3cross Fermentation Cooperative is Massachusetts' first community-owned brewery. Our 5,500 square foot space in the basement of 26 Cambridge Street houses a spacious taproom, a small nano-brewery setup and lots of space for expansion. While beer is the core of our business here at 3cross, we have plans for a variety of other fermented foods and drinks in the future. Since the business is owned by you, our customers, we keep our focus on serving our local community. It's unlikely that you'll ever see 3cross beer sold too far from Worcester.
Our name references the classic spoke lacing pattern for a bicycle wheel and you'll find elements of bicycle lore and culture throughout the brewery. Since we're cyclists as well as beer lovers, we aim to make 3cross the ideal place to end your next ride. Of course, we also aim to be the perfect place for anyone to enjoy a fresh, local beer.
A cooperative is a democratically owned and controlled business that exists to serve its members needs and aspirations. Cooperative businesses are owned and run by and for their members and a share in the profits and decision making.
Here at 3cross, the business is owned both by its workers and its consumers (that's you!). Each group elects representatives to the Board of Directors to help steer the business, with input from the membership as a whole. Unlike a traditional corporation, each member has an equal vote in the affairs of the cooperative, regardless of the amount of their capital investment. In the case of really important decisions (like changing the business's core mission), all members have an equal say in the final outcome.
Beyond having a say in the direction of a business you patronize and having an opportunity to serve on the Board, members will receive a 20% discount on merchandise purchases along with the special perks below.
Once a year, we'll hold our Annual Meeting to elect the Board of Directors and vote on important decisions. It won't be just a meeting though, there'll be plenty of time to socialize and celebrate another year!
Once a quarter we'll randomly select a member to help design and brew a beer of their choosing. They'll be free to have as much involvement as they like - from simply selecting a style to actually putting on some brewer's boots and cleaning out the mash tun. Once the beer is ready, it will be available for members to purchase at cost.
In years when the business has profits remaining after necessary reinvestment, members will receive a dividend in proportion to their purchases with the coop. Some portion of this dividend will be in cash and some portion may be in the form of increased investment in the coop.
Since we have a no tips policy here at 3cross, we donate any cash left on the bar each month to a designated charity. As a member you'll be able to suggest and vote on which charity that money goes to.
The first step is to fill out our membership application here on our website. Once you've completed that you'll just need to make a $150 equity contribution. We'd prefer to have you come in to the taproom to do that (we want to get to know you!), but we understand that's not possible for some. If that's the case, we'll send you a link to make your equity contribution online by credit card.
As children, Vanessa and Casey, co-founders of Jaju Pierogi, used to spend their weekends cutting, stuffing, and sealing pierogi in the back kitchen of their Jaju's Polish food business. When they moved to Boston, pierogi became more difficult to come by. So, in 2015, they dug out their grandfather's handwritten recipes and got to work, perfecting traditional, handmade pierogi for Boston. Featuring flavors like cabbage and mushroom, sweet potato, butternut squash, apple & sage, kielbasa, potato and cheese, and jalapeño cheddar, their pierogi use only a few straightforward ingredients.
One Love Cafe puts on a pop-up restaurant in our taproom every second and fourth Friday of the month. Swing by for a beer and some delicious Jamaican fare. Vegan and vegetarian options available!
Wooden Noodles serves hearty bowls of traditional ramen. Fresh made noodles and local ingredients served in slow simmered broths. Vegan and vegetarian options will be available. Noodles!
Joe and Sue, co-owners of Glazy Susan, have eaten specialty doughnuts all across the country. But every time they returned home they wondered “why don’t we have that in Worcester?” So they decided to bring Worcester the doughnuts that it deserves – small batch, hand cut, made from scratch, and utilizing seasonally-inspired local ingredients. Join us for some classic favorites and some new and interesting flavors!
One Love Cafe puts on a pop-up restaurant in our taproom every second and fourth Friday of the month. Swing by for a beer and some delicious Jamaican fare. Vegan and vegetarian options available!
Wooden Noodles serves hearty bowls of traditional ramen. Fresh made noodles and local ingredients served in slow simmered broths. Vegan and vegetarian options will be available. Noodles!
One Love Cafe puts on a pop-up restaurant in our taproom every second and fourth Friday of the month. Swing by for a beer and some delicious Jamaican fare. Vegan and vegetarian options available!
Come down and get one of Asylum Coffeetorium's deliciously crunchy yet flakey popovers filled to the brim with some seriously tasty savory or sweet fillings. They will have a limited supply of popovers and it's first come, first served, so get here early!
We offer beer in 125mL tasters and full pours to drink here, as well as 500mL bottles and 2L growlers to bring home with you. Our selection of beer is a constant rotation and you'll rarely see the same lineup on two subsequent visits. When you get here we suggest ordering a sample flight of the beers we currently have on tap. Once you've had a chance to taste, perhaps put an order in for some growlers to go and a pint to savor while you're waiting for your order to be filled. Your growlers will be waiting for you at the register whenever you're ready to depart.
