Cambridge Brewing Company

Brewpub in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States 🇺🇸
Owned by Castle Island Brewing Company
Associated Venue: Cambridge Brewing Company - Out of business

Established in 1989

Contact
1 Kendall Square Bldg 100, Cambridge, MA, 02139, United States
Description
Est. in 1989, Cambridge Brewing Co. is the oldest brewpub in the greater Boston area serving fresh handcrafted beer and food made with local ingredients.

1 Kendall Square brewpub's last day of service was December 20, 2024, as Phil Bannatyne (owner) retired. Brand was sold to Castle Island Brewing (Norwood, MA) who will produce the brewery's more iconic beers.

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8.1
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8.5

Brewery draught, 6/27/22. Cloudy, bright/neon pink guava. Little/no head. Soft, wheat and lightly lactic nose with the fruit immediately crowding in and adding all sorts of tropical juice and softness. Great maceration here, without any excessive acidity and yet it's still juicy, fruity, sweet and very authentic. Very guava-forward with light passion fruit funk/acidity and a touch of pineapple for strength. In the mouth, the guava continues its dominance as wheat softens the palate and both lactic and fruit acids balance. Juicy, malty, wheaty, soft, heavily fruity and intensely tropical with light mineral and funk. Just a phenomenally well-done fruit beer without any excessive/fatiguing acid or sugar. Incredible balance and I love the guava. Gets fruitier and juicier with warming. This is what I envision J Wakefield's tropical berliners to be when they are great.

Tried on 27 Jun 2022 at 21:26


7.6
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5

Brewery draught, 6//27/22. Clear, bright bronze-copper. Small, white head, moderate-low retention. Soft and fruity nose with a good mix of both citrus, fruit, juice and rustic grain. No alcohol, flaw, specialty malt or weird yeast. In the mouth it's soft, but still crisp and quenching, with ample bitterness and great attenuation. Despite all of the American hops, it's not resinous or over-bittered, yet is balanced. Good malt depth, nice and dry, flavorful for its size. Just a study in balance and weaves the line between West/East Traditional/modern.

Tried from Can on 27 Jun 2022 at 21:17


8
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8

Brewery draught, 6/27/22. Heavily hazy, bronze-brass with a small, white head atop showing low retention. Interesting, juicy, hoppy, spicy, lightly dank nose with some light funk, as well. Guava skin, almost a brett-like character with hints of iodine or smoke even. Whatever these hops are, they're definitely unique. Juicy kumquat, guava, mango and rich orange juice with mega-fruity esters from the yeast and soft, supportive malts. There's a touch of pine and definitely an edge to it, but it only helps balance and is fully balanced, in turn, by the malt. No alcohol noted. In the mouth it's soft and fuzzy with guava, lime, red grapefruit, mango and juicy orange notes. Some candied citrus with soft malts, but definitely an intensive bittering for balance, never allowing the beer to get too sweet or sluggish. Juicy lime lingering with that almost oily-smokey-hickory skin or guava rind edge to it. Pretty fantastic. Great balance, great maltiness.

Tried from Can on 27 Jun 2022 at 21:12


7.9
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8.5

Brewery draught, 6/27/22. Mostly clear, light lemon. Small, white head, low retention. Nose is fruity, floral, fresh herbs, rustic grains. Very interesting, not at all expected. Belgian, for sure, but nothing like your usual BdG or Trappist nor even saison-like. Just nutty grains, floral and fruity esters with a big apricot and kumquat character. In the mouth it's soft, fruity and bright up front with good honey, biscuit, dough and plentiful apricot and kumquat. Light floral notes with touches of fresh herbs slowly dry out leaving slightly spicy phenols and rich grains on the finish. Thoroughly soft and malty but incredibly dry and drinkable/crisp. Really cool beer. One of the more unique Belgians I've had in quite a while.

Tried on 27 Jun 2022 at 21:07


7.4
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5

Brewery draught, 6/27/22. Glassy copper-tangerine. Little/no head. Gently tart Brett and rustic grains with light citrus notes on the back end. Soft and malty with big sour notes emerging quickly. Lots of lacto and acetic acid. Warming acids lead to floral citrus notes that are surprisingly delicate. Malt is almost chewy, with plentiful tannin from oak and interesting yuzu notes retronasal. Excellent stuff if you can get past the stuff sourness.

Tried from Can on 27 Jun 2022 at 17:50


7.6
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5

Brewery draught, 6/20/22. Moderately hazy, brass-bronze. Small, fleeting, white head. Dank and spicy with a nice tropical-citrus fruit blend leading to mineral and earth. Succulent late harvest Riesling notes in conjunction with the honey-forward malts. Lime, papaya and passion fruit with zero alcohol or resin. Light bitterness washes over the softly malty beginning. Lime, honey, juicy Riesling and ample lemon and pine bitterness on the finish. Soft throughout with some punchy melon and lingering pine. A bit lacking on the intense juice and white wine I'd expect from the best expression of these two hops. But still an interesting, solid effort.

Tried on 21 Jun 2022 at 00:16


8
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8

Brewery draught, 6/20/22. Lightly hazy (odd), deep bronze-honey. Little/no head. Flowers, sourdough, honey, juicy citrus even. Wow, this is a bold nose for a pils. Soft, malty, richly flavored with big bursts of citrus, flowers and dried herbs. Honey and sourdough linger with citrus and herb. Pretty intense for a pils, including a rather chewy texture, but still maintains a crisp, dry, hoppy and sourdough laden finish.

Tried on 20 Jun 2022 at 23:41


8
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8

375mL bottled 4/21/21, drunk 5/5/22. Clear, dark mahogany with some dark auburn hues. Persistent, small, light-tan head. Soft buttery rum and caramel with fig and Belgian ester character adding plentiful fruitiness. Not too much dark character or specialty malt. Somehow not sharp, hot or boozey, wow. Raisin, plum, fig, vanilla, oak, rum....everything is here, balanced and tied together by a lovely base malt character adding honey-caramel in combination with the darker malts and barrel character. No annoying or obnoxious esters/phenols (no clove or banana at all). Soft and malty but pleasingly dry with rum, vanilla, oak, raisin, plum and fig. Really impressive alcohol concealment for its size. Certainly it still feels strong, but there's no sharpness, even from the rum.

Tried from Bottle on 05 May 2022 at 23:07


8
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8

375mL bottled April 29, 2021, drunk 4/14/22. Clear copper. Small, white head immediately to ring. Oh baby. The Brett seems to be out in force at this point. Smells an awful lot like Orval...so much band aid! Floral, spicy, clean. Lilac and lavender. No alcohol or flaw. Soft, malty, well-attenuated. Spicy and very floral with plentiful bitterness, not as much tartness. Much more Brett pale ale than mixed culture sour. It's not sour at all, in fact. Gets a bit heavily floral; the Brett acids have really run away with things here. But it's still pretty good damned good to have this much pure, unadulterated Brett. Been a while. The last Orval I had was pretty shitty.

Tried from Bottle on 15 Apr 2022 at 00:40


7.4
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5

Brewery draught, 4/14/22. Clear, burnished copper. Little/no head. Tart, lactic, lightly fruity with pretty straightforward lactic acid and biscuits oats/malts. The flavor is more exciting, or maybe the texture, actually. Oats do indeed provide more body and help soak up acidity leaving no punchiness or metallic twang. Soft and flavorful, fruity, lactic and with lightly sweet grains. Lots of aging probably helped make this as even and clean as it is.

Tried on 15 Apr 2022 at 00:28