We went to the July Brimfield Antiques Fair, but nothing much was happening there, so we set out early on our adventure to explore the microbewers of the Pioneer Valley.

The craft beer resurgence in New England is in full swing, with at least 60 currently brewing in New England! These are small businesses in all stages of production and growth from mighty Sam Adams and Harpoon to nanobrewers like Nate at Treehouse Brewing Co. Treehouse is conveniently based in Brimfield, so that was our first stop.

I spoke with brewer and owner Nate Lanier in his tasting room about his beers and how Treehouse is part of the resurgence in New England and across the country.

Treehouse is in the early stages, but they are producing several ales, filling bottles at the tasting room and available on draft at the fine Cedar Street Grille in Sturbridge.

Nate likes hoppy beers. That's a good thing, because hops are hot right now, and he makes some mighty fine hoppy beers, the kind with flavors that play well together instead of simply being crammed into a bottle with no breathing room.  Even his hop-light Old Man Ale (modeled on his dad's favorite: Old Speckled Hen) is plenty hoppy enough to be refreshing and balanced on a hot day. for me, Best of show went to Nate's Citra, a 100% Citra-hopped IPA that burst with wide-open bright American hoppy goodness. I think it will be perfect with fried clams on Sunday. I may have to rethink my opinions about hoppy-hoppy IPAs.

After our Treehouse fun, we continued exploring the rich Pioneer Valley hunting grounds, where we bagged bottles from (left to right in the photo):

• Treehouse Brewing Co. (Brimfield)  
• Brewmaster Jack (Holyoke)
• High & Mighty Beer (Holyoke)
• Berkshire Brewing Company (S. Deerfield)
• Lefty's Brewing Co. (Greenfield)
• Element Brewing Co. (Millers Falls)
• McNeill's Brewery (Brattleboro)

And there are more! I did not find any from Paper City or People's Pint, and I bet there are others I have not even learned of yet.

To keep an eye on microbrews from all over New England, check out my Delicious stack New England Craft Breweries, and feel free to let me know of ommissions and corrections.