| Night Shift Brewing 87 Santilli Highway | Everett, MA 02149 617-294-4233 www.nightshiftbrewing.com |
Night Shift Brewing was founded in 2012 by three friends and homebrewers, Michael Oxton, Mike O’Mara, and Rob Burns. Their goal is to create memorable craft beers that offer a wide array of rich, complex flavors.
The trio nurture their love for craft beer by regularly homebrewing 5-gallon batches (at night, of course) and holding weekly beer tastings to develop their beer palate and expand their beer knowledge. They experimented with unique ingredients, funky yeasts, and a variety of beer styles until they created some truly innovative, memorable brews. The beers served at Night Shift today are the result of all the experimentation, and several brews are fine-tuned homebrew recipes.
Night Shift recently moved to a new location in Everett, Massachusetts. We visited just a week after their grand opening, which was on May 22. The entrance of the brick building showed off Night Shift’s owl logo above two glass doors propped open by empty barrels.
The new space boasts high ceilings, industrial lighting, and dark blue-grey walls. Picnic tables offer seating on either side of the bar with geometric lights above, which create an artistic shadow pattern on the wall. A sliding metal door to the right offers views of the brewing area, and the barrel room was to the left, but I headed straight ahead to the bar.
The brews on tap when we visited included:
- Trifecta – Belgian-style pale ale fermented with 3 Trappist yeast strains and aged on vanilla beans.
- Ever Weisse – Berliner Weisse style sour ale aged on strawberries, kiwis, and dried hibiscus flowers (sold exclusively at the brewery).
- Viva Habanera – Rye ale brewed with agave nectar and aged on habanero peppers.
- JoJo – American-style “Pink IPA” infused with hibiscus flowers.
- Bee Tea – Wheat ale brewed with sweet orange peel and orange blossom honey; aged on green tea from Mem Tea imports.
- En Garde – Malty and tart Biere de Garde with a sweet honey finish.
- Harborside – Gose brewed with oysters and coriander.
- Aurora – Wild ale blend dry-hopped with Nelson Sauvin hops (for Barrel Society members only).
The Trifecta was available in growlers, and Ever Weisse, Viva Habanera, Bee Tea, and JoJo were available in bottles to go. Supernova, a 100% Brett-fermented double IPA aged in red wine barrels was available in bottles for Barrel Society members only.
Ok, so what is this “Barrel Society?” Night Shift created the Barrel Society for the loyal supporters, giving them access to Night Shift’s most memorable and unique brews. A series of small batch brews (about 1000 bottles per batch) features seven barrel aged beers. The membership fees go towards the growth of Night Shift Brewing. Three levels of membership include Aficionado for $150, Connoisseur for $250, and Cellarmaster for $450.
We visited Night Shift at their old location in November 2013 during a Barrel Society sign-up event. Samples of a variety of barrel aged beers were available while Night Shift staff members discussed the facts and benefits of the Barrel Society program.
Back to the Barrel Room… Guests can sit at picnic tables in the barrel room while enjoying their beers and enjoy a front row view of the brewing process. While no brewing was taking place during our visit, I slowly perused the room, reading each label on every barrel, curious about what was aging inside.
Visitors can order flights, 4 oz. pours, and 11 oz. pours of any beer on tap at the brewery tasting room, which is open weeknights from 3-9pm, and Saturdays from 12-6pm. If you’re in the Boston area, be sure to stop by Night Shift.
