The Worcester brewery that will bamboozle you with its beer

Yes, Greater Good Imperial Brewing Company focuses on brewing only imperial beers (8% ABV and above). But the goal isn’t just to make a boozier beer.

No, the objective is to make a beer that tastes like more than just “beer.” It’s the sort of alcoholic alchemy that can bamboozle you when you try to guess the alcohol content of what you just drank.

It’s one thing to take an IPA and say that it’s hoppy — or grab a stout and say that it’s malty. But if you drink something like a pilsner or conventional lager, a lot of times it’s just going to taste like any old beer you’ve had in the past.

That’s where Greater Good’s specialization in imperial styles comes in. Yes, their alcohol by volume (ABV) is higher. But that also means that there’s more definition and flavor in that beer to make the little things stand out.

It’s a lot like getting a really nice pair of headphones and listening to a song you’ve heard a bunch of times before. All of a sudden, you realize there’s a killer bass line, and that the rhythm guitar was doing something awesome in the main riff.

That’s what happened to me when I tried Greater Good’s Los Imperiales, an imperial Mexican lager. That type of beer has a tendency to simply taste like a Corona. But this? It had these nice notes of sweetness — making it so you could tell it was brewed with flaked maize. There was also a nice tart zing of lime.

Greater Good makes big beers. They’ve always been impressive, as showcased by their flagship Pulp Daddy IPA. But in recent years, the company has become far more diverse in its offerings.

“Even just two years ago, I want to say like 85 or 90% of our portfolio was IPAs,” Greater Good CEO Colleen Quinn said.

On a given night, Quinn can look around the brewery and see customers who only drink dark beers or people who are always drinking “something that’s funky colors” (AKA one of their rotating sour beers).

“It’s crazy to think about,” Quinn said.

The beers

Even with the brewery’s recent growth, Greater Good’s most popular beer by far is Pulp Daddy. It’s a lush, New England-style IPA that leans more smooth and sweet than abrasive and hoppy. It’s squarely in the trendy “hazy” category, but pulls it off with surprising panache. Pulp Daddy is a beer that walks the high-ABV and comes off as smooth and sweet without crossing over into boozy and syrupy.

On the other end of the spectrum, you have the Java Mocha Chip, an 8% imperial stout that carries big waves of chocolate and coffee flavors to support the beer’s innate maltiness. You’ve also got Good Night Moon, a porter that clocks in at 11% ABV and aims for maximum dark flavors with the roasty malt notes and chocolate.

IPA and stouts/porters are by far the most common types of beers you’ll see enter “imperial” territory. Heck, for some styles, aiming for an ABV north of 8% is nigh unheard of. However, Greater Good bucks that trend with their imperial Mexican lager and their dangerously drinkable Oktoberfest.

They’ve got a pumpkin ale as well. Greater Good’s Giant Pumpkin has a strong, malty body and is brewed with actual pumpkin in it — plus the expected spice elements in the allspice/clove/nutmeg area.

There’s also the rotating line of colorful sours, hard seltzers and their lower-ABV line of beers under the label of Soul Purpose Brewing Company. The Crush Groove session IPA clocks in at 5% and is perfect if you’re looking for something lighter. You can check out the current tap list at the brewery here.

The food

The kitchen at Greater Good’s Worcester taproom has also grown in depth and variety. The pretzel bites and sandwiches have been around for years. But the tacos, salads and brownie dessert? Those are new additions.

The Nashville-style hot chicken sandwich and French dip sandwich are standouts from the lineup of “handhelds.” Also keep an eye on the rotating Burger of the Week.

There’s a solid roster of sharable options, including fries, onion rings and mozzarella sticks. Be warned: The Buffalo chicken dip is good enough that you might want to keep it all for yourself.

The menu is continually being updated, with new items being introduced about once per quarter. You can check out the menu here.

The space

Greater Good is rich in one resource that is frustratingly lacking for some other spots in Worcester: free, easy parking.

The brewery’s space on Millbrook Street is quickly accessible from I-290 and features a variety of spots to grab some beers with friends — and maybe catch a game on TV. If the weather is nice, there are ample picnic tables available in their outdoor space.

The tap list thrives with a rotating cast of characters coming in and out, offering a variety of choices for pints or flights.

