2016-09-17 Small State Great Beer

Small State Great Beer - Great Idea with