The Beer Nut: Time for a taste of Watch City brews

If you go to the Watch City Brewing Company in Waltham, there is a good chance you'll find a beer that you've never thought existed.

Maybe it'll be the Corkubita's Gordgeous Troica Ale, a 9.3 percent alcohol by volume Belgian strong ale brewed with three different types of squash.

Or, it could be Cyrus' Oink Oink, a rauchbier (German smoked beer), brewed with bacon.

It could even be the hopless Beejezus Hop Crisis BPA (Botantical Pale Ale).

"I went through it the other night, and I think we've brewed 167 different styles here," said longtime headbrewer Aaron Mateychuk of Framingham. "We've always made beers that reflect what I like. That's the great thing about brewing in a brewpub. I want to be able to say to myself that if I was a customer, I'd want to drink every single beer we have on tap."

Mateychuk began working at the brewpub, owned by Jocelyn McLaughlin, in July of 1996, just three months after it opened. He has been the head brewer since 1998.

If you're a little worried about these not-quite-typical brews, Watch City offers many traditional beers, too.

The Hops Explosion IPA is popular, as is the Totem Pale Ale. The Tick Tock Golden Ale is usually on draft.

But even with these, you may notice a difference in flavors between batches.

"I'm never 100 percent satisfied," said Mateychuk. "Even the Tick Tock, a simple golden ale, I think 'What can I do with this to make it better?"'

Although the "regular beers" are all good solid beers, it's Mateychuk's experimental beers that set Watch City apart from a lot of brewpubs.

Take the Oink Oink, for example.

He read about Brooklyn Brewery doing a bacon beer and got inspired.

The process was not an easy one - it involves bacon fat, vodka, potatoes and a lot of other steps before it can be used in the beer. The beer has an "essence" of bacon.

Trust me - you may not think this sounds appealing, but the old adage, "bacon makes everything better," does apply with the beer.

Currently, the Corkubita, the beer brewed with three different types of squash, is on tap.

"It's just a crazy idea I had," Mateychuk said.

He said he was inspired by the numerous pumpkin ales that come out around Halloween, but he wanted to do something different. Along with the squash, the beer has herbs de provence.

"It gives it a rosemary flavor," he said. "I pretty much use whatever is available."

A beer that proves Mateychuk uses "whatever is available," is the Beejevus.

"I was mowing the lawn and I ran over some bee balm (a herb) and I thought (it smelled) a lot like hops and I thought, 'I have to brew a beer with that,"' he said.

Because of a shortage of hops in 2008, he decided to brew a hopless beer, with bee balm and other herbs and spices. It turned into an unusual, but extremely good beer. He hopes to brew it again some time, he said.

Another beer currently on tap is the Chocolate Thunder Porter, brewed with Taza Chocolate from Somerville and Kanaloa Joe, a stout brewed with Kona coffee that Mateychuk and his wife brought back from a recent vacation in Hawaii.

A beer in the works is Bitchloden, a wheat lager brewed with a lot of secret ingredients.

Mateychuk said he wants to continue brewing beers with unusual ingredients. He hopes to put an herb garden on Watch City's roof to use in future brews.

Food-wise, the brewpub has the typical lineup of pub food -- a lot of sandwiches and burgers.

Watch City will celebrate its 14th anniversary on Wednesday, March 24. Despite the success of the brewery, Mateychuk said he really does not feel the need to move onto a bigger brewery.

"I love the neighborhood feel," he said. "I can come here and I always see familiar faces."

Watch City Brewing Company, 256 Moody St., is open 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 a.m. Monday through Saturday, and 11:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. on Sunday.

Norman Miller is a Daily News staff writer. For questions, comments, suggestions or recommendations, e-mail nmiller@cnc.com or call 508-626-3823. Check out The Beer Nut blog at http://blogs.townonline.com/beernut/.