Small Business Spotlight: Untold Brewing
Plymouth Taproom
Credit: Untold Brewing
If you’re looking for a place on the South Shore where great craft beer meets a true sense of community, Untold Brewing has become a go-to destination with a ton of locals.
With welcoming taprooms in both Scituate and Plymouth, Untold has built a reputation as more than just a brewery. It’s a gathering place where friends, families, and neighbors come together. We caught up with Founder & President Matt Elder to talk about the story behind Untold, what makes each location unique, and how they’ve cultivated such a loyal local following.
Life in Massachusetts (LIM): For readers who may not have visited yet, how would you describe the vibe at Untold Brewing?
Untold Brewing (UNTOLD): We pride ourselves on being a welcoming, inclusive place for anyone looking to drink great craft beer and relax with family and friends. When you come to Untold, it feels like a neighborhood gathering spot. We are a “third place” for many of our customers, providing communal tables, games, live music, and food trucks. Our staff are approachable and ready to answer any questions our customers have, especially when it comes to the dozen beers we have on tap.
LIM: What inspired the creation of Untold Brewing, and how did the journey begin?
UNTOLD: Untold Brewing began as an idea when I was living in Seattle, WA and was getting swept away by the craft beer scene in the Pacific Northwest. I loved visiting all the different breweries out there and I eventually taught myself to homebrew. What started as a hobby quickly grew into an obsession. The obsession grew to a point where I finally decided to try my hand at brewing on a commercial scale. I eventually quit my desk job and took a job at a commercial brewery in Seattle with the goal of learning as much as I could before moving back home to Scituate MA to open my own brewery.
Scituate Taproom
Credit: Untold Brewing
LIM: You have taprooms in both Plymouth and Scituate. How do the two locations differ, and what makes each one special?
UNTOLD: Scituate started as our home base. It is the location of our production brewery and you see that as soon as you walk into the building. This taproom is open to the production area and our brewhouse is in plain view from the bar. Customers can sit at tables adjacent to our brewery space, or they can sit in the separate “school house” room, which is an actual refurbished school house initially built in 1852. The schoolhouse, with its large tables and ample seating, is especially popular with our younger families that visit.
In Plymouth, we designed the space for community, comfort and gathering. It’s warm, inviting, and a place where you can settle in for a while. Our fireplace in the center of the room is surrounded by easy chairs and is easily the most popular spot in the taproom. Plymouth also has a long bar that allows customers to sit and chat with our bartenders. Whether customers visit with friends or come alone, they immediately meet friends at the bar. Our staff are some of the best around and they make everyone feel like they’ve been friends for a long time.
LIM: What are a few beers that you’d recommend to someone visiting Untold for the very first time?
UNTOLD: My first recommendation to anyone I meet is our flagship IPA, East By Northwest. It’s a classic west coast IPA inspired by the beers I drank during my time spent in Seattle. For hazy IPAs, our fan favorite is Sunny Sea, which is hazy, citrusy, and extremely smooth. If IPAs aren’t your thing, we strive to keep a wide variety of beers on tap. Customers love our brown ale (Rebecca), our gluten-removed Kickstand Kölsch, or our award-winning fruited sours.
Some Favorites
Credit: Untold Brewing
LIM: Your taprooms host a lot of events. What are some of the most popular or memorable events you’ve held?
UNTOLD: Our favorite events are the ones focused on our community. We’ve thrown some really fun parties centered around the Scituate St. Patrick’s Day Parade, Heritage Days, and our anniversary in October. We also host a lot of events and fundraisers to support local causes across the South Shore.
LIM: Untold has a cycling club, which is pretty unique for a brewery. How did that get started?
UNTOLD: It all started with one of our beloved regulars, Neil Arnold. Neil is an avid cyclist and first approached us about starting a cycling club that started and ended at the Untold taprooms. It began in Scituate with a handful or people and now has hundreds of people signed up and participating in easy, moderate, and strenuous routes around our Scituate and Plymouth taprooms!
LIM: How does the cycling club reflect the culture and community you’re trying to build around Untold Brewing?
UNTOLD: At its core, Untold is about bringing people together around shared experiences. The cycling club gives people a reason to connect, be active, and spend time together. What I love about it is that it’s inclusive. It’s not about being the fastest rider or the most serious cyclist—it’s about showing up, being part of something, and enjoying the ride. Then, when everyone is finished, they come back to the taproom where they can relax, enjoy a beer, and continue to socialize.
LIM: What’s something about running a brewery that most people might not realize?
UNTOLD: When I started Untold, it was because I love making beer. I love the intersection of science and creativity with each batch brewed. In the early days of Untold, I brewed a lot of the beer we made. However, as Untold has grown my responsibilities have also grown, and I’ve needed to delegate the brewing to others on our team to have them help carry the load. Fortunately, we have an amazingly talented group of brewers who brew the beer just as well (if not better) than I ever did.
LIM: How do you approach creating new beers or experimenting with new styles?
Untold Brewing
Credit: Untold Brewing
UNTOLD: We often gain inspiration for new recipes by drinking beer from other breweries. Our hop vendors are constantly releasing new hops that we want to try and brewing techniques are constantly changing. When we want to try a new hop or new brewing process, we have a pilot brewery in our Plymouth taproom where we’ve been able to experiment and test out new ideas. Then we can serve the new beer through our taprooms and get direct feedback from our customers.
LIM: For someone planning a visit, what does a perfect afternoon or evening at Untold Brewing look like?
UNTOLD: A perfect visit to Untold happens pretty effortlessly. Every visit starts with great beer from a wide choice of different styles. But then there’s usually something else happening at the brewery to elevate your experience—music, food, a community event—which makes the space feel welcoming whether you’re there for an hour or the whole afternoon. Our team will welcome you into our home and treat you like it’s exactly where you belong at that moment. We always say our customers come back because of how they feel when they visit, and we know you’ll feel welcome when you’re here at Untold.
LIM: Looking back, is there a moment or milestone that made you feel like Untold Brewing had really become part of the community?
UNTOLD: Our community has been amazing since the day we opened, so I honestly feel like we’ve been a part of it since day 1. The Town of Scituate has been great to work with and truly cares about helping small business be successful. Other area businesses have been very supportive as well and worked with us to help grow together. But our incredible customers have been there for us over and over again. Once I realized people stopped coming to “check us out” and started coming back as part of their routine, that’s when I truly felt like we had become part of the community.
LIM: What’s next for Untold Brewing? Any upcoming projects, beers, or events that people should keep an eye out for?
UNTOLD: There are always new ideas and potential projects in the works. We will continue to innovate with the beers we brew, trying to push ourselves every day to make the best beer possible. We’ll continue to create special moments where people can drink our beer. And we’ll continue to stay very involved with our community, as this plays an important part in the mission of Untold. But overall, we’ll continue to be a welcoming place to all who visit us.
From thoughtfully crafted beers to community-driven events and even a thriving cycling club, Untold Brewing continues to create experiences that go far beyond what’s in the glass. Whether you’re a longtime regular or planning your first visit, it’s clear that Untold is rooted in connection, creativity, and a genuine love for bringing people together. Cheers to what’s next for this South Shore favorite!
Find Untold Brewing
Website · Facebook · Instagram
(781) 378-0559