Because all of our workers are paid a fair, living wage and share in the ownership of the business we have decided to adopt a tip-free policy in our taproom. While we appreciate your desire to thank your beertender for a job well done, how about buying another round for the table or some bottles to go, rather than a cash gratutiy? We have instituted a "Charity of the Month" program and any cash tips will be donated to the designated charity at the end of the month. Want to help decide who that money goes to? That's one of the perks of membership!
We have some seating available at the bar for those visiting in ones and twos and tables around the corner for those in larger parties. We do our best to make it back to the tables to clear your empties and take additional orders, but when things get busy your best bet is to come order at the bar.
We don't serve food in our taproom. Our focus is on making the best beer we possibly can. However, you are more than welcome to bring food with you to nosh on while you're here. There are a number of restaurants to order from within a small radius of our location, there's a full supermarket within easy walking distance and we invite food trucks and pop-up restaurants to serve up eats from time to time.
Our taproom is located in the basement of 26 Cambridge Street, at the rear of the building. Our parking lot and entrance are located on Knowlton Avenue. For those of you who've been in Worcester a while, we're in the space that was home to Playoff Entertainment. We're admittedly a little hard to find, but promise that it's worth the effort!
Being a bike themed brewery we hope that you'll ride down to 3cross whenever possible. We have plenty of places to stash your bike inside. We have a good-sized parking lot available for those of you driving, but it does fill up when it gets busy. There is also limited on-street parking, but please be considerate of our neighbors.
Like a single-speed bike, our flagship pale ale is a stripped down beer showcasing a single hop. A well rounded malt bill is complemented by additions of the featured hop throughout the brewing process. In this edition, Idaho 7 hops contribute pungent tropical fruit notes, along with plenty of resiny pine. 5.2% abv, 100 liters available
A brevet is not a race. This does not mean that a brevet is easy. You will ride further than you thought possible and encounter unending climbs, broken pavement, torrential rain, and mechanical failure. But you can do this. As long as you stop every once in a while to enjoy the scenery. Much like its namesake, this IPA is meant to be approachable, but not watered down. Huge notes of orange, mango and pine resin dominate, but bitterness is restrained. Flavorful, but not aggressive. Workmanlike, not flashy. 6.7% abv, 150 liters available
Ask just about any bike mechanic about Sheldon Brown and you're bound to hear all about his encyclopedic, forever-90's-era website that covers everything from obscure bottom bracket standards to how to lace up a bicycle wheel. Sadly, Brown passed away in 2008, but he lives on through his website and, we hope, through this brown ale brewed in his memory. It features a rich malt base, which brings notes of chocolate and toast, combined with a good dose of American hops for a pleasant citrus finish without too much bitterness. 7% abv, 450 liters available
How long can you trackstand? One hand? No hands? While drinking this beer? Like its namesake, this beer is all about balance. It’s a careful interplay between the nutty sweetness of fresh Pilsner malt and the gentle bitterness of Hüll Melon hops. 5.4% abv, 200 liters available
Named after the distance of the Paris-Brest-Paris cycling event, this double IPA is our Brevet IPA amped up to ridiculous levels. A staggering amount of hops contribute bold notes of citrus, mango and resiny pine, all backed up by an assertive level of bitterness. 8.3% abv, less than 50 liters available
Spend any time cycling in Worcester and you'll quickly realize that there are more than the oft-quoted "seven hills." Newton, Bancroft, Green, Chandler, Hancock, Union, College, Airport, Belmont, Grafton, Indian, and plenty that don't have names. Climb them and you've certainly earned a glass of Hilltopper. This Belgian blond ale showcases fruity and spicy esters from a traditional Trappist yeast strain, while a touch of sweet orange peel brings depth to the flavor profile. 7.5% abv, 250 liters available
Known as "de Kannibaal van Baal", Sven Nys dominated cyclocross for the better part of a decade. Nys was both a fierce competitor and a crowd favorite, and we think this beer is a fitting tribute to the two time World Champion. Aggressively hopped, but perfectly balanced with caramel malt, Kannibaal is sure to be enjoyed by athletes and spectators alike. 7.5% abv, 50 liters available
There are some cyclists who are so formidable, so awe inspiring, their very name is uttered with the utmost reverence. Belgian cyclist Eddy Merckx is generally considered to be the greatest of the great, having won every major bicycle race, and many more than once. Legend has it that God himself looks to Eddy and his 525 victories for inspiration. Our tribute to the legacy of Merckx’ racing career is a beer dominated by Belgian phenols, with a subtly sweet candi sugar undertone and a refreshingly dry finish. 8.9% abv, 50 liters available
Our housemade soda syrups are made from fresh ingredients and organic sugar. We mix them to order by the glass in traditional soda fountain style.
Current flavors: Ginger
Looking for KrafTea Kombucha?
Find 3cross beers on draught at these fine establishments in Worcester.
