The Best Breweries, Brewpubs & Taprooms in Springfield
The Northern hub of the Knowledge Corridor, Springfield's craft beer scene is coming into its own with breweries sprinkled around the hills of the third largest city in Massachusetts.
Written by CraftJack | Updated | 3 min read
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If it wasn't for Theodore's BBQ, we wouldn't even be able to point to Springfield on a (brewery?) map of Massachusetts. Ok, that's not true, but we think you get the point.
Springfield is known primarily for being the home of the Basketball Hall of Fame. It's not a craft beer destination the likes of Asheville or Portland.
Nevertheless, good beer can be found without much effort in and around the 01020.
Sidenote: If you're looking for the bottom half of the Knowledge Corridor, check out Hartford.
Rustic Brewing Company
34 Front St Suite G21, Springfield, MA 01151
Rustic brews a beer they call Strawberry Marshmallow Daydream. It's a Milkshake IPA that is 6.8% ABV and 100% what we substitute for milk in the next bowl of cereal that we eat. To accompany that IPA is a variety of IPAs (Dropping Sinks, Smothered in Hops, etc.) as well as interesting and eclectic Stouts. Their craft beer lineup does dip into the Fruited Kettle Sour realm, with generally one on hand to be poured at all times.
The Rustic Brewing taproom is a bit of a tough one to find, as it's in the basement of an old industrial building that's looks like it houses the Fratelli's. But don't be scared off, some high quality beer awaits the eager voyager.
To note, Rustic is only doing beer-to-go at the moment, so plan for no on-site consumption. What's more, their hours are limited to Fridays between 4-7pm and Saturdays from 12pm-4pm. Speaking of beer-to-go, you can buy 32oz and 64oz growlers from them so long as their are clean (hot water rinse).
Two Weeks Notice Brewing Company
110 Bosworth St, West Springfield, MA 01089
One thing we appreciates about a brewery is how they name their beer. Two Weeks Brewing leans heavily on the office life theme, with beers such as Cubicle Daydream, Have You Tried Restarting It?, and PTO Pilsner.
Gosh, we wish we were on PTO right now so we could drive to Bosworth Street for a few cold pops. After all, today is a Fake Saturday, right?
Speaking of Saturdays, Two Weeks Notice brings in food trucks on Saturdays to supply the eats. On Fridays, they do rounds of live music. They contribute to local charities, and, they host beer tasting fundraising events. That all sounds really great.
Pay them a visit when its your own quitting time.
Also, did we sneak them into Springfield (they are West), yes, yes we did. And we're fine with it.
White Lion Brewing Company
1500 Main St, Springfield, MA 01103
White Lion is a black-owned brewery that was recently featured in the first episode of Black Brew Dialogs, a travel show hosted by Collin Knight that focuses on conversations about the craft beer industry's efforts to improve its diverty and inclusion policies, protocols and efforts.
Operating directly out of Downtown Springfield, the White Lion taproom is about a mile's walk from the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Further, in collaboration with the HOF, White Lion released Enshrinement, a craft beer dedicated to the birthplace of the sport.
Breweries near Springfield
One Way Brewing
807 Maple Road, Longmeadow, MA 01106
One Way Brewing is only a 10 or so minute drive from the Hall of Fame, so not too far out of Downtown Springfield. Try their Spilled Milk series, or just get a pour of The Betty, a 5.5% Scottish Export Ale.
Craft Beer Events in Springfield
The Worthy Brewfest is the craft beer event of the city. The Craft Beer Showcase is hosted annually every June, as 15-20 Massachusetts and Connecticut breweries, as well as a couple from elsewhere in the United States, converge on Worthington Street just outside of Theodore's & Smith's Billiards to deliver cold craft beers to the masses.
As for the beers themselves, the lineup is all over the map, including core, year-round offerings from the brewers as well as many experimental and concept brews. Perhaps the most interesting part of the event is the homebrew competition.
In fact, winning the Worthy Homebrew Compeition is what encouraged Mark Avery of Two Weeks Notice Brewing to go commercial and open a taproom in West Springfield.