The Department of Recreation and Conservation (DCR) has officially offered the two seasonal beer garden operations along the Charles River Reservation, one on the Esplanade and one at Herter Park in Brighton, to Night Shift Events, LLC, presumably an offshoot of Night Shift Brewing.
An award notice was issued yesterday stating that “Night Shift Events, LLC has submitted the winning proposal and will be granted the opportunity to obtain licenses from the DCR for the above-referenced activity or operation [seasonal beer garden operations].”
The previously issued request for proposals, issued about a month ago, included plans for the operator be open four days per week and acquire special use permits to pour pints from late June (now likely to be late July) to early October. Suggested hours of operation are Thursday and Friday from 4:00 to 9:00, and weekends from noon to 8:00.
We reached out the each of the parties involved, but none were prepared to issue an official comment. Higher ups at Night Shift, as well as officials at the DCR and the Esplanade Association would only say that once things have been finalized they would be issuing a press release. They were unsure on exactly when that would be.
Other recent beer garden developments include Aeronaut Brewing’s launch of a musical beer garden series in Arlington Center, as well as the disappointing news that Castle Island’s plans for a beer garden at Underground InkBlock had fallen through. They are looking for a backup location. If the plans for both the Charles River Reservation sites go through, the number of seasonal pop-up beer gardens in the Metro Boston area would swell to double digits. We will post updates on all beer garden news as it comes in. 
The above post appeared on the Castle Island Brewing’s Instagram page yesterday.
Related: Night Shift To Open Second Location on Boston’s Waterfront
Related: 16 Metro Boston Breweries For Drinking Patio Beers
