Background
Break Rock Brewing opened its doors March 3, 2022 in Marina Bay, Quincy, MA. Brewer and president Jay Southwood started brewing beer for fun at home, and his passion quickly grew into an obsession. After Southwood was laid off from his job in 2011, he decided to throw himself full time in beermaking. He moved to Mayflower Brewing in Plymouth on the sales side feeling he needed to learn how to run a sales team and distribution. Southwood then enrolled in the American Brewers Guild course and moved into production.
Southwood first started planning his own brewery in 2014, and decided on Quincy as its home between 2016 and 2017. It took years to find the right space amid a hot real estate market and pandemic complications. Southwood finally found the right spot and then encountered a significant delay in the delivery of key brewing equipment because of the shipping crisis. As a direct result, he could not open before the end of 2021 as planned.
Southwood utilized an online crowdfunding website Mainvest to raise $75,000. Southwood enlisted co-founder and head brewer Vilija Bizinkauskas. Vilija, like Jay is a South Shore native who had been brewing beer for Cape Cod and Drop In Brewing Co. in Middlebury, Vermont.
Quincy was the largest city in New England without a local craft brewery, but with local support and the determination of Southwood and Bizinkauskas, that is no longer the case. The logo for Break Rock Brewing is the Star drill bit used to split rocks and is a nod to the history of quarries in Quincy.
Experience
We visited Break Rock after being open just one month. We enjoyed great views of the marina. One can stroll the boardwalk before or after enjoying a beer at this friendly brewery. The interior space is quite large and roomy, with an industrial feel. The brewing equipment is in view. There is a long bar to sit at or order and take a beer to one of the many tables. Large windows afford a great vista of the marina bay. A very cool large photo mural of swimmers at a quarry covers one wall. Little bits of history and interesting info of the area adorn the walls. The tasting room is dog friendly. There appears to be space on the boardwalk outside for tables when the weather warms.
We ordered a flight to try all the beers available. Our favorites: The NEIPA “More is Better”, “Tip of the Cap” A dank pale ale was especially unique and delicious, and “Proof is in the Process” another stellar offering was an English Mild. The had just run out of the Irish Dry which we were eager to try, maybe next time. They had Peacefield Kolsch in cans and we shared one of them while enjoying the large game room and got a four pack to take home it was so good. They offer the classic games of Skee Ball, Basketball Throw and Packman and a lot of board games.
The tasting room is accessible. We utilized Uber. They do offer a few snacks and N/A drinks. There is a nearby pizza joint that will deliver to the brewery also. You can also find some canned beer to go.
When visiting the area, you’ll want to check out Trillium Brewing, Night Shift Brewing, and Lamplighter Brewing.
