Inside the Weymouth, Massachusetts, brewery Vitamin Sea.
It was not all that long ago that Vermont was the place to go in New England for beer. Such award-winning breweries as the Alchemist, Lawson’s and Hill Farmstead have brought hordes of people to the Green Mountain State, where they would almost make a game out of searching for hard-to-find brews.
Then Maine got into the act, with relative newcomers like Bissell Brothers and Maine Beer Company reaching the greatness of some of the Vermont breweries, while old guard places such as Allagash quietly continue to put out some of the best beers in the country.
And now you’ll also find some top-notch beermakers in New Hampshire, Connecticut, Rhode Island and, yes, Massachusetts including nationally recognized brewers Tree House, Trillium, Notch and Jack’s Abby.
All of the top New England breweries have become very well known, sometimes just for one beer — the legendary Heady Topper from the Alchemist comes to mind — but there are brewers in the Northeast that are much less known yet approach the quality of their more famous competitors. In the case of a humble little facility 20 minutes from downtown Boston, it may even surpass them.
Is Vitamin Sea in Weymouth really that good? To locals and many beer geeks in the region, the answer is a very definite “yes.”
When Vitamin Sea debuted inearly 2019, it did so to little fanfare, as not too many knew about the brewer other than those who ran into them at beer festivals, and perhaps some locals in Hull where the business began out of a basement.
Local
The initial plan was actually to open a brewery in Hull, but the folks behind Vitamin Sea opted for the two-building Weymouth facility just off Route 53 (and around the corner from fellow brewer Barrel House Z) that it now calls home. One of the structures displays a wonderful mural that gives a nod to Weymouth’s seafaring roots, the other is a garage-like space where you’ll find the taproom.
In the early days of the business, it appeared that Vitamin Sea might focus mainly on being a production house with the taproom almost an afterthought, but what was once a rather spartan space for the general public has slowly but surely morphed into a comfortable beer garden that includes a number of communal tables inside and a long, narrow and partially covered outdoor area, allowing patrons to sit outside even on rainy days.
Like many breweries, Vitamin Sea has a rotating group of food trucks outside, and customers can also bring in their own food as well.
To some, Vitamin Sea is all about the New England IPAs, and there’s very good reason for this even though those who stick only to that style of beer are missing out on some other tremendous options (more on this in a bit). The hazy and fruity IPAs available here are as impressive as you’ll find anywhere, and unlike some others out there, they’re pretty easy to drink and aren’t all that filling, which means the second round will likely be every bit as satisfying as the first.
Session-style NE IPAs tend to be great in the summer simply because they are so drinkable due to their lower alcohol content, and Vitamin Sea has some great ones, including Little Birdie, which has an ABV of 4.5%, while non-session options include the spectacular Double Summer, which has a notable citrus taste while also being one of those beers that sneaks up on you as it has nearly twice as much alcohol as Little Birdie.
It should be noted that the beer list at Vitamin Sea is always changing, which means you may find other NE IPAs such as a similarly citrusy Alone and Adrift or a Southern California tribute beer called Hello from OB, though there are some one-and-done options such as Coastal Bomb, a solid brew that was a collaboration with the Boston-based meteorologist (and beer aficionado) Eric Fisher. If you like hoppier American IPAs, you may find one here depending on the offerings of the day, with Greetings From Weymouth being particularly satisfying.
But you don’t have to be a lover of New England IPAs to go to Vitamin Sea. The brewery also offers excellent takes on stouts, lagers, Belgian-style witbiers and hard seltzers, to name a few. But rivaling the NE IPAs in quality is a group of always-changing specialty/experimental brews that come under the “Sour Pipe Project” umbrella.
These are fruited sours that are sometimes more smooth than sour, and some of them are so good that it’s a shame they aren’t available all the time. One highlight is the Sour Pipe Lychee, which has marshmallow, adding a sweet foaminess to the tropical flavor, while the tangerine marshmallow has a perfectly balanced mix of citrus and vanilla notes.
You might also be lucky enough to try a blueberry pancake version that, well, is like a liquid version of blueberry pancakes, and a bright tasting limonata version is sometimes available as well. Other Sour Pipe options include ones made with coconut, pineapple, plums, strawberries, apricots and mango, and half the fun is showing up just to see what the latest Sour Pipe Project beers may be offered that day.
For some beer lovers, the search for Vitamin Sea’s brews seems a bit like the old days when people would search far and wide for the Alchemist’s aforementioned Heady Topper or perhaps Hill Farmstead’s Edward or Lawson’s Sip of Sunshine. But more and more restaurants and bars are offering Vitamin Sea’s beers now — especially on the South Shore — so they aren’t all that difficult to find anymore, though if you want to buy cans, you can only get them at the brewery itself (at least for now).
It may not have the name recognition of some of the best craft brewers in New England, but Vitamin Sea continues to gain a cult following for its near-perfect New England IPAs, its unique Sour Pipe options and pretty much all of its other beers as well — and by the way, if you don’t live on the South Shore, Vitamin Sea also has a beer garden set up in Cambridge’s Kendall Square until early October.
Vitamin Sea, 30 Moore Road, Weymouth, MA, 02189. vitaminseabrewing.com.
