WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2019 The Boston Globe G3
By Rob Duca
GLOBE CORRESPONDENT
Sales of craft beers have
been skyrocketing for the past
decade. And that has meant a
dramatic increase in breweries.
Since 2009, the number of
breweries in the United States
has tripled, and there are now
more than 5,000 across the
country. New England could be
called the birthplace of micro-
breweries. The D.L. Geary
Brewing Co. in Portland,
Maine, founded in 1983, is con-
sidered New England’s first mi-
crobrewery, while there are so
many breweries in Burlington,
Vt., that Yelp ranks the city’s top
10.
The craft beer craze is now
flowing on Cape Cod, with taps
pouring everything from amber
ales and stouts aged in Ken-
tucky bourbon barrels to Bavar-
ian lagers and, of course, Cape
Cod reds. Not long ago, the only
brewery in town was Cape Cod
Beer in Hyannis, which opened
in 2004 as the Hyport Brewing
Co. on Main Street before relo-
cating to its current site in
- But today, you can literal-
ly embark on a Cape Cod Brew-
eryTrail,stoppingtosamplea
locally brewed beer less than
one mile after crossing over the
Sagamore Bridge and not tak-
ing your last taste, if you dare,
until you reach Orleans.
Along the way, you’ll experi-
ence distinctive and often juicy
brews — blueberry, citrus, rasp-
berry, and mango-flavored
beers are just a few of the offer-
ings — in a variety of settings,
large and small. Actually, it’s a
little surprising that it took so
long for craft breweries to begin
sprouting on the Cape. Cooling
off with a cold beverage after a
day at the beach or on the golf
course seems only natural.
Currently, there are seven
operating breweries on the
Cape; the seventh, Bad Martha
Farmer’s Brewery in Falmouth,
just opened. And there are
three more in the planning
stages in Falmouth and Bourne.
During a recent heat wave, I
hit the trail.
The tour began at the 6A
Brewing Co. in Sagamore,
which was transformed from
Flynn’s Irish Pub and opened
last June. The brewery’s center-
piece is a communal table that
stretches the length of the tast-
ing room. A flat-screen televi-
sion hangs over a gas fireplace,
and there are also high-top ta-
bles and a bar that seats four.
For those seeking a bit of priva-
cy, there is a walled-off room
with Irish-style pub chairs and
couches.
There are five to 10 beers on
tap at any time. One of the
unique offerings is Tailgater, a
rarely attempted white lager
that combines Witbier and la-
ger and is brewed with grape-
fruit, among other things. Their
flagship lager, Sundown, is
crisp and refreshing, but my fa-
vorite was Endless Night, a
silky-smooth peanut butter-
tinged stout.
About 10 minutes away is
Naukabout Brewery and Tap-
room in Mashpee, which is
perched on a hill and tucked in
the woods on the site of the for-
mer Flume Restaurant. The
brewery’s name was inspired bythe father of co-owner Brook
Conley, who used to tell his chil-
dren when he came home from
work that it was time to change
from his “work-a-bouts” into
his “nauk-a-bouts so we can go
out and have some fun.”
On cool summer days, peo-
ple gravitate to the 5,000-
square-foot outdoor beer gar-
den with four terraced patio ar-
eas, where food trucks serve
wood-grilled pizzas and Texas
barbecue. At night, head inside,
where a long wooden bar, a
brick fireplace, exposed beams,
and wooden railings and tables
evoke the feeling of a cozy cot-
tage.
Live music plays nightly.
Country is big, but on the night
I visited, I was treated to a local
duo playing soulfully acousticversions of Pink Floyd, Cream,
and Tom Petty.
Among the unique beers are
the Milkshake Pina Colada IPA
with coconut and pineapple;
the Outdoor Shower, which has
sweet lemon and ruby red
grapefruit; and the green pear
and gooseberry IPA.
