“It’s Hawaiian themed, with toasted coconut and hibiscus flowers,” said Aaron Mateychuk, and no, he’s not talking about a martini, he’s describing Watch City Brewery’s Toasted Ah Ah Pale Ale, one of the beers that they’re featuring at the Boston Local Food Festival. Who needs a Bud Light when you can get a smooth golden wheat beer with a splash of Hawaii?
Mateychuk has been the brew master at Watch City Brewery in Waltham, MA since 1997. The brewery, located on Moody St., came about in 1996, and since then has won several awards, as well as grow a significant “mug club” of regular customers from the Newton/Waltham area. Besides its impressive selection of locally brewed beer, it also serves a great selection of typical pub fair—and everything served there is grown locally.
“We’ve always focused a lot on the local agriculture as far as produce and local seafood—and time to time local meat that’s in New England and Massachusetts,” said Mateychuk. What exactly does local mean for them? Watch City picks their produce and hops just three miles away at a local farm, Gateways. (It can’t get much more local than that.) Mateychuk is a big supporter of growing locally, and the main reason? “Because it’s fresh,” he said. “I think it’s a great thing to go into a community in a different town. I always check to see if someone’s brewing beer locally. It’s something that can’t be beat. Drinking stuff off the tap is always fresher than the bottle.”
Watch City Brewery is featuring two of their local beers at the Boston Local Food Festival this Saturday: Toasted Ah Ah Pale Ale and Mongrel IPA. Some of their other famous local beers that you can find at the brewery include MonkeyMonk Saison, a slightly spicy and sweet summer ale, and Stephanie’s Cherry Raspberry Wit, a refreshing tart wheat ale. Watch City Brewery’s local beers are also available throughout the city, including Red Bones, Stoddard’s Fine Food and Ale, and Cambridge Common.
This post was written by Megan Kellett, a lovely blogess who writes about her kitchen and eating adventures over at Cooking Whims.