WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS

In an old brick building on a bustling corner of Worcester’s rustic downtown, BREW CITY GRILL slowly became a local craft beer haven after a decade in business selling macros. Just down the street from Wormtown Brewery, this glorified sportsbar served local families, businessmen and brewhounds alike on my initial January ’16 noon time visit on a cold Sunday.

A 15-stool right side bar with front tables and one private booth features decorative street lamps, 40-plus tap handles, fine wines, unique cocktails and several bottled-canned beers. Multiple TV’s fill the bar and left side 20-table dining area (where a brew kettle mural and wallpapered locomotive adorn the walls). The food menu includes reasonable pub fare and my wife and I order bourbon wings, potato skins, hummus (with feta and olives) while watching the Patriots and Jets football games.

Beginning with two cask conditioned ales, Berkshire Mint Chip Drayman’s Porter and Rapscallion Stout, I then quaff terrific Maui Coconut Porter and slyly hybridized Mystic Three Cranes Saison with Cranberry. (All reviewed in Beer Index).

A congenial hotspot in New England’s second largest metropolis, BCG boasts a respectable Massachusetts craft beer selection any outsider would appreciate.