From Mashpee, it’s a short
drive down Route 28 into
Hyannis, where both Cape Cod
Beer and Barnstable Brewing
are located. Cape Cod Beer is
the granddaddy of Cape brew-
eries, while Barnstable Brewing
opened in 2017.
Even on a sunny midweek
afternoon, prime beach time,
Cape Cod Beer is packed with
customers who fill the tented,
outdoor beer garden, the retail
store, and the spacious tap-
room. There are communal ta-
bles for gathering and making
new friends, and beer barrels to
stand around that a provide a
more private experience. There
is a pop-up kitchen in summer,
but customers are also welcometo bring their own snacks or or-
der delivery from a local restau-
rant.
There are up to 15 beers on
tap at any given time, and no
Cape brewery offers more vari-
ety, from a coffee-flavored stout
to a carrot cake ale to a blonde
ale aged on Pablano, Serrano,
and Jalapeno peppers.
Barnstable Brewing is a de-
cidedly smaller operation. Until
last year, it brewed small batch
beers on a one-barrel pilot sys-
tem, was only open a couple of
days each week, and regularly
ran dry of beer. That changed in
2018 when founder Peter Con-
nor installed a fully automated
30-barrel steam brewhouse.
Now, the family owned busi-
ness is open six days a week and
offers samplers, flights, pints,
and cans to go.
It also offers the coziest,
most comfortable tasting room,
with wood flooring and earth
tones throughout. A long gran-
ite bar with two TVs seats 12,
and there are four high-top ta-
blesthateachseatfour,along
with one long table running
parallel to a bench that can ac-
commodate another eight.
There is also an outdoor beer
garden with tables and Adiron-
dack chairs. But the best spot to
sample the local brews — which
run the gamut from a blueberry
ale and creamy American Pale
Ale to a coffee vanilla milkshake
IPA and a roasted barley stout
— are the three plush leather
couches.
Tucked away off the beaten
track in a South Dennis indus-
trial park is Devil’s Purse Brew-
ing Co. The atmosphere is nil,
but the beer is superb. The
eclectic offerings include a Ger-
man-style Kolsch, a classic IPA,
an Oyster stout, and a berry ale.
The final stop on the trail,
Hog Island Beer
Co. in Orleans,
features an ex-
pansive Bavari-
an-style beer hall
that includes nu-
merous table
games, such as
foosball, shuffle-
board, and ping-
pong. There are
two bars, one for
beers and anoth-
er for food,
wines, and spir-
its. The food
menu includes
lobster rolls,
chowder and hot
dogs, lobster corn
fritters, locally
grown veggie pizzas, and Bavar-
ian pretzels. In season, there is
live music nightly.
Outside, there is a family-
friendly atmosphere on the pa-
tio, with lawn games and picnic
tables. A doublewide custom
garage-style door opens the in-
terior to a large pergola patio,
where children play cornhole
and their parents settle into Ad-
irondack chairs. Befitting their
location, there is currently a
White Shark Wheat on tap,
along with a Moon Snail Pale
Ale and an Outermost IPA.
It’s approximately 35 miles
from the 6A Brewing Co. in Sag-
amore to Hog Island Beer Co. in
Orleans, with about a 10-mile
detour to Mashpee and Fal-
mouth. But in that stretch,
there are around 50 beers to
choose from, each unique and
brewed on location. Clearly, the
craft beer craze has come to
Cape Cod.Rob Duca can be reached at
[email protected].From Sagamore to Orleans,
the Cape is awash in craft beer
PHOTOS BY ROB DUCA FOR THE BOSTON GLOBE
The first stop after crossing over the Sagamore Bridge is 6A
Brewing Co. in Sagamore. Below: Plush leather couches
and an expansive bar make Barnstable Brewing’s tasting
room, in Hyannis, one of the Cape’s most comfortable.Thereareseven
operating
breweriesonthe
Cape.Andthere
arethreemorein
theplanning
stagesinFalmouth
andBourne.
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