WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS
Visited October ’07, northernmost Pioneer Village brewpub, THE PEOPLE’S PINT, began brewing at its current Federal Street location in rustic Greenfield on New Year’s Day, 1997, crafting over 70 differing beer styles since its inception. Though brewing operations have moved from tiny basement to larger Hope Street warehouse, this quaint brown wood-fronted green-awninged pub retains its smalltown neighborhood charm and cherry-wood furnishings.
Square interior space had small right side bar (with TV brought in for Red Sox playoff games), left dining pews-tables (with oil paintings along wall), and light menu offering sandwiches, salads, burritos, and quesadillas.
Though sulfuric, raw-grained, lemon pith-dried, diacetyl-finishing Natural Blonde only suits pilsner hacks, bittersweet orange-dehydrated, crystal-malted, green tea-lagged Provider Pale Ale and Scotch-licked peat-malted brown-sugared red-fruited herbal-spiced Irish Red Ale were ready-made British styled alternatives.
Light resin-hopped raw-honeyed dried-fruited peanut-oiled Pied pIPA, dewy vegetal-peat-creased, sugar plum-eased, cocoa malt-seized Impeachment Porter, and rye-grained molasses-tamed fig-date-dried Scotch Ale were efficient but lacked up-front zest.
Better offerings such as honey-veneered orange-bruised whiskey-binged Tiger Bite Strong Ale and leathery tobacco-swooned cocoa-buttered candi-sugared fig-serenaded Farmer Brown had minor fungi dankness reminiscent of earthen Belgian ales.
Softening the bitterness of each original recipe were cask-conditioned versions of dewy fig-date-fronted hemp-resined pine-combed herbal-dusted dry-bodied Extra Special Bitter, cherry-pureed espresso-skewered hazelnut-walnut-roasted Brakeshoe Porter, and ashen coffee-burnt chocolate-browned vanilla-seamed nut-withered Oatmeal Stout.