American Craft Beer Week: Where To Celebrate On The North Shore

PEABODY, MA — Eighty-five percent of adults age 21 or older, as the Brewers Association puts it, live within 10 miles of a brewery, including residents throughout the North Shore.

With nearly a dozen combined in Beverly, Marblehead, Peabody and Salem, the Brewers Association is urging craft beer drinkers to support local breweries as American Craft Beer Week approaches. The 15th annual weeklong observance will run from May 10-16 this year.

Granite Coast Brewing Co. of Peabody invites dogs onto its patio, has charity trivia games and food trucks outside for patrons.

"Please note — Granite Coast is committed to continuing our partnerships with our awesome food vendors," said in response to the state lifting the restriction forcing bars and breweries to sell food with any alcohol purchase as of May 29.

Granite Coast's American Craft Beer Week trivia will benefit the Peabody Historical Society on May 11 from 8 to 9:30 a.m. Trivia has recently become a combination of live and Zoom games with this one scheduled to be virtual.

It's just one adjustment Granite Coast has made to navigate the pandemic.

"One thing that's happened is that this has given us a year to plan," Granite Coast Marketing Manager Amy Luckiewicz recently told Patch. "When I came aboard last October (2019) we had an extensive menu of yearlong events planned. Then COVID happened.

"But in the time since we have been able to strengthen those plans around some stuff we really want to do with local artists, and a photographer launch, and other partnerships we want to explore. We've been able to dip our toe in the water and put a strategy in place to attract more artists and more vendors."

Granite Coast Brewing Co. is located at 77 Main Street in Peabody with a full list of Craft Beer Week events available here.

Other North Shore-area breweries include:

Marblehead Brewing Company, 124 Pleasant Street, Marblehead

Notch Brewing and Taproom, 283R Derby Street, Salem

East Regiment Beer Co., 30 Church Street B1, Salem

Essex Brewing Company, 58 Pulaski Building A, Peabody

Old Planters Brewing Co., 232 Rantoul Street, Beverly

Backbeat Brewing Company, 31A Park Street, Beverly

Channel Marker Brewing, 95 Rantoul Street, Beverly

Gentile Brewing Company, 59 Park Street #1, Beverly

Great Marsh Brewing Company, 99 Main Street, Essex

Many other breweries have had special releases for the week in years past. Those included on the South Side of Chicago in 2018, when two breweries — Open Outcry Brewing and Horse Thief Hollow — teamed to create a flight of beers as a tribute to the four flavors offered by the "Rainbow Cone" ice cream shop.

Newer releases, discounts and other creative ideas will be offered at craft breweries across America this year as well, the Brewers Association said in a statement.

American Craft Beer Week in 2021, which takes place 14 months after the coronavirus pandemic began its significant financial impact on local businesses nationwide, presents a prime opportunity to support local brewers, association officials said.

“America’s small and independent craft breweries have faced many hardships over the past year,” Brewers Association marketing director Ann Obenchain said in a statement.

In recent decades, craft beer has become the more popular choice for Americans. Craft breweries in the United States date back to the late 1970s, the first opening shortly after President Jimmy Carter signed legislation that made home-brewing legal in 1978.

Now, craft breweries are opening in communities across America. Small and independent brewing companies accounted for 40 of the top 50 top producing craft brewing companies in 2020 based on beer sales volume, according to the Brewers Association.

Even as in-person craft beer consumption and unique local events were shut down for months following the pandemic’s start, craft breweries in the country provided more than 138,000 full- and part-time jobs in 2020, according to the association.

Now, with COVID-19 restrictions eased in many areas, 2021's American Craft Beer Week "is about more than just delicious craft beer," Obenchain said.

"It's about community and showing support for hometown taprooms, brewpubs and breweries," she added.