Ben Y.
Yelp
I've shaken the shame of never entering this establishment before and sprinted to my MacBook Pro to tell you why it is wonderful.
The first, almost overwhelming stop in this experience is the store. My head was swimming. I started pulling out cash and throwing it at merchandise. From growler lamps to emergency evacuation shirts that suggest beer is the only belonging worth salvaging, my brain whirled at the options. My friend had to grab me by the shirt collar and drag me into the brewery; he also picked up all the cash I'd tossed around the store, later explaining "that is not how commerce works."
Once inside the main attraction, we delighted in learning for only $5 we could procure 5 flight-sized beer samples AND keep the branded glass afterward. As an avid fan of John F. Kennedy and strong proponent of the theory he was assassinated by a second shooter, imagine my ecstasy at discovering the now-on-tap JFK CentenniALE. I attempted to haggle with the purveyor to purchase the tap handle, but no dice (these handles can be purchased in-store, but unfortunately not this limited edition handle. If you're reading this, Cape Cod Beer, do the right thing and hook a brother up with a sale).
Anyway, the "tour" is a single-take experience within this vaulted Cape beer heaven. Our tour guide was giving her very first presentation, but did so with true grace and dignity. She got an assist from a different employee who brought it home with some more detailed beer production talk. We even got to chew on grain, which resembled pine nuts or sunflower seed kernels. Smelling hops in a jar was another feature, a visceral shock to my nasal passages.
With the tour completed, I was released back into the store where my friend lost his stronghold on my rabid fervor. I dropped something like $150 on several four packs of beer, merch, who knows what (it was such a tornado of binge-purchasing I'm not even sure what I bought).
We walked outside, enjoyed some cornhole-watching, and headed out. Would I come back? Yes. Would I spend $150 again in the store? Yes. What's on my Christmas list? Everything else in the store. I will be back, and I want that JFK tap handle.