On Memorial Day weekend I took my annual trip with my brothers. This time is was the East Coast. We hit six states during this trip and one of the better experiences was at East Regiment Beer Company in Salem. It is nestled in the middle of downtown and was a welcome site for my hungry stomach.
The East Regiment was created when the court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony ordered that three regiments of militia be established to defend the colony in 1636. Some time, date unknown, in 1637 the East Regiment mustered for service in Salem. Able-bodies men from 16 to 60 were required to own firearms and defend the colony. Thus began the National Guard. Officially dedicated in 2013, the East Regiment is designated as the birthplace of what we all know to be the National Guard today. Since we had a former member of the National Guard in our party, it was apropos.
The building is 170 years old and was renovated by the proprietors back in 2016. They also impressively built all the brew stove, kettles, fermenter, etc rather than buy them. Perfect for a small batch brewery. We sat inside, but there is a nice covered outdoor area that runs along the building as well. When we got there, there were almost no patrons. We picked our brews and ordered something to eat. Before our food arrived the place was crowded with no where to sit inside. I'll get back to that in a minute.
I leapt for my go to, the Ready Room Ale. It is an Irish Red. Like you'd expect it had a toasty caramel taste, but it was far smoother at the finish. I do not know the IBU's, but it had to be lower than I'd expect. It was still good and really drinkable, but no hoppy finish. I don't downgrade it for that, it was subtle. They have some excellent smash burgers there that you might want to be careful on. If you order a double burger, it might be more than you bargained for. The portions were big and my one brother had the Hot Mess and Cheese, which is a massive pile of shaved steak on a bun, smothered in cheese and onions. He said it might have been the best burger he's ever had. That's high praise. My next beer was the BFA, or Bravo Alpha Foxtrot. It was a porter which was dark and creamy. It was really solid. They don't really say much about their beers, so it's harder than normal to see if you can pick out ingredients. The most I can say is it was a solid porter, tasted as expected, but nothing special. I was sort of distracted, however.
As the place filled up, I noticed a lot of Irish wool caps and red hair then someone came in with a fiddle and guitar. Soon Irish folk songs were being played. Then the instruments stopped and many songs were simply sung with different people singing each tune and everyone would join in for the chorus. I'd say 25 people were singing along. Though I had never heard any of these songs before, they were de finitely old and spoke a lot about the sea and working in tough dirty conditions and military service. It was a unique and fun experience. I guess it was called Chantey Night. I'm really glad we were there for that, but the food was really good and so was the beer. I really wanted a t-shirt, but they did not have my size in any of the designs I liked. Oh well, maybe next time. Three cheers for the East Regiment Beer Company.
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