Boston Beer Guide

A couple months ago, I began putting together a page listing the best places to find craft beer in and around Boston. This idea was inspired by The Beer Mapping Project, and the page I created includes an area map provided courtesy of that impressive web site, but my intention is to improve upon their coverage of this particular area. As much as I love beermapping.com, considering it touts itself as "...a project by someone who likes knowing exactly where he is and how far he needs to go for good beer," why it includes such lame places as On the Hill Tavern and Powderhouse Pub and Grill—just to name two from my own neighborhood—is beyond me.

Now if either of these places has recently transformed itself to a good beer bar, then I apologize for calling them lame, but I highly doubt this is the case. I do suspect, however, that since The Beer Mapping Project relies extensively on user input, then it's someone who doesn't even know how to pronounce the word bar who is to blame.

But, I digress. My page, of course, will always be a work in progress. Contrary to popular belief, I haven't been able to visit every bar in the Greater Boston area just yet. So, I'm sure there are at least a few that I'm missing, but I think this is a very good start.

The basic idea here is that this is a page that craft beer enthusiasts, such as myself, can use to decide where they want to go find a beer, or what beer they plan to drink when they meet up with friends at a specific place. I recently used it to decide what my first two selections would be when I visited Olde Magoun's Saloon, a neighborhood establishment that is worthy of being identified as a good beer bar.

Because this concept relies on the availability of such information, with exception I've only listed taverns that have good beer selections and a web site that includes a current beer menu. The exceptions I've made are for places I feel confident you could walk into blindly and not be disappointed in what they have to offer. But, of course, I'm a little torn on this, so I reserve the right to change my mind.

If you haven't already discovered it, please check out my Boston Beer Guide (you can also find the link in the upper right corner, just below the left field photo). Since I'm only one person, and I don't frequent such establishments nearly as much as I used to—which is both a good and a bad thing—I’ll take all the help I can get. So, I welcome any and all recommendations as to places I should add to the list, as well as any corrections if you notice before I do that a particular link isn't working.