EVERETT, MASSACHUSETTS
Just a few miles north of Boston inside a rustic red brick building at Everett’s heavy Industrial area, DOWN THE ROAD BEER CO. opened for biz in late 2017.
A casual warehoused pub with an evolving beer menu, Down The Road’s pristine epoxy-floored interior includes a colorful Greek God mural, rows of cafeteria-styled community tables and a raised bandstand for entertainers.
Its quartz-topped serving station features thirty draught handles and Edison light fixtures with glass-encased brew tanks right behind. A few retro pinball machines guard the front wall and a small couch area with TV fills the diagonal back end. A large front-walled projection TV shows Star Wars while my wife and I consume nine fine brews this sunny Saturday afternoon in May (2019).
Salty pinkish magenta-hued Feyborn Berliner Weisse (blueberry derivation) stayed tart as subtle Maine blueberries received dry raspberry-cranberry respite while retaining spritzy carbolic briskness.
Floral-fruited herbal spicing lingered gently for highly amiable Justa Saison, where sweet banana, lemon meringue and tangelo illusions reach white-peppered barnyard acridity.
Lacquered citrus and musty dewiness fronted West Coast IPA, The Resistance, leaving raw-hoeneyed buckwheat and dry rye malts upon tangy lemon-grapefruit-orange juicing.
Admirable Sour Cherry Table Beer let its tart beet-sugared cherry rhubarb pie likeness gain lemon candied soda pop pep.
Straight-ahead West Coastest IPA crossed tropical fruit-spiced pale malting with minor wood tones.
Easygoing beige yellow-hazed Dreamtime New England IPA brought barley-floured yellow grapefruit juicing to zesty orange peel sweetness as well as yogurt-soured passionfruit and pineapple tartness (above grassy-hopped pine resin).
Nutty dark chocolate and chalky cocoa powder guided Dirty Shillelah Dry Stout, picking up a hop-charred walnut sear.
Dark-roasted chocolate malts swept up smooth medium-bodied dark ale, Devils Twins Porter, leaving cocoa, fig and walnut snips on the tail end.
Chewy brown chocolate sweetness spread across cookie dough richness for Darkest Night Imperial Stout, retaining mild coffee-caramel-molasses conflux and subtle bruised cherry tartness.
