Happy to tell you all about this brewery in Easthampton’s old mill district. Abandoned Building Brewery offers superb craft beers with fun names and is renowned for its Food Truck Fridays.
They specialize in Belgian and American-style ales, crafted with locally sourced ingredients. We were lucky enough to visit and meet kids and grandkids at this brewery.
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Tell me All about the Abandoned Building Brewery!
Let me introduce you to the joy and magic of visiting this building. It used to be a thriving mill back in the days. So you would expect ghosts, rusty machinery and echoing emptiness, but instead you find an awesome brewery!
What makes Abandoned Building Brewery Special?
Starting in March of 2013, Matt Tarlecki began transforming part of this old mill building, aptly named “The Brickyard”. After Matt painted the 16 foot tall walls and ceiling, he refinished the original hard wood floors, and installed the 15 barrel brewhouse and barrel fermenters. While doing so, he tried to keep the ambiance of the original mill building. Clearly, he succeeded at that.
To get their unique beer flavors, they use local malt and local hops in their recipes. In nearby Hadley, the brewery maintains a hop yard with 100 plants that includes 4 varieties. In addition, they source hops from Four Star Farms in Northfield, MA.
Their specialities are Belgian Farmhouse and Hoppy American ales. They developed the original recipes to use the local malts and hops that highlight the unique flavors of the Pioneer Valley.
Abandoned Building Brewery Experience
Shabby looking from the outside, the inside is surprisingly warm and welcoming. Because they focus on beer, they don’t sell any food. Instead, they do allow and even encourage people to bring in their own food.
Close to the brewery there is a good pizzeria, Antonio’s which we used for our pizza dinner. Alternatively, a good time to visit is on Food Truck Fridays.
When we visited, I considered the Pan Galastic IPA inspired by the Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster, but instead I went for the Coffee Nightshade Stout. An excellent choice!
For my second glass I couldn’t resist the Temporary Sanity IPA. Always good to try sanity for a limited time. If you like craft beer, it shouldn’t be hard to find an ABB beer you will enjoy. My only regret is that we live too far away to visit more often.
What is on Tap at Abandoned Building Brewery?
The most up-to-date list can be found on the Abandoned Building Brewery website, but here is a sample.
- Pan Galactic IPA: a hazy New England IPA that is brewed with white wheat malt and hopped intensely with Azacca, El Dorado, Vic Secret, and Citra hop varieties. 6 % ABV;
- Dirty Girl IPA: named in celebration of the amazing women in agriculture who make local beer possible, Dirty Girl IPA is a West Coast influenced flagship IPA that they have been brewing since we opened in 2014. 6.7 % ABV;
- Nightshade Stout : a Classic American Stout that features malted wheat from Valley Malt in Hadley in addition to roasted barley, chocolate malt, numerous crystal malts, and flaked wheat. It features flavors of dark chocolate, freshly baked bread, and dark roasted coffee; 6.4 % ABV;
- Brickyard Porter : a classic English Style Brown Porter brewed with English Marris Otter Pale Ale Malt and 2 other specialty malts that provide a full bodied malty beer; 5 % ABV
- Belladonna: Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Stout. Different bourbon barrels are used to age the beer so the vintages have nuanced flavor profiles. Always a rich and pitch black beer with layers of caramel, dark chocolate, vanilla, oak, and bourbon. 11 % ABV
As you can see, there is a wide variety of beers available.
Other Breweries in Easthampton
By now, you might be wondering whether there are other breweries to check out in Easthampton, MA. You are in luck, since right next door from the ABB, there is the New City Brewery. During Thanksgiving, we got some of their ginger beer, it was really good. They make great beer and they consider themselves revivalists, returning pre-prohibition style ginger beer to the people one bottle at a time.
Apart from New City Brewery and Abandoned Building Brewery, there is one more brewery to check out, Fort Hill Brewery. This one gets good reviews, but we don’t have any personal experience with them, so go check them out and let us know.
Conclusion Abandoned Building Brewery.
Since we had such a good time at Mill 180 Park and the Abandoned Building Brewery, we totally recommend that you visit either or both. Do you have indoor parks where you live? What about craft breweries? Please share your local favorites with us.
Top Things To Do in Massachusetts
Oh, and when you find yourself in Massachusetts, don’t forget to visit the fabulous Massachusetts state house.
Other must-sees include
- the Old Boston Statehouse has a unicorn on top;
- The Enigma of the Locked Up Liberty Bell;
- During fall, check out the best places to see foliage!
- If you love whales (who doesn’t?) go Watch Whales on Cape Cod,
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