Alfalfa Farm 2.0: winery, brewery, distillery, and cafe

The cows are long gone, but there’s still plenty to drink at Alfalfa Farm Cellars in Topsfield. Once home to a herd of Golden Guernseys, the former dairy farm has traded milk pails for pint glasses, cocktail shakers, and coffee cups. Restored and rebuilt by co-owner Paul Donhauser, it opened last Mother’s Day as a craft brewery, distillery, winery, and cafe, taking visitors from morning coffee to evening pours. “We’re grain and grape to glass,” says Donhauser, who grew up in nearby Hamilton and has admired the farm since childhood. The property’s nearly 300-year history includes the working dairy that once spread across 600 acres and closed in the 1970s. For this venture, Donhauser drew inspiration from the Bavarian guesthouses he visited on vacations with his German-born father. The heart of the property features an outdoor pavilion with picnic tables. In the taproom, visitors settle in at long pine tables over small-batch beers brewed on-site (try Judah, an American hazy double IPA, or Bedtime Stories, a nitro stout). For a cocktail with house-made gin, head to the tasting room, where there’s a fireplace. The coffee shop handles the morning-to-midday crowd.