I like neighborhood bars knowing the bartenders and the customers when you walk in. It's nice to have that kind of place to just hang out in for a couple of hours.
The problem with neighborhood bars, though, at least for someone who is as choosy about what he drinks as I am, is the lack of good beer selection. You sacrifice good brews for the relaxed atmosphere of a good pub.
Stone's Public House in Ashland combines both, along with a tasty menu, offering up one of the best bars in MetroWest to enjoy a pint.
With selections ranging from some of the top U.S. breweries, like Stone and Dogfish Head, as well as several British and other European beers, the 173-year-old pub has a brew for almost any taste.
Like hops? Dogfish Head 60 Minute India pale ale and Stone's IPA are on tap, while Dogfish Head's 90 Minute IPA is in bottles. Like the subtlety of an English-style bitter? Wychwood's Hobgoblin Ale is on draft.
Great Divide's Saint Bridget's Porter, Schneider Aventinus Double Bock, McEwan's Scotch Ale and Delirium Tremens are all also available.
And, what would an Irish pub be if it did not have Guinness and Smithwick's on tap.
Bringing a top-notch beer selection to Stone's Public House was a concerted effort, general manager Bill Pinnone said.
"We all love beer," he said. "Every week or two, we bring in a selection of new beers to try. There's so many nice beers out there so we want to offer choices to people."
Pinnone works with Colin Kiley, a sales representative for Atlantic Importing in Framingham, to develop the beer list.
Instead of a slow change over from the beer list that included mostly mass-produced drinks, Kiley suggested doing almost an instant changeover to craft beers.
"You're talking about a place that had six light beers on the menu," he said. "What we did, right away, was take away people's comfort zone. If people ordered a Bud, it wasn't there. If they ordered a Sam Adams, it wasn't there, so they had to try something different. It gets easy to get people to do that if you take away their comfort zone."
To help the bartenders, Kiley put together a list of some of the beers to suggest if someone ordered a particular beer that was not on the menu. For example, if someone orders a Sam Adams, Kiley told bartenders to suggest a Red Seal Ale. If they order Bass, he suggests offering a Monty Python's Holy Grail Ale as a substitute.
Customers seem to enjoy it, head bartender Ben Stoetzel said.
"A lot of people are very surprised when they come in," he said. "Some people keep coming in and ask us what we have new."
But Stone's Public House, which looks like a traditional Irish pub with the wide, wooden-plank floorboards, and a large fireplace in the bar area, is not just about beer the food is outstanding.
"We consider ourselves an Irish gastro pub," Pinnone said. "Basically, so many people go into an Irish pub, and they order nachos. A gastro pub is basically a pub that takes a really strong pride in its food. It's an English term."
Appetizers offered include mussels cooked in Guinness, and garlic and Irish sausages wrapped in puff pastry.
The Farmhouse Cheese Platter at $16 is a good buy. It includes Grafton Village Four Year Cheddar, Cashel Blue farmhouse cheese and Old Chatham Hudson Valley camembert, all tasty.
The Irish Breakfast makes a filling lunch it includes eggs, sausages, black & white pudding, bacon, beans and potato hash for $12. If you're wondering, the puddings are two types of sausage the white has no blood, the black is full of beef blood. It tastes much better than it sounds.
The Public House also has numerous live music events every Friday local rock bands perform, while every other Wednesday is bluegrass night.
Along with St. Patrick's Day, Halloween is Stone's busiest night due to the numerous ghosts that supposedly haunt the pub, including original owner John Stone. Stone's ghost has a favorite beer, Pinnone said, "Stone's IPA, of course."
Stone's Public House is located at 179 Main St., Ashland and is open 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 a.m. Tuesday; 11:30 a.m. to 1 a.m. Wednesday through Saturday; and 10:30 a.m. to 1 a.m. Sundays. It is closed on Mondays.
Norman Miller is a Daily News staff writer. For questions, comments, suggestions or recommendations, contact nmiller@cnc.com or 508-626-3823.
