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For this article call me John O’Frazzetta, and a top o’ th’ morning to you.  Every year Harpoon Brewery puts on a two day gathering with food, music and, yes, plenty of fresh beer on tap.  Amidst all the ale and merriment, this Italian boy felt a wee bit Irish.

Harpoon Brewery is located in south Boston.  For this event, there were shuttle buses from South Station and the SilverLine Bus, which brought you within a few blocks of the brewery.  We took the SilverLine and followed a crowd of green-clad folks to the brewery.  I could see the gates from a distance, and I felt like Charlie Bucket entering Willy Wonka’s factory.  Upon entering and picking up a plastic souvenir pint glass, we walked through brewing apparatus and were soon greeted by long lines for food and beverage.

The cool thing was that your entry ticket covered your glass and one free beer. After that all beers were $5, but they were right from the source and you got a full pint.  There were merchandise booths, as well as a line for tours of the facility.

We opted to skip the tour and watched the live music.  John Sullivan and the Lads had just wrapped up, and The Gobshites were taking the stage playing a mix of traditional Irish music with some new twists.  They were entertaining and had a loyal following.  Later on there would be bagpipe music and a U2 cover band, too bad they didn’t wait a few days and get U2 at the Somerville Theatre.

Not feeling in the mood for a variety of boiled food, we stuck with the beer and enjoyed the atmosphere.  As the drone of bagpipes started, we decided to make an exit.  A good time was had by all.