Downeast Cider Is Running the Dewey Square Drinkery
Called the Downeast Back Porch on the Greenway, it will be bring unfiltered cider and more to the Greenway this summer.
Dewey Square Park on the Greenway will have an open-air bar from Downeast Cider this season. / Photo provided by the Rose Kennedy Greenway Conservancy
Cider fans who are looking forward to drinking outside this spring should chart their fastest route to South Station. Downeast Cider is the brand chosen to run the Greenway’s new Dewey Square Drinkery.
Building off the success of last year’s Trillium Garden on the Greenway, the public-private park conservancy requested proposals back in January for a new mobile bar concept at the plaza and adjacent grassy area near the transit hub, between Congress and Summer streets and Atlantic Avenue.
“The Downeast Back Porch on The Greenway, with the backdrop of the signature contemporary art mural on the Greenway Wall, will be a terrific place for commuters and visitors,” Greenway Conservancy executive director Jesse Brackenbury said in a press release. “We’re delighted to partner with Downeast, another creative local entrepreneur.”
Downeast was founded by a couple of Bates College friends in 2011, and is now headquartered in East Boston, where it offers growler fills, weekend tours, and tastings. The Back Porch will have five Downeast Ciders on draft by the pint, including an exclusive new flavor for the Greenway called Mint Lemonade. The open-air bar will also have wines from Half Bottle Cans, and a different, local craft beer option each week.
Beginning Wednesday, May 23, and continuing through October, the Downeast Back Porch will open Monday, Wednesday, Friday evenings, and on the weekends. A rotating mix of food trucks will be parked nearby, with lawn games, live music, and other family-friendly events happening there throughout the season. Capacity and layout of the space are to be determined, pending a final contract and permission from city regulators.
The Greenway Conservancy also has plans to bring back a beer garden four blocks north of Dewey Square at Rowes Wharf, and says an announcement about that is coming soon. In January, Trillium confirmed it was in talks with the Greenway about setting up there again this season. (Update, May 22: The Trillium Garden on the Greenway reopens Thursday, May 24.) In the meantime, drink beers like double dry-hopped Fort Point Pale Ale, and Trillwater New England Gose in the sunshine on Trillium Canton’s new outdoor patio.
The two Greenway partnerships are among a growing number of pop-up, open-air bars headed for Greater Boston this spring, such as a Craft Collective-curated Sunday “beer barn” inside the SoWa Power Station, a Castle Island-sponsored outdoor bar at Underground at Ink Block, and a mobile Notch biergarten traveling to the Trustees’ sites around the state.
“We’re excited to bring The Downeast Back Porch on the Greenway to life,” Downeast cofounder Ross Brockman said in a press release. “This will be an easily-accessible location… showcasing our unfiltered craft cider, as well as the work of many great craft brewers based here in New England. The Greenway continues to evolve as a destination for residents and tourists alike, and we are proud to be a part of the next chapter.”
The Downeast Back Porch debuts Wednesday, May 23, and opens 4-9 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday evenings; noon-9 p.m. on Saturdays, and noon-7 p.m. on Sundays.
downeastcider.com, rosekennedygreenway.org.
This post was updated May 22 with an opening date for the Downeast Back Porch.
Photo provided by Downeast Cider
