Brick and Feather Brewing, Turners Falls MA

20 February 2024

I only wish this post weren’t so long after the visit because I can’t give good reviews of the individual beers themselves at this point, just the general impression overall.

I’ve had the pleasure of enjoying a few different B&F beers in cans over the past few years and have always enjoyed them, so I really looked forward to this visit as I’d never been to their taproom which is about an hour north of me. It was a pleasant drive on a nice afternoon, but on the whole was rather underwhelming. I didn’t get a photo of the outside as there wasn’t much to see. Even inside, it was clear that “every expense has been spared” — there was little to make this space friendly and inviting. Still, the guy behind the bar was friendly and knowledgeable, eager to share his knowledge of the beers, so that was a big plus.

This is basically the entire interior space! There’s not much else to it other than a single bathroom beyond the bar.

I started with this flight which I’ll describe from left to right.

Wolf Interval, a “Bamberg-style Smoked Märzen” at 5.3%. It was tasty, as I recall, and true to style as a Rauschbier.

Novachord, a “Czech-style 11º Polotmavy Lager” at 4%. I was surprised by the color — but honestly didn’t know what to expect here — but found it enjoyable.

Letters from Zelda, a 6.5% IPA. This was fine, but there are SO MANY IPAs around here that it’s tough to stand out from the crowd. I have to say this one blended in and wasn’t a stand-out.

Melodic Drop, an IPA “with local hops” at 6.8%. I rather liked this one although it wasn’t 100% to my taste on this particular day.

At this point, I’d had four of the six beers they had on tap and that was part of what really took me by surprise here. I’m used to “mother ships” having a much, much larger selection of brews than Brick & Feather did. So now, there was just one left — ignoring a 4% Czech-style lager that frankly didn’t interest me on this chilly yet sunny winter’s day, so it was on to a pint of what turned out to be my favorite of the day …

Sauron’s Nightlight, a 7.3% Porter. I love the name! And the taste was just as enjoyable, so much so that I took a 4-pack of this home with me (along with a 4-pack of another of their brews that wasn’t on draft currently). This really was a great Porter, but to be perfectly honest, I probably would have taken some home just because of the name even if it didn’t tick all the boxes for me 🙂

Overall, I still have good memories of other Brick & Feather beers, but if it hadn’t been for those, I wouldn’t give them a second thought after this visit. The atmosphere and the beers currently available just didn’t work for me.