138 Green St #5
Worcester, MA
birchtreebreadcompany.com
281 Main St
Worcester, MA
deadhorsehill.com
117 Highland St
Worcester, MA
boyntonrestaurant.com
Looking for KrafTea Kombucha?
3cross isn't just about brewing beer and supporting our local community. We also want to make sure that we steward our natural resources for the enjoyment of all. Brewing beer can have a significant environmental impact due to large water, electrical and fossil fuel requirements. Here's what we're doing to try to minimize or mitigate our impact on the planet.
Working together with 1% for the Planet, we have committed to donating 1% of all of our sales to non-profit organizations whose missions are in areas of critical environmental impact: climate, food, land, pollution, water, and wildlife.
So far, 3cross has donated to the Massachusetts Bicycle Coalition (MassBike), the Regional Environmental Council and Worcester Earn-A-Bike. MassBike and Worcester Earn-A-Bike work within our city and our state to promote cycling as a fun and eco-friendly mode of transportation and recreation. The REC works to secure access to fresh, healthy food for everyone.
Via a partnership with the Mass Energy Consumers Alliance, 3cross offsets 100% of it's electrical usage with the purchase of Class 1 RECs from wind power generated in Massachusetts. By doing this we're helping to make the local electric grid greener, faster.
Breweries generate a lot of waste in the form of grain solids that have been used, but still contain nutrients. We give our spent grains to local farms to use as feed for livestock, keeping them out of the landfill.
When making decisions regarding which products we purchase to run our business, we always consider environmental impact. All of these decisions are important, from little things like paper goods (we purchase 100% recycled) to more impactful ones like our malted barley (the bulk of which is malted without the use of fossil fuels).
Our taproom is open to the public Wednesay and Thursday from 5pm till 9pm, Friday and Saturday from noon to 10pm and Sunday from noon till 6pm.
Our name references the classic spoke lacing pattern for a bicycle wheel and you'll find elements of bicycle lore and culture throughout the brewery. Since we're cyclists as well as beer lovers, we aim to make 3cross the ideal place to end your next ride.
Yup, we make all the beer we serve in our taproom on-site.
We don't. However, we do use an enzyme that reduces the gluten content in all of our beers. Depending on your level of sensitivity, you may or may not find issue with it. Use your own judgement.
Our current licensing doesn't allow us to produce or serve products other than beer. It's something we're considering for the future though!
We offer house-made fountain sodas and tap water. Check our "On Tap" page for current offerings.
We don't serve food in the taproom. We do have a semi-regular schedule of pop-up restaurant events though. Check the events page.
Sure, we have gift cards available for sale in the taproom.
While we love animals here, food code doesn't allow pets inside the taproom. Sorry.
We are a kid-friendly establishment as long as minors are accompanied and supervised by a parent or legal guardian.
Unfortunately, we aren't able to accommodate private parties during our regular taproom hours. If you're interested in something at another time, give us a shout and we'll see if we can make it work.
As long as you don't need any special accommodations, sure, come on by! Our taproom has open seating though and can get quite busy (particularly during events), so plan accordingly if you'll be coming during prime hours. If you'll be bringing a large group (more than 20), we always appreciate a heads up.
Absolutely! We even have a pile of takeout menus from some great local restaurants.
Sorry, but that's a hard no. Our liquor license doesn't allow for any outside alcohol on the premises.
We don't offer formal tours, but the brewery area is visible over a half-height wall from the taproom. Have a look and let us know if you have any questions about the process!
We will fill our own 2L glass and stainless steel growlers (and our old 750mL growlers, if you still have them). We will also fill blank 2L dark glass swing-top or stainless steel vessels that have a factory marking indicating their volume. Sorry, but MA state law doesn't allow us to fill growlers with the branding of other breweries. We think this goes without saying, but all growlers must be clean. We do not have the facilities to clean growlers behind the bar.
Once you've enjoyed the beer contained within, we recommend immediately rinsing thoroughly (2-3 times) with very hot water. Then, allow it to air dry upside down with the cap off. Leave the cap off until it's been filled again. Never use dish soap to clean a growler.
We're a very small operation but are commited to giving back to our community. We have established two avenues for charitable giving:
Unfortunately, we aren't able to make donations to other organizations at this time and due to the volume of donation requests we receive we are not able to respond to requests that do not fit these criteria.
Subject to availability, we can arrange to have a keg sent to a local liquor store for you to purchase. Contact us for more details.
We're currently at capacity for draught and bottle accounts, but you're welcome to contact us to get on the waiting list.
Not right now. We'll post any job openings on our website when they are available.
Sounds interesting! Send us an email and we'll do our best to answer.
Thanks! Please check your email to confirm your subscription.
Have you checked out our FAQ? We receive many inquires and most of the common questions are answered there. Please give it a look. We're a small operation, so we are unable to respond individually to questions that are addressed in the FAQ. We need to spend our time making beer!
3cross Fermentation Cooperative
26 Cambridge Street
(4 Knowlton Ave for your GPS)
Worcester, MA 01603
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