Yesterday C. and I traveled to the Berkshires for the "James Taylor and Friends" concert at Tanglewood. Naturally, we did a search for local brew pubs. The Pittsfield BrewWorks looked like a good bet.Pittsfield is a much bigger town than I envisioned. (I've only been there once before, many years ago. It was at night, and I didn't see much of the city.) The BrewWorks, like any good brew pub, is in an older building that's been nicely renovated. I really liked the decor - plenty of dark wood and brick. The dining room has nice ambient lighting. The bar, where we sat, has big windows that let in lots of light.
I had the Legacy IPA. It had a red-ish color, and light head, with a light hop aroma. This IPA leans more toward the malty and sweet, and less toward the hoppy and bitter side of things. I found it a nice change of pace from the other American IPAs I've tried. A little bit mellow, with a nice sweet finish.
C. had the ESB, which she really liked. A bit more brown in color, it has a hearty, bitter flavor, with out being overbearing. Both beers were top notch. We would have loved to stay for more.
The calamari was excellent, although C. thought the batter was a bit heavy. It was definitely robust, possibly cornmeal-based (but don't quote me on that.) I liked the firm crunchiness of it. The squid itself was very nice, and the hot peppers were great accent.
We also had some onion rings, which we both liked a lot. They seemed to have the same thick batter, making them a nice change of pace. They came with an assortment of sauces - barbecue, red pepper aioli, and horseradish sauce. A very nice appetizer.
Overall, two thumbs up. Nice atmosphere, very friendly staff, very good beer, and, from what we can tell, yummy food.
