Time for School!
Given the family friendliness of many craft breweries, they often become either a destination or an add-on to the majority of the Backyard Road Trips that I take with my familial entourage in tow (see basically any other blog entry on this website). Living in the South Shore of Massachusetts, I have visited almost everyone in the area to date (again, see almost every blog entry on this website). One brewery that I had not yet visited was Untold Brewing out of Scituate, MA, even cooler, for a fan of history like me, is that the brewery is housed in a former schoolhouse. Even though I visited during Christmas vacation week, school was in session!
Welcome Class
With a little free time before the actual Christmas holiday, my family and I were able to go out to lunch. Since we were heading to Scituate, I strongly hinted that stopping at Untold would be a good idea. Given that two (now mobile) kids are in tow, big crowds don’t fare well with us, so I had been trying to head to this brewery without the children. Alas, this didn’t happen, but we were no worse for wear, fortunately.
Since I’m in the middle of writing a series of articles on craft brewery culture, I’ve been taking a long look at different breweries’ under 21 policy. I like how Untold has it. First, children are in the woodwork of the actual brewery since the taproom is a converted schoolhouse circa 1852. It even has an antique chair and desk on display (that my older son promptly fell off of). Untold allows children in this part of the brewery, but has a separate no-kid-zone closer to the bar in the other half. The whole brewery becomes 21 and over after 7. This creates a nice balance.
Untold Brewing Lesson #1: The Beer
Let’s get to the real point of the article though: the beer. The only beer I had tried of their’s previously was the 143 Pale Ale. Also, local references abound at Untold. For instance, the 1-4-3 is in reference to Minot’s Ledge Light off the coast of Scituate (and Cohasset). Fun fact: Cohasset uses the light in their town seal, but it actually is located in Scituate. On one of Untold’s t-shirts is a silhouette of the landmark, the Olde Scituate Light.
Ok back to the beer. I ordered a flight, as I often do during an initial brewery voyage. I tried two IPAs (Solid Wall of Sound and East By Northwest), a brown ale (Rebecca) and the beer I was longing to try, a coffee pale ale (Mr. Breeze), brewed with coffee from nearby coffee roasters, Red Eye from Hingham).
I enjoyed all four. Both IPAs were really good. Although beer buzz words such as “hazy” and “juicy” can be used in the description of the Solid Wall, I sensed a more hop-forward presence that I quite honestly think is lacking in many of the newer New England-style IPAs out there. I am looking for a beer, not pineapple juice. Rebecca was a nice take on the brown ale and the East By Northwest was a classic West Coast IPA.
Mr. Breeze though was truly special. I’ve had a handful of blonde-ish coffee-flavored beers. With most of them, I couldn’t get over the coloration vs taste conundrum, almost like Crystal Clear Pepsi. To me, Untold has found the remedy for this. I didn’t care that my beverage tasted like coffee but was lighter in hue than expected. It was that good. The beer was full of delicious coffee-ness! As seen above, Mr. Breeze is not blonde like some others in the genre, but still lighter in coloration than what one would expect a coffee beer to be.
The Final Exam
From the quality and taste of beer to the thoughtfully renovated, historic schoolhouse taproom, to the personable staff and the family-friendly atmosphere (equipped with lots of varieties of games), they deserve an A+ on their report card! It’s definitely a brewery I will return to and as a souvenir, I brought home a four-pack of Mr. Breeze.
Untold Brewing is located at 6 Old Country Way in Scituate, MA. Visit them online here.
