Smuttynose Brewing Company

Fresh food and cold beer! We stopped in on our way up to Mt. Washington and were so happy we did. The restaurant, Hayseed, is in a converted farm house and is super cute. The waitress was quick and attentive. We got our food 15 – 20 minutes after ordered and she was also good at making sure our Smuttynose pint glasses were filled at all times. If you are a big beer person or if you love food this is worth the drive!

Smuttynose beer has always been hit or miss for me so I don’t know what I was expecting going to the brewery, but it missed the mark. We walked in and there was a store with a register, but no information posted about tours or tastings. There was a long line at the register so we explored a little bit and went around a corner to where the tastings are (it looked like an area that would be restricted to tour groups or employees only). We walked up to the girls doing tastings and were rudely told we would need to purchase a tasting card at the register, then she turned to her co-​worker and smirked as if we were trying to get away with something.
We went and purchased our cards and went back (you get 4 samples and a coupon for their restaurant). It was the weekend of their kittens and kisses? release so we tried that one first and I can honestly say it was the worst beer I’ve ever tried. It was super sour and poured from a pitcher instead of a tap, a pitcher which I later saw an employee sip from their glass and dump the remainder into– gross. We each took a sip and handed it back for our next tasting. After tasting 3 beers and giving back 2 we gave up and handed our last card to there patrons and skipped the tour.

We went for the tour, wound up staying for dinner. It was a very cold night in February, so we were not able to enjoy the grounds, but we did do the short tour of the brewery which was informative, then paid $ 3 for the tasting after. That was worthwhile — they had a number of unique beers that you won’t find in the grocery store. We then went across the driveway to the onsite restaurant and had an excellent meal. Really enjoyed the hole experience, will definitely do it again when the weather is better so we can walk around outside.

what a treat. my boyfriend and i had a blast here on a bustling saturday afternoon.
when you enter, you’ll need to purchase your tasting ticket in the retail area. we happened to arrive while the line was quite long (about 15 people or so), but waited patiently to get to the front. of course, 3 people away, they started a retail purchasing frenzy, which caused us to wait even longer. we were, however, rewarded for our patience, because we didn’t even get charged for our tasting! now that was excellent customer service.
we proceeded to the tasting area where we again encountered a bit of a line, but its length varied throughout our time there. we enjoyed all of the beers, but the highlights for me were the stallion (just released that day!) and the really old brown dog ale. both beers are aged in wine barrels, and i love the distinct flavor that comes with that. we also picked up a few beers to go from the retail area, including a sour peach, and a chestnut ale (can’t WAIT to try!).
all in all, the beer was excellent, the space itself was very cool, and the people, especially, were warm and friendly. if we lived in the area, we certainly would come here with some regularity. i highly recommend stopping in if you are going to be nearby.

Such a fun beer tasting! The tour is free and a tasting card is $ 3, which includes 4−4oz tastings of your choice and a 7oz pour at their Hayseed restaurant (which can be upgraded to a full pint for $ 2). The tour guides were friendly and helpful. A great variety of beers on tap, there will be something everyone will like. Awesome to see a local brewery doing so well. The brewery is a little off the beaten path, but is worth the trip! We picked up the Barleywine and Smistletoe to bring home.

Loved it! I may have to start drinking beer! Friend from Scotland was visiting and checking out different local/​craft breweries was top of his tourist list. Big surprise, not. ;)
The wonderful smell of malt lures you in from the parking lot to the foyer. Young lady at the gift shop counter gave a warm welcome. Tours are free, but for $ 3 you get to sample four brews on tap and a free 7oz beer at their Hayseed restaurant across the parking lot. Restaurant is highly recommended; review forthcoming.
Tours are on the half hour (short and sweet) and we had about a 10 minute wait. Only two other people came in, so we got to start a bit early. Our guide, Joe, was enthusiastic and very informative. No bottling or packing going on when we were there, crew was on lunch. Because we were a small group (no more than 5 people at a time) we were allowed to go up on the catwalk and actually look in the tanks where the brewing process starts. Make sure you have grippy soled shoes because the floors are sometimes wet and sticky.
At end of the tour proper, we were led to the sampling bar. Taster glasses are 3 – 4 oz of some of their standard, seasonal and «Smuttlabs» limited edition brews from their R&D labs. Nice having a small group because we were able to take the time to chat with Joe and the other two people in our group. I expect that might be a little more difficult with a larger number of people.
The staff really enjoy their work environment. Billy Ray Cyrus’ «Achy Breaky Heart» was blasting away and one of the girls was dancing away. LOL Apparently they all get a turn at selecting the music. Joe did have to ask for it to be turned down so we could hear him talk, but it was a very lighthearted atmosphere. Happy staff, beautiful facility (built with a strong environmentally-​friendly philosophy) equals awesome product! They have a lot of plans to continue growth and the goal is to make Smuttynose a day-​trip destination for families, including a dog friendly area too.

