Brew Bus + Bites

Join Mass Foodies on July 31st as we celebrate Worcester beer with a Brew Bus + Bites tour!

Guests will load onto a Luxury Land Yacht at 5:45pm outside of Wormtown Brewery on Shrewsbury Street in Worcester and be whisk away to experience Brews + Bites. As guests register and load onto the Land Yacht their brewery experience will begin with a surprise can from 3cross Fermentation coop—and with an update on the status of their brewery and taproom. In addition to starting the tour with the 3cross beer, guests will enjoy one of Crust Bakeshop’s large artisan pretzels freshly baked from their Main Street bakery to cleanse the palate for the the experiences to come.

As guests unload at the first stop, Greater Good Imperial Brewing Company, they will be given a 4oz pour of the award winning, 8% New England Style IPA, PULP Daddy, while enjoying Greater Good’s culinary expertise with a sneak peek at a menu item not always available to guests: seared tuna with pickled ginger and wasabi, served on a sesame spent grain crackers. Immediately following the brewery tour, guests will try the contrasting beer styles with a 4oz pour of their 4.3% Session IPA CrushGroove by Soul Purpose which will be paired with their classic grilled cheese plate—made with fontina, gruyere, and munster—prepared by Toast Test Kitchen Chef, Lee Maggio.

The second stop is Shrewsbury Street’s Redemption Rock Brewing Company, which opened in December 2018, where guests will disembark and enjoy a 16oz pour of a special selection while taking a private tour and having a lively conversation with Dani Babineau and staff!

The third stop is the Worcester staple, Wormtown Brewery, also on Shrewsbury Street. Once disembarking, guests will choose a full serving of one of the beers on tap before taking a tour of the brewery and meeting the critical players that have grown the business from a 3-tank brewery in the back of an ice cream shop into a nationally award winning brand. Immediately after the tour, the group will enjoy a special pop-up with Chef Jay Powell (formerly of Twisted Fork) where Chef Powell will be preparing a German style braised pork shank sliders with a side of Imperial Stout Poutine—both made with Wormtown’s Spies Like Us. Chef Jay will remain on hand to talk about his business, the dish, and will have cash option for additional food.

Interested in learning more? Our Pop It! gals sat down with Redemption Rockstars — Dani Babineau & Greg Carlson in January, Wormtown’s Katrina Shabo in February, and in April went on site at Greater Good, with Beer and Brand Evangelist JT Ethier, star-tender Katie Mahoney, and front of house manager Melissa Sherry.

Sorry, all ticket sales are final. Tickets will be emailed. This is a 21+ event.

Wormtown Brewery Worcester, Ma

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Chef Rogers Returns to Kitchen of Romaine’s and Smokestack Urban Barbecue

Chef Neil Rogers during a Mass Foodies Test Kitchen Event (Mike Hendrickson)

Chef Cornelius Rogers announced yesterday that he’ll be re-joining the team at Romaine’s and Smokestack Urban Barbecue. He’ll be moving on from his position of Kitchen Operations Manager at Worcester Regional Food Hub, a job he accepted in March of 2017.

Returning to his roots, Rogers first worked with Richard Romaine and his team nearly twenty years ago as a Sous Chef. In today’s position, Rogers will focus on creating and executing pastries, charcuterie, butchering, and supporting the rest of the team in their daily responsibilities. On Facebook, Roger added, “I really missed cooking in my time at the hub, and felt like it was time to remedy that. I did pick up a side gig for a bit making pizza with Nate from Treehouse, which in and of itself was a once in a lifetime experience. Now it’s time to get back to what I’m good at: Making people happy with food and having a blast while doing it.”

In 2015, Chef Rogers was executive chef at Niche Hospitality’s  The Test Kitchen in Worcester, where he explored the collaborative “think tank” possibilities the space offered by working with other chefs at Niche’s eight restaurants.

Mass Foodies looks forward to seeing Rogers back where he thrives and drives.