Harpoon IPA Celebrates 30th Anniversary, National IPA Day

Harpoon IPA turns 30 in 2023. Naturally, the beloved Boston brew is celebrating the occasion on National IPA Day.

And yes, National IPA Day is a thing. According to the National Day Calendar, National IPA Day is celebrated on the first Thursday of August each year. In 2023, the first Thursday in August is August 3. Here's the part in the piece where I make the obligatory "every day is National IPA Day when you're Adam 12" quip. But that's just a joke. I do enjoy a good IPA, but I like all styles of beer.

It's been awhile since we've had a beer-themed National (insert thing here) Day. Not that I'm complaining, as we've had some good National (insert thing here) Days this summer. National Junk Food Day was just a few weeks ago. And National Hot Dog Day was back in mid-July. Although now that I'm thinking about it, pairing that one with this one would probably be the move, right?

As the Harpoon PR folks point out: "This year marks the 30^th anniversary of Harpoon Brewery’s Original IPA, launched in 1993 as one of the first IPAs to be brewed and distributed on the East Coast." If you're a New England beer drinker, you likely know and love Harpoon IPA. I'm pretty sure it's the first IPA I ever tried, and it continues to be a beer that I enjoy on the regular.

To celebrate 30 years of Harpoon IPA (and National IPA Day), Harpoon is having a National IPA Day Celebration at their Boston Brewery on Northern Ave. on Thursday, August 3. They'll have at least eight of their IPA varieties on tap, along with a limited number of IPA 30th glasses and koozies. Get all the details here, and be sure to make your way to the brewery to celebrate!

These 64 Massachusetts breweries are competing in our Boston Brewery Battle. Your votes will decide the winner.

Here at ROCK 92.9, we don't limit our brackets to the madness of March. Bracketology is a year-round affair. You might remember our King of the Hills bracket, where we fielded a total of 64 mountains, resorts, and ski areas from all over New England. Yes, even Rhode Island was represented. Naturally, the Ocean State’s Yawgoo Valley Ski Area was the 64 seed. Naturally, they lost to top-seeded Killington in Vermont in the first round. If you want to see which resort won it all, take a look here.

For that bracket, we laid out a list of 64 essential New England ski resorts. Because the best voter is an informed voter. In that same spirit, we'd like you to get to know the 64 Massachusetts breweries that made the field for our Boston Brewery Battle. It wasn't easy narrowing the field down to 64, believe it or not. The Commonwealth is rife with excellent craft beer makers, from the North Shore to the South Shore, from Metro West to the city proper to the Cape and Islands. So if your favorite didn't make the cut this time around, expect to see them next time.

In the spirit of fairness, we've listed the breweries alphabetically, not in their seeded order. If you want to see the seeding, you'll have to dive into the actual bracket, which you can do here. Just use this list as a reference point. It's highly unlikely that you'll be familiar with all 64, right? After you take a scroll through you will be! See where they're located, what they have brewing, and then cast your votes in our Boston Brewery Battle. And don't forget to share the bracket and tag your favorite taprooms!

748 Brockton Ave., Abington

158 Grove St., Franklin

14 Tyler St., Somerville

406 VFW Drive, Rockland

270 Upper Main St., Edgartown

95 Woodrock Rd., Weymouth

180 Commercial St., Lynn

10 Ingell St., Taunton

38 Norman St., Everett

1 Kendall Square, Cambridge

52 Ferry St., Fall River

31 Astor Ave., Norwood

3 Lansdowne St., Boston

5 Bartlett Farm Road, Nantucket

20 Fisher St., Westborough

4 Industrial Rd., Milford

95 Ryan Dr., Raynham

35 Temple Place, Boston

120 Great Western Rd., South Dennis

2 Belgrade Ave., Roslindale

1250 Mass. Ave., Dorchester

2 Brewery Place, Ipswich

81 Morton St., Framingham

50 Pleasant St., Malden

277 Main St., Marlborough

77 Main St., Peabody

55 Millbrook St., Worcester

306 Northern Ave., Boston

28 West Rd., Orleans

89 Commercial St., Malden

2 Brewery Place, Ipswich

100 Clinton St., Framingham

248 Broadway, Cambridge

5 Draper St., Woburn

19 Weed St., Marlborough

30 Harvard Ave., Medford

111 Main St., Hudson

411 Waverly Oaks Rd., Waltham

87 Santilli Highway, Everett

283R Derby St., Salem

18 Red Spring Rd., Andover

80 Lake Rd., Brookfield

605 Bedford St, Whitman

141 Bradford St., Provincetown

333 Shrewsbury Street, Worcester

Bow Market, Somerville

166 Boulder Dr., Fitchburg

7 Howland St., Plymouth

112 Industrial Dr., Holden

50 Oliver St, Easton

11 Riverbank Rd., Attleboro

151R Hayden Rowe St, Hopkinton

100 Enterprise Dr., Marshfield

175 Sterling St., Clinton

100 Washington St., Haverhill

129 Sturbridge Rd., Charlton

50 Thomson Place, Boston

525 Massachusetts Ave., Acton

30 Moore Rd., Weymouth

125 State Rd. East, Westminster

1500 Main St., Springfield

220 Wood Road, Braintree

328 Broadway, Somerville

72 Shrewsbury St., Worcester