Boston Beer

Since before Patriots like Paul Revere and Sam Adams fermented a revolution in smoky Beantown taverns, beer has been integral to the history of Boston. The city issued its first brewing license in 1630, and breweries like Haffenreffer Brewery and American Brewing Company quickly sprung up. This heady history took a turn for the worse when the American Temperance Movement championed prohibition, nearly wiping out all of the local breweries. In 1984, the amber liquid was revitalized as Jim Koch introduced Samuel Adams craft brews to the Hub and the nation. Shortly after, Harpoon Brewery emerged and became the largest brewery to make all its beers in New England. From the planning of the Boston Tea Party over a pint at Green Dragon Tavern to the renaissance of the burgeoning craft brewing scene, join author and Beer Nut Norman Miller as he savors the sudsy history of brewing in the Hub.

Norman Miller grew up in Leominster, Massachusetts. He writes the popular Beer Nut column that appears weekly in the MetroWest Daily News and the daily Beer Nut blog on wickedlocal.com. He is also the co-host of a weekly Seacoast Beverage Lab Podcast with other New England beer bloggers, tackling the news of the day, while hosting weekly guests ranging from brewers in and around New England to those from around the country. Kerry Byrne is a food and beverage writer for the Boston Herald and a two-time winner of the Great American Beer Festival's North American Beer Writer of the Year.