Hello! My name is Bob, and I don’t mind drinking a good farmhouse ale outside in sub-50° weather. That qualifies me to write the November newsletter for Amory’s Tomb Brewing! Here’s what’s coming up at AT:
6th Anniversary Weekend November 22-24
Can you believe Allen and Rick’s little venture has been with us for 6 years? Can you believe Allen and Rick’s little venture has survived the past 6 years?? COVID, eviction, the record rain of 2023 - I sometimes marvel at how they managed it all. Yet here they are, simultaneously more popular and making better beer than ever before!
So of course Amory’s Tomb should be celebrating its 6th Anniversary in the Beer Garden! The official party is slated for Friday, November 22nd, weather permitting.
It’s appropriate that the celebration should be on a Friday this year because Fridays were extra-special this summer at the Tomb. The hottest scene in Maynard this summer was Taco Fridays in the Beer Garden. And on November 22nd, Perico’s will have a special offering in honor of Amory’s Tomb’s 6th Anniversary. That alone will be enough to get me to attend!
September and October also brought Friday Night DJ Dance Parties, with the Beer Garden becoming the Metrowest’s only open air dance party. So naturally Friday will be another evening of acid and techno.
And of course there will be a special release! It’s a Brett IPA that at least as of this writing doesn’t yet have a name. Sadly, he already rejected names that reference lemurs when this was suggested in the Beer Garden one night. But here are some of my ideas:
6th Anniversary Brett IPA
6-6-6th Anniversary Brett IPA
Not Another Wizard IPA
Not Some Hipster Hazy IPA
You Can’t Handle the Brett!
Reign in Brett
Jazz Records at the Roosevelt (oops, they already used this one)
“Sir, My Beer Tastes Funny”
Allen and Rick’s 6th Anniversary Brettanomyce Extravaganza
Maybe those won’t be the name. I am sure Allen would welcome having his inbox completely flooded with your own suggestions, so feel free to send them in. The more “creative” the better! (Note, I didn’t clear this with Allen before writing it.)
On Saturday the 23rd the fun continues with Perico’s Taqueria, and Ben’s Raclette will be popping up on Sunday November 24th for more delicious cheesy goodness.
Winter Hours
The sun sets much earlier these days, and the autumn evenings get a bit chilly. We are updating our hours as of November to Friday & Saturday from12-9pm and Sunday 12-6pm. We will plan to reopen on Thursdays once the inside is open!
Thanksgiving Traditions at the Tomb!
Amory’s Tomb first officially opened on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving in 2018. I remember walking into the old tap room and my first thought was “This looks like someone’s basement!” It was pretty much gray walls and 3 picnic tables. Was there any signage at all? If there was, it made no impression.
But the beer was good and the guy behind the bar (it was Rick, but I didn’t know that yet) was really nice. So, I decided I would come back. I showed up occasionally at first, then more frequently, then regularly, and before I knew it I was writing the newsletter!
My point is, the Wednesday before Thanksgiving will always feel like the true anniversary date for me, and that may be the case for Allen and Rick, too, because they always open on that day. This “Thanksgiving Eve” the Beer Garden will be open special hours of 2:30pm to 9:00pm. Be sure to stop by to toast another year of Amory’s Tomb and load up on beer for the next day. Saison I seems like the perfect accompaniment to turkey, if you ask me!
Amory’s Tomb also will have its traditional Thanksgiving morning celebration in the Beer Garden! That’s right, they will be open from 8:00am to 11:00am, just as they are every Thanksgiving Day. As always, breakfast sandwiches will be available and Another Bite Baking will be offering their delicious cinnamon rolls too!
I must alert you to one very important point, though. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts does not allow the purchase of alcohol to-go on Thanksgiving Day. So Allen and Rick will have beer on draught to help wash down your breakfast sandwich, but you can’t take anything with you. That’s why you’ll need to stop by on Wednesday to load up!
Maynard Holiday Happenings December 7 & 8!
The 2024 Maynard Holiday Stroll, sponsored by the Maynard Business Alliance, will be on Saturday, December 7th from 5:45pm to 8:30pm. The festivities start at Memorial Park with a tree lighting and the arrival of Santa Claus. Afterwards, it’s a great time to go door-to-door to peruse all the shops in the center of Maynard to find great holiday gifts. The brewery is looking to partner with a few small vendors for a pop-up holiday market during the afternoon and evening. If you are interested, please contact allen@amorystomb.com. And then on Sunday, December 8th, Maynard will be hosting its 58th (!) Annual Holiday Parade, with festivities including face painting starting at noon. The parade itself will begin at 2:00pm
Of course, the Beer Garden will be opening for both the Holiday Stroll and the Holiday Parade! Why should children have all the fun? So stop by the Beer Garden for a draught or to watch the parade!
Taproom Update: It’s Getting Closer (Though It Still Isn’t Exactly Close)!
Every time I look through the glass in the front it looks more like an actual taproom, though it also pretty obviously isn’t ready yet. Last weekend, I decided I wanted to real scoop. It had been a few weeks since I last badgered Allen about the taproom, so I figured I was ready for the annoyed and/or exasperated look on his face when I popped the question again.
To my surprise, Allen said, “We are on track for a winter opening”. Seriously, he actually said that out loud! He still had an annoyed and exasperated look on his face, but he said it. I almost fainted right in the Beer Garden!
Now “winter” technically runs from 4:19am on December 21, 2024 to 5:01am on March 20, 2025, so that’s a pretty wide interval with an endpoint that is still a long way out. And I am sure we’ve all seen projects that were “on track” one day then fell “off track” the next. But still, I don’t think we’ve been able to get Allen or Rick to say anything even that specific before! I, for one, will take this as a good sign.
Allen went on to state that he won’t shave until Amory’s Tomb is inside. If you’ve seen Allen recently you know that he’s already looking ready for Santa Claus season. If the unfortunate happens, and there is a delay beyond winter, we could be looking at some serious ZZ Top vibes by then! Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that!
In the meantime, we have one more Anniversary and one more Thanksgiving outside. Hey, we all made it through last year November out there, we can roll it back one more time! See you there, and Happy Turkey Day!
