The massive redevelopment of the South Boston Waterfront has been ongoing since the 1980s. Much of what’s new straddles either side of Seaport Boulevard and Northern Avenue. At the end of Northern Avenue is the Raymond L. Flynn Marine Park reserved largely for maritime-related activities. Here amongst seafood warehouses and other marine enterprises is the Harpoon Brewery, a haven for lovers of craft beer.

The brewery was founded in 1986 by a couple of college friends, who loved beer but found their post-Prohibition drinking choices sorely limited. Inspired by holidays in Europe, and the rich brewing tradition they found there, they decided to start their own microbrewery. Within a year they had acquired part of a former naval warehouse at 306 Northern Avenue in South Boston, where they brewed the very first Harpoon Ale. Fortunately they found a couple of Boston taverns willing to support their venture, including the Sevens Ale House at 77 Charles Street on Boston’s well-to-do Beacon Hill.

In 1988 they followed up with Harpoon Winter Warmer, the first seasonal craft beer to be brewed in New England. In 1993, and still technically a struggling company, they introduced Harpoon IPA as a refreshing summer tipple. The combination of English-style ale but one using North-western American hops was an immediate success and transformed the company. As a result Harpoon moved into profit for the first time, expanded production, and hasn’t looked back since.

The Harpoon Brewery today is a bustling concern that welcomes visitors both to its Boston premises and its sister concern in Windsor, Vermont. In Boston the brewery is easily identified by its large fermentation silos, one of which is topped with the company’s huge namesake harpoon. When it first opened, the brewery was not easily accessible to visitors. That changed with the arrival of Boston’s T Silver Line in 2004. As footfall increases, so the brewery upgraded its visitor facilities to include a new entrance, a capacious Beer Hall, and the inevitable gift shop.

In the brewery’s Beer Hall casual visitors can sample all the company’s products on tap, including Harpoon Ale and Harpoon IPA, as well as Harpoon UFO (Un-Filtered Offering), a cloudy, unfiltered wheat beer introduced with great success in 1998. Drinkers can also view the goings-on in the brewery itself through large picture windows.

To fully understand the brewing process at Harpoon, however, it is recommended to join one of the company’s informative daily tours. Everything is explained – from the mashing of malted barley with water to convert starch to sugar, heating, and the addition of hops to add refreshing bitterness, to fermentation through the adding of yeast. The brewing process takes two weeks after which the beer is bottled, capped, and boxed for shipment. A tasting rounds out the tour.

A glance at Harpoon’s website shows that great care is taken to ensure the business is environmentally sound. Noteworthy features include the thermodynamically efficient use of fuel through Cogeneration, on-site treatment of waste water, and supplying local farmers with spent grain for animal feed. The company, which has remained independent throughout and is now employee-owned, also has a social conscience. This is expressed through its charity races and annual Octoberfest and St. Patrick’s Day festivals.

After leaving Harpoon, be sure to visit the restaurant Yankee Lobster on the roundabout between the brewery and the Blue Hills Bank Pavilion. Mouth-watering lobster rolls and clam chowder have been on the menu here since 1950.

This text extracted from the book Only in Boston: A Guide to Unique Locations, Hidden Corners and Unusual Objects written by Duncan JD Smith and published by The Urban Explorer. Travel writer and historian Duncan is the author and publisher of the Only In Guides, a series of city guidebooks aimed at independent cultural travellers. Be sure to check out his other work.

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