The once-booming brewery scene in Everett – some of the hardest hit businesses in the City – are slowly gathering their former momentum this week since Gov. Charlie Baker lifted COVID-19 restrictions a week ago and bar service started again on Monday.
Breweries like Night Shift and Bone Up in the Fermentation District said this week that the last 15 months were a testament to being flexible, to figuring out how to grow their business in new ways, and relying on the solid support of the community. Now, though they said it seems weird, they are transitioning back to the normal tap room settings that once were the highlight of after-work gatherings in the area.
Joel Macleod submerges a case of empty cans into sanitizing solution before filling them with beer at Brato. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)
March is finally here, but Massachusetts craft brewers are still struggling to reach the end of this long, cruel, pandemic winter. We reached out to a few brewpubs, tap rooms and breweries to find out how creativity, community and a getting a lot more beer into cans is helping them survive.
Mobile canners State 64 cans Brato Brewhouse’s N. Beacon Light Helles Lager in a tight space inside the brewery. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)
Our first stop was Brato Brewhouse and Kitchen in Brighton where the clinking, whooshing sounds of aluminum vessels being filled with sudsy beer rang in a momentous day.