Craft Beverage Tasting Room Sampler

508 Pine Meadow Road, Northfield MA 01360, (413) 225-3187
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The Brewery at Four Star Farms is located in the midst of the Four Star hops farm with a beautiful taproom and outdoor space featuring views of the scenery around the farm. Enjoy a diverse selection of beers using only hops grown onsite as well as hard cider, and wine.     Warm up by the fire in the taproom or relax on lawn chairs and at picnic tables on the sprawling lawn.  Bring your own picnic or order from the onsite local food truck. .

203 South Street, Bernardston MA 01337, (413) 648-3172
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Hitchcock Brewing Company is a 10 BBL microbrewery that brews all its beers on site and is named after ancient Glacial Lake Hitchcock (read more about Franklin County Geology here). The venue has a taproom with beer styles that range from light ales and lagers to dark porters and stouts as well as a variety of IPAs, a sour, and a hard seltzer. In addition, the brewery boasts a stage for live music with performances every Friday and Saturday. There is also have a beautiful outside patio where you can relax and enjoy the scenery while sipping on a fresh cold brew.

324 Wells Street, Greenfield, MA (at the Franklin County Community Development Center) (413) 773-9700, info@artbev.coop
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ArtBev is a worker owned company in Greenfield formed by producers of Katalyst Kombucha and Green River Ambrosia. They offer Kombucha, a naturally fermented beverage made from a mother culture and sweetened tea, resulting in a fizzy, slightly sweet and tart drink with supposed health benefits to boot; Ginger Libation, an effervescent, pre-prohibition style ginger beer with a pleasant sweetness and distinctive ginger zing; and mead, an ancient beverage, sometimes called honey-wine.

Their traditional tasting room offers tasting flights, as well as bottle and growler fills to go. It is the one place you can try ALL of their meads, including special brewer trials and blends. They typically have a few experimental Kombucha and Ginger Libations on tap as well.

With a mission to promote environmental stewardship, democratic governance, sustainable agriculture, and building a strong local economy, what’s not to love?

Tasting room by appointment
112 Forget Road, Hawley, MA, (413) 695-6099, info@headwatercider.com
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Over 2,000 apple trees cover this beautiful 20 acre orchard at the headwaters of Clesson Brook in the scenic western hilltown of Hawley. The drive out there is as spectacular as Headwater’s award winning New England style cider. Crisp, clean, and dry, New England style cider is described as the only cider originating in the United States.

While visits are by appointment only, cider maker Peter Mitchell is always happy to welcome visitors. Expect a personal tour of the orchard’s classic trees and learn about his trial grafting of new varieties. And of course, sample his fine ciders over lively conversation about the fermentation process and whatever else is on Peter’s mind!

Note, cell service is extremely limited in Hawley, so make sure you download any info you’ll need before heading out there!

Berkshire Brewing Company
12 Railroad St, South Deerfield, MA, (413) 665-6600, BBC@berkshire-brewing.com
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BBC is a premier New England craft brewery offering ales and lagers fresh in small batches. Unfiltered, unpasteurized, and never containing chemical additives or preservatives, they offer creative year-round, seasonal, and special brews.

Once a week, on Saturdays at 1pm, you can take a tour of the facility and have a tasting of classics like their Drayman’s Porter, a well-balanced and full-bodied dark ruby-brown ale that’s slightly sweet with notes of chocolate malt and mocha married to a delicate hop bitterness and flavor. Or check out the seasonal Farmstand Raspberry Barleywine Style Ale, which takes on its ruby hued appearance from the generous use of half a pound of fresh raspberries per gallon, from a local farm only a few miles from the brewery. Luscious malts and a balanced hop bitterness support the rich, sweet, tart character of the fruit. It’s described as dangerously drinkable, challenging the notion of what a “fruit beer” can be.

208 Peckville Rd. Shelburne, MA, (413) 624-3481, info@westcountycider.com
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If you like cider, you won’t want to miss this stop! And if you think you don’t like cider, you will after this visit. The craft cider movement began right here with the Maloney family’s West County Cider. They applied their California winemaking techniques to the New England style of apple fermenting to create some of the finest ciders available. The Maloneys started making cider commercially in 1984 and became one of the first small artisanal cider producers in the US. In recent years that number has skyrocketed, from around a dozen or so producers to hundreds of companies, as the Cider Renaissance flourished and as people rediscovered a taste for this traditional American beverage.

Prized for creative and complex ciders, their offerings range from very dry to sweet. Some have a champagne-like flavor, while others are more robust, with tannins from traditional American and European cider apples. Come get a taste of West County in their new tasting room in Shelburne on a property with one of the most beautiful expansive views in New England. Plus you’ll get to meet the fascinating Field Maloney and learn more about the history of this significant cider company.  Read more about West County Cider and the birth of the craft cider movement here.

Free tastings of all our hard ciders are always available to anyone 21+ in the Outdoor Cider Garden & Barn Shop
(978) 544-3437‬
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Nestled in the hills of western Massachusetts, overlooking the Quabbin Reservoir, is the historic town of New Salem and the home of New Salem Preserves & Heritage Cider, located on a farm dated circa 1750.

This newly opened, one of a kind outdoor Cider Garden, tucked in next to the barn and farm store, is a cozy haven for friends - including the four legged kind - to gather and relax. Enjoy a glass of their award winning cider as you drink in the breathtaking scenery. The Cider Garden overlooks the century-old orchard, with rolling hills, long stone walls and fields of wildflowers. They have treats for dogs and offer non-alcoholic beverages as well. Guests are welcome to wander through the farm along the stone walls and explore the orchard, but keep an eye out for the wildlife. Hard cider is available to enjoy by the glass, in both the garden and throughout the farm & orchard, or take home by the growler.

By mid-September they start hand harvesting apples from our 135 year old heirloom apple trees and press them into sweet cider each week right here at their mill in an antique rack & cloth apple press. During the Fall days hot mulled cider is served at the barn along with local cheddar cheese and fruit pies (and of course apples), sweet cider, preserves, apple butter, barrel aged cider vinegar and award winning hard ciders. Also available are fresh flowers and selected items from local artists and locally made foods. On the weekends, don’t miss their own fresh cider doughnuts!

Come and enjoy the stunning fall foliage of this scenic hill town, and taste a bit of old New England traditions!

1046 Millers Falls Road, Northfield, MA, (413) 225-3420
Winery website Brewery website   

A new addition to the Franklin County beverage scene is Cameron’s Winery. Leslie and Paul Cameron have eight families of wine: Grape, Citrus, Pitted Fruit, Berry, Honey, Maple, Vegetable, and Cider. There is always something new to enjoy as they make and bottle wine and brew beer all year. Stop by for a glass or a tasting and stay for a the beautiful building and grounds complete with outdoor hangout spots, fire pits, fairy lights and a charcuterie market has a very large selection of cheeses, meats, chocolates many other goodies to pair with your beer or wine.  They also have frequent entertainment on weekends.