Plymouth's Mayflower Brewing sails into its 15th year with big beer bash Saturday

Joel Barnes, The Patriot Ledger
·3 min read
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Mayflower Brewing Co. will release XV, a special 15th anniversary beer, at its party Jan. 28.
Mayflower Brewing Co. will release XV, a special 15th anniversary beer, at its party Jan. 28.

PLYMOUTH – Longevity in the brewing industry comes down to one thing: Good beer.

“Given the enormous development of craft beer in the country over the last 15 years, if you’re not making good beer, you’re just not going to make it,” said Drew Brosseau, president and owner of Mayflower Brewing Co.

The brewery will celebrate its 15th anniversary with a party Jan. 28, the day Mayflower packaged its first beer in 2007. There will be live music, food, chances to win prizes and more than 20 beers on tap, including a special anniversary release, simply titled XV, which is "a strong Belgian Quad."

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Mayflower Brewing is a craft beer microbrewery in Plymouth. It started in 2007 with four beers and 15 years later it is one of the most popular on the South Shore. It not only sells to restaurants and package stores across the South Shore, but also to big grocers such as Whole Foods, Wegmans and Roche Bros.

The brewery is dedicated to celebrating the legacy and history of the Pilgrims. Brosseau is a 10th great-grandson of John Alden, a beer barrel cooper on the Mayflower. Many of the beer names are references to Plymouth's Pilgrim past: Thanksgiving Ale, 399, Bradford and Priscilla, to name a few. This year's Love & Wrestling double IPA is a nod to the sons of William Brewster, a Pilgrim leader.

Mayflower Brewing Co. will release XV, a special 15th anniversary beer, at its party Jan. 28.
Mayflower Brewing Co. will release XV, a special 15th anniversary beer, at its party Jan. 28.

Brosseau said he has noticed customers' tastes have changed over the past decade-and-a-half.

“People have wanted to try new and different things quite a bit,” Brosseau said. “The consumer is continuing to evolve in the kinds of things that they’re interested in drinking, so we need to keep trying new things to make sure that we’re meeting their demands.”

From lighter beers such as lagers and pilsners to New England IPAs and elaborate stouts and porters, Brosseau said Mayflower experiments a lot to create new brews. Mayflower sells six core beers and other limited-edition releases. The six beers are: Mayflower regional IPA, Crispy Business, Leisure Mode, Mayflower Porter, Mayflower New World American IPA and Love & Wresting New England Double IPA.

“There’s a whole variety of things," Brosseau said. "It keeps the brewers interested because they get to review things all the time. They get to experiment with different things and obviously it gives the customers new things to try.”

Mayflower Brewing Co. is at 12 Resnik Road in Plymouth.
Mayflower Brewing Co. is at 12 Resnik Road in Plymouth.

Brosseau said he gets the biggest thrill from making beers people enjoy.

“There’s very little that’s more satisfying than walking into a package store or bar and hearing somebody order our beer and they don’t know who I am,” Brosseau said.

Mayflower's anniversary party will run from noon to 9 p.m. at the brewery, 12 Resnik Road, Plymouth. Local restaurants participating are Artisan Pig, Food Court, Blue Eyed Crab, Wild Game Sausage Man and Wolf Pizza. Bazookafoot, a rock and reggae band, will perform from 1 to 4 p.m., and 3rd Left, a rock group, will take the stage from 5 to 8 p.m.

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Reach Joel Barnes at jkbarnes@patriotledger.com.

This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Beer bash: Mayflower Brewing to celebrate 15 years with big party