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Don't Judge a Hotel Bar by Its Chain

Where: 319 Speen Street [map], Natick, MA, United States, 01760

To be honest, the following combination is a surprising one: Hampton Inn and great hotel bar. Not only just for us but also for beer snob and Daily News reviewer Norman Miller. It took him 5 years of working right next to the Owen O'Leary's bar of the Hampton Inn-Natick to even venture in.

Assuming he'd find a slew of domestic letdowns and generic watery beers, he was pleasantly surprised to find a homemade microbrewery right there attached to the Hampton Inn:

Unfortunately, head brewer Dan Kramer said, a lot of people think the same way.

"When I started here, we weren't selling a lot of beers," said Kramer, who, along with Dave Thompson, produces the six beers on tap at Owen O'Leary's. "We needed to make people want to change."

Kramer went on to continue that his beers maybe needed some work and sure maybe they weren't in the most obvious of locations but hey, if you keep pushing and improving, they will come. Over time he continued to introduce newly shaped handcrafted microbrews, IPAs, Oktoberfest, pilsners, you name it. Slowly people were catching on, just like Norman Miller.

Those who know about it and those who dare to enter this Hampton Inn are all pleased with the plethora of designer brews right there in an unlikely locale.

Then again, this is Massachusetts. Aren't they taught microbrewing in junior high or something?

Related Stories:
· The Beer Nut: Eyes Wide Open [Metro West Daily News/Boston Herald]
· Hampton Inn Natick Reivews [TripAdvisor]