 'IPAs for days' feedback flight listed on the printed beer menu which I only noticed later?

The dim lighting makes the large space of the taproom with its high ceilings more intimate. It also allows retro games to be projected onto the walls.

A variety of board games can be borrowed from the bar and there is a collection of arcade games in another area of the brewery building to cater for all tastes.

At 8pm I could move to a small table near the corner stage area which was set up for 'Forrest presents' featuring the house band with guests..

First up was Xenia Dunford playing acoustic guitar and keyboards. The 14 oz beer glass in the foreground holds a favourite beer from my 2015 visit - A Year with Dr Nandu (6.3% ABV -$7) an American IPA brewed with Mosaic and Centennial hops.

Next up was Stace Brandt with soulful vocals and playing electric guitar in a laid back style, backed by the house band, featuring Forrest on bass.

Just as music sounds better with a beer to drink, my latest 16 oz 'piint' glass, of earlier favourite Wiesner, tasted even better with the funky live music from Stace Brandt! After her set, Stace kindly gave me her website and instagram links. It would be great to see Stace playing at Ace Space, Newbury, if she gets a chance to tour the UK one day.

A nice feature of the Aeronaut tap room is that much of the brewery equipment is visible and although the light was dim I was able to take some photos to illustrate this post.
Earlier I had enquired at the bar about Lia Olsborg, who I had met here in 2015. This time, I left a copy of West Berkshire CAMRA's Ullage magazine for her which featured Lia and Aeronaut Brewing Co. (Winter 2015/16 - page 7)

Just after talking to Stace, it was wonderful to spot Lia in the taproom, wearing her brewing clothes and to give her a further copy of Ullage, which she kindly posed with. Lia moved up from a beer cellaring role to become a brewer at Aeronaut in March, 2017. She was able to give me some helpful information about NERAX. When I mentioned that the cask ale in the tap room had sold out, Lia suggested a visit Maverick Marketplace Cafe on my way to Logan airport the next day as John Tyler might be serving Aeronaut's cask ale there (which turned out to be the case!).

After a rewarding evening at Aeronaut Brewing Co, it was time to travel back to Jamaica Plain, starting from the bus stop at Conway Park. Here, a shadowy sign revealed that the park's site was the former location of Bay State Smelting Company which melted down scrap metal to retrieve lead and cadmium inside.

At Central Square, Cambridge, the terminus of the 83 bus, the Moody's Falafal Palace looked appealing from aesthetic and culinary aspects! Subsequent research revealed that the building was originally a White Castle or (imitator) White Tower hamburger restaurant. Both chains were involved in a copyright fight in the 1930s.

Thankfully, the Red Line and Orange Line 'T' trains were still running to get me the rest of the way back to Jamaica Plain.

Thanks to Lia and all at Aeronaut Brewing Co and Stace and all the musicians for another memorable final night in the Boston area. Cheers!

Aeronaut Brewing Co
14 Tyler St, Somerville, MA
Website: www.aeronautbrewing.com 
Twitter: aeronautbrewing
Facebook: aeronautbrewing
Instagram: aeronautbrewing

Taproom opening hours (October 2017):

Mon: 6pm-11pm
Tue - Thu: 5pm-midnight
Fri: 5pm-12:30am
Sat: noon-12:30am
Sun: noon-8pm