Field Research: Digging in to Wormtown Brewery

I met a friend recently at Wormtown Brewery in Worcester, Massachusetts … I enjoyed the vibe and the beer so I decided to add it to my Field Research series, especially as its possible one might pass through on the way to Vermont if coming from central Mass, Rhode Island or Eastern Connecticut. The brewery is just a few blocks off Interstate 290 in one of the city’s hip restaurant districts.

True, it not necessarily an appealing name … Wormtown. I did a little online investigation, and, in fact, sometime back in the 70’s/80’s this name was applied to the city of Worcester, and it stuck. No, I did not see an abundance of worms, nor does the city have a reputation for worm farming (yes, that is a thing).

On this particular Tuesday night, the brewery had brought in a quiz master to lead the throng in a contest of intellectual mastery. My friend and I grabbed some beer samples, ordered up a pretzel, picked up our quiz card, and positioned ourselves on the outside patio for what we expected to be an easy win at this fools game.

As we struggled to answer the idiotic questions (ok, we just needed more time to warm up), I tasted some of Wormtown’s beers … here is what I found:

Citrus & Sunshine (5.0% ABV) A wheat ale, loaded with hops. Sweet aroma.
Appearance: 4.3 | Aroma: 4.4 | Feel: 4.5 | Taste: 4.3 | Overall: 4.4

Rocket (5.0% ABV) Made from local rye and American hops. Nice, well-balanced ale … not too bitter.
Appearance: 4.5 | Aroma: 4.3 | Feel: 4.4 | Taste: 4.5 | Overall: 4.4

Ales for A.L.S. (6.8% ABV) An amber ale … looks great in the glass. Lots of interesting aromas and flavors … drinking for a good cause!
Appearance: 4.7 | Aroma: 4.5 | Feel: 4.4 | Taste: 4.5 | Overall: 4.5

Hopular Culture #005 (8.0% ABV) A double IPA with Centennial, Cascade, Chinook, and Cashmere hops … all the C’s. Very hoppy, but great tasting!
Appearance: 4.6 | Aroma: 4.2 | Feel: 4.5 | Taste: 4.5 | Overall: 4.5

MAxican (4.5% ABV) If you want to change it up, go with this Mexican-styled lager, which is slightly dry-hopped to give it some additional citrus flavors.
Appearance: 4.2 | Aroma: 4.2 | Feel: 4.3 | Taste: 4.2 | Overall: 4.2

After a slow start, we managed to get our game together and climbed our way to sixth place. Luckily, we had lots of beer to drown our crushed egos.

The Cicerone says: Wormtown has a great beer selection, almost all on the hoppy side. Go there on a Tuesday night and imbibe while testing your trivia knowledge. Also, you can take out some excellent pizza from Volturno’s right next door!