Did a fantastic VIP tour with Josh yesterday — we learned so much about Smuttynose brews! He really knows his beers with a bit of added humor! Loved the facility — took a walk over to Hayseed and had a cold Baltic Porter by the fire pit!
Awesome tour, great place all around — definitely will be back. (Need more bathrooms)
***** five stars *****

We were really looking forward to trying this place but we were disappointed with our food. It’s definitely a bar atmosphere and very loud upstairs where we were. Our waitress was subpar as we waited a good ten minutes after being seated before anyone came over and once we got our food was no where to be found.
Beer was good and we walked over to the store where they had a tasting room which was cool.
Would recommend for beer and tasting but would not recommend the restaurant. If your going to go, go for the bar.

The brewery tour is exactly what it should be: Short enough to keep interest but complete enough to explain the process and why their process is different and better. The tour includes a tasting of 4 of the beers they are serving. The night we were there, they had 8 beers on tap, so the two of us could get 4 each and taste them all. I do wish there was a little guidance in an order, but we found several we liked and bought to bring home. Love the spicy Baja Hoodie was our favorite.

By far the best brewery I’ve been to in the New England area. Echo friendly, clean and great staff. I found our tour guide Paul to be very informative and friendly. The back story behind the brewery was interesting. And all the plans they have to make this the go to place all year round is something to look forward too. Along with the free tour you get four free samples (good size) and a 5^th free beer is redeemable if you eat at the Hayseed restaurant on the property. If you enjoy beer and are in the area I advise you to check it out.

Stopped in this afternoon before eating at The Hayseed Restaurant. The new brewery is crisp and clean. We were very pleased to enjoy 4 FREE samples of their beer. Of course, all were delicious, especially the Octoberfest. We will be back, when in the area.

Maybe it’s because they gave me four tastings of beer with an average ABV of 8% after I biked 15 miles, but I really, really liked this place. The tour is short and sweet. They let you sample 4 beers for free, with about 8 total options. The beer is good. The facility is pretty. They clearly care about the environment. Win!
I’d recommend coming on a weekday, when the bottling plant is running. But it’s still worth going on the weekend!

I’ve been to many breweries and Smuttynose is one of my favorites. The staff is awesome, the tour is quick but filled with a lot of information. Plus you get samples! They don’t ask for a payment for the tour but instead you can donate a few bucks to different charities. The staff is very honest and informative on things you should try.
They are also building a disc golf course and some hiking trails.

Free brew tour! Very nice establishment that continues to add new and upcoming things to its establishment. Building is very nice and very sustainable. After the tour, you can sample 4 –4 oz beers. if you sample all four beers go to their restaurant after to get a free 7oz beer.

Driving from Cape Cod, MA to Portland, ME, we stopped by Smuttynose Brewing Company along our route. The brewery itself is beautiful! They’re located in a renovated red barn on a huge piece of land with a restaurant and tap room located on the property as well. It seems like the brewery has come along way in the past year and they are still in the process of making changes. They are proud of the fact that they are an energy efficient brewery, something you don’t often here breweries talk about. They’ve completely repurposed the old farmhouse on the property, and converted it into a restaurant. They’re also in the process of converting an old trailer, supposedly the same one from the bottle of Finestkind IPA, into a food truck of sorts. And, they should have a disc golf course up and running by the end of the year.
The downsides of Smuttynose are that the brewery only includes a tasting room and they don’t always offer the thirty minute tours everyday. They DO give you a free tasting when you arrive, which I believe consisted of 4 – 5 samples. You receive samples one-​at-​a-​time and reuse your plastic cup for each tasting. We tried to purchase full beers at the tasting room after seeing others receiving them, but were informed that they were staff and full pours are only offered at the restaurant across the street. A little disappointing but they need to get people over there somehow I guess. Overall, if you’re a fan of Smuttynose Brewing Company, this is definitely a nice stop, to see where it all comes from. But I’d definitely say it’s a shorter brewery stop and allows for a moment to stretch your legs before you move onto something else.

