Sam Adams’ flagship Boston Taproom said Scottish fans consumed roughly four times the amount of Boston Lager typically sold during a comparable four-day holiday period.
Boston has survived blizzards, Red Sox championship runs, and generations of St Patrick's Day celebrations. Scottish soccer fans, however, proved to be an entirely different challenge.
Thousands of Scotland supporters descended on the city over the weekend following their nation's 1-0 World Cup victory over Haiti, leaving bars scrambling for emergency deliveries and liquor stores stripped of popular beer brands. The "Tartan Army" flooded downtown Boston after Saturday's victory at nearby Gillette Stadium, turning the city into what many business owners described as one of the busiest drinking weekends they had ever witnessed.
Among the businesses benefiting from the boost was Sam Adams' flagship Boston Taproom, which reportedly ran out of its signature Boston Lager after demand exploded far beyond normal expectations. According to the brewery, Scottish fans consumed roughly four times the amount of Boston Lager typically sold during a comparable four-day holiday period, forcing the company to arrange emergency restocking to keep taps flowing. The scenes were repeated throughout the city.
Noelle Somers, chief operating officer at Hennessy's Bar, told the Boston Globe that the weekend generated sales figures unlike anything she had seen in decades in the business. "We've been here for over 30 years, and we've never seen anything like it," Somers said. "We tripled St. Patrick's Day."
Elsewhere, liquor store employees reported long lines of supporters purchasing beer by the armful while singing, chanting, and celebrating Scotland's first victory of the tournament. At Federal Wine & Spirits in Boston's Financial District, employee Peter Zettel recalled one particularly memorable moment when Scotland supporters reportedly booed a customer who approached the register carrying nothing but a bottle of water.
"It met its match against the Scottish," Zettel joked after one refrigerator broke down under the strain of constant use throughout the weekend. Scotland returns to Boston on Friday for a highly anticipated clash against Morocco, prompting many businesses to stock up in anticipation of another wave of thirsty visitors. England supporters are also expected to arrive in force next week ahead of their World Cup matchup against Ghana, setting the stage for another major influx of soccer fans into the city.
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