Many of us are familiar with the Boston Beer Works near Fenway Park: a well-established brewpub that can be shoulder-to-shoulder at peak times.  They have two other locations as well, one on Canal St. (also in Boston), and another in Salem.  In a recent news posting over at Beer Advocate, it is being rumored that they may be setting their sights on Worcester for a new location.  (in case it's not evident, brewpubs are bars/restaurants that make their own beer).

Personally, I have some mixed feelings about this, several of which are voiced by Todd Alstrom in his post.  Beer Works is capable of making some pretty good, award-winning beers, but they can indeed be a bit "pedestrian."  The Fenway location has 15 different offerings at any given times, but it's amazing at how little variety there can be and rarely will you see anything exotic (forget about Belgian styles).. constant, slight variations on pale and amber ales can get a bit tedious.  There's also that sketchy business about their beer sometimes inducing headaches, which isn't very cool; that happens when you ferment too warm (ie, too fast, apparently in an effort to get beer "ready" asap).  Their pub grub isn't bad at all, but the whole place has a very manufactured feel, as though the chain were much larger.

I'm probably just bitter because it's my dream to start a brewpub in Worcester in a couple of years and the style of Beer Works is rather contrary to what I like about bars.  Still, it is hard for me to complain about another beer venue in town.