We have not done the tour since it has been in the new location, but that’s just fine because honestly, I’m not all that interested in much more than the free beer samples at the end of the tour. AND those you can GET without doing the tour. 5 samples for free!
It’s kinda a boring-​ish and small sampling area and hard to get a sample when it’s packed, but hey… beggars can’t be choosers, right? You can get a photo op with the old man cardboard cutouts from the IPA label. cool right?
I liked the gift shop stuff, cause I’m a total sucker for gift shops.
Overall, I liked the new place.

The brewery itself has a gift shop and a small tasting area with a fair collection of beer to choose from. The tour itself was detailed, if not interesting and the guide was a good people pleaser. It’s really just something you should do while waiting for Hayseed’s tables to open up across the parking lot.

I liked the beer and the brewery but the tour didn’t meet expectations. They offer 30 minute tours every day that they’re open. The 30 minute tour consisted of sitting outside the brewing area for 15 – 20 minutes to talk about the history of the place, and then walking into one place in the brewery where we stood for another 15 minutes to look at some bags of barley and talk about the brewing process. It ended with a tasting, where all above-​21 tour guests could taste small cups of four different kinds of beers. I was disappointed that they were out of the one kind of beer I really wanted to taste, which I had just tried over in the restaurant.
The tour guide was friendly and expressive but kind of failed to pick up on the mood of the group and engage in conversation with us; he definitely had a script in mind that he wanted to get through and didn’t bite on any attempts at conversation through the questions that we asked.
I appreciated that they stressed how the facility is LEED Gold certified, and I enjoyed hearing about the various energy-​saving and pollution-​reducing efforts of the brewery. I also liked hearing about their plans to open an event hall and create some hiking trails on the property behind the brewery. They seem like a very socially-​conscious organization and I really like that.
Overall, I think this is a great brewery, with a great mission and delicious beer, that needs to work on the quality of tours a little bit.

After years of brewing fantastic beer.
They have been a little eclipsed by the multitude of new brewery’s and the exclusive vibe of beer like Heady Topper, hey I am a single 43^rd old male and I see dating photos with pictures of the candidates with a heady, s usually in the same clothes after their one and only Spartan Race
I say bull to them and all the fair weather beer geeks and part time Paleo, it’s just about the image.
Smuttnose is a fantastic brewery with outstanding beers. Just because they are widely available suggests their beer is great, distribution is good, honest about their marketing and they ain’t snooty.
Buy a six packs of anything theirs, you will not be disappointed. Cracked my first ever Rhye IPA, it’s crafted beautifully and I will not open my second until I write this review.
Outstanding, consistent and honest brewing. Thank you Smuttynose

This is my favorite brewery. They welcome you with 4 free tastings. They always have an interesting selection of brews on tap and those pouring the beers are insanely well-​educated about beers. This is definitely a family-​friendly brewery with big tables and place to let your little ones stretch out a little. They also have a great store with some great little souvenirs and last-​minute gifts. Very reccomended!

I make the trek from Western MA to the new Smuttynose Brewing Company. Great day trip idea by the way… There are a couple of other local breweries to tie into the trip, as we did.
Wonderful campus. The grounds seem to be laid out very well. Still a few parts to the campus in the works (Trailer/​bar and the Restaurant), but if it finishes in same manner in which is has started this will be great.
Completely sufficient gift shop. But beer is the real reason to come to the brewery. The tour is great, and so is their beer. Showing off some of their world class equipment. Finishing off with tastings of their craft.
Great spot to check out.

What a fantastic new facility! We had toured their old brewery and to say this one is light years ahead is an understatement. It’s clean, bright, well planned and as green as a brewery can be. There are future plans for a restaurant and event area.
Randy was our tour guide and he does his job well, explaining the brewing process in detail, giving the history of Smuttynose and some anecdotes as well. We were allowed to be in the brewery during production, which isn’t the case with most brewery tours. At the end of the tour we were given the option to sample eight different beers. While I didn’t sample, everyone that did seemed to enjoy all the beers.
There a nice gift shop where you can purchase lots of Smuttynose items as well as beer. It’s worth a stop. It’s one of the best brewery tours I’ve seen.