Spearhead Brewing Company

Spearhead Brewing Company built its name on a pale ale brewed with pineapple. The Hawaiian Style Pale Ale runs six percent, citrus-forward and crisp with the edge of a West Coast IPA, and it is the beer that made this Kingston brewery easy to recognize. The west-end taproom is organized around its own glass first: house beer leads, and food and programming follow it. The counter doubles as a retail store, so a stop can end with a flight on the table or a four-pack carried out the door.

The beer list rewards a table that wants to compare. Hopsicle Cold IPA pours at five-point-four percent, dry and lightly bitter, its aroma stacked with citrus, pine, cherry, blackberry, and strawberry. The New England IPA answers at seven percent, softer and fuller-bodied, the counterpoint to Hopsicle's sharper finish. Decoy Lager sits at the easy end — four percent, malty-sweet, clean and fast to finish — the round to reach for when the table wants something lighter than the hop set. Around those anchors run a Bohemian Pilsner, a Proper English Ale, Queen of Wheat, and Sol Juice IPA, with Wave Pale Ale, Fire Wire, and Dollar Bill's Premium Ale filling out a catalogue broad enough that a group rarely has to settle on a single style.