Keep an eye out for the different spins on Pulp Daddy. Every two or three months, they’ll put out a different varietal of their flagship beer, like their Double Dry-Hopped version.

Quinn says that Greater Good will soon have even more variety in their tap room as they prepare to launch a pilot system later in 2024. The new system will allow the brewery to try out more small-batch projects, granting more freedom and experimentation.

“If people thought that every time they step in here, they were like, ‘Oh my gosh, you always have a few new beers on,’ It’ll be even crazier coming when we’ve got that up and running,” Quinn said.

‘What is an imperial beer?’

The staff at Greater Good is used to hearing that question. Basically, it’s a beer with at least 8% ABV. That’s the textbook definition (and even that is up for interpretation).

You’ll also see terms like “double IPA” or “triple IPA.” Those are also high-ABV beers. What another brewery might call its 8% double IPA is similar to what Greater Good calls its 8% imperial IPA.

The real question is what difference it makes for a beer to simply be boozier — and what happens when a beer is designed from recipe to draft with a high ABV in mind?

For Greater Good, the objective is a beer that carries a ton of flavor and is just as smooth as their lower-ABV competition. With that said, they’re aware that imperial beers come with a stigma.

J.T. Ethier, Greater Good’s brand activation manager, says that he’ll approach people who are hesitant to high-ABV beers. A lot of times, it’s for good reason.

“A lot of them are boozy, syrupy, kind of have a little bit of burn to them, and you can really feel the ABV in there,” Ethier said. “It’s typically because they’re adding sugar and just to get that ABV and they’re not building a specifically high-ABV recipe.”

He says that some brewers will simply take the recipe for the 6% IPA and add more sugar to it. More sugar equals more food for the yeast, which produces more alcohol in the final product, which can then be dubbed “imperial.”

Instead, Greater Good tasks head brewer Pat Fahey with building a high-ABV recipe from the ground up so that it drinks like a 5-6% beer when it’s actually 8-9%.

‘It’s not just a gimmick’

The lowest ABV you’ll see for a beer at Greater Good is 8%. That’s their floor for “imperial.” The highest you’ll see is 12% in their Greylock NEIPA. That’s the highest they can go with their current license.

For every beer that comes out of Greater Good, the high ABV isn’t a gimmick or a stunt. It’s there because that makes a good beer.

“Our highest-ABV beer is Greylock, and it’s our No. 2 beer also,” Ethier says. “I think that proves our point of view that it’s not just a gimmick for us. It’s not just being like, ‘Oh, we’re going to make the highest ABV beer that we can.’ It sells and consistently has been our No. 2 offering.”

Don’t miss their non-imperial spinoff brewery: Soul Purpose

Greater Good has made a point to plant its flag in the imperial space. That’s where they’ve established their identity and built their brand. But even they acknowledge that folks are going to need a break from boozy beers.

That’s where Soul Purpose Brewing Company comes in. Outside of its usual line of imperial beers, Greater Good also produces beers that clock in at 5% ABV and sells them under the Soul Purpose label.

There’s the Brew Sky Lager, a clean and crisp drinkable lager. There’s also the Crush Groove Session IPA, which has the trademark citrus notes of an NEIPA with staying light and crushable.

Quinn and Ethier say they spent “about 1%” of their time talking about Soul Purpose. It’s a useful tool to provide lower-ABV options at their brewery. They’ll distribute a little of it. But they’ve gone all-in on imperial.

More stuff you should know about Greater Good Imperial Brewing

Check them out: Website | Facebook | Instagram

What’s the address? – 55 Millbrook St., Worcester, MA 01606

What’s the parking situation? – The brewery has its own parking lot where patrons can park for free.

Do they serve food? – Yes, there’s a full kitchen. You can check out the menu here.

Is there outdoor seating? – There are picnic tables outside for when the weather is nice.

When are they open? – Here are the listed business hours at the time of writing:

• Sunday 12 pm – 7:30 pm
• Monday Closed
• Tuesday 12 pm – 10 pm
• Wednesday 12 pm – 10 pm
• Thursday 12 pm – 10 pm
• Friday 12 pm – 11 pm
• Saturday 12 pm – 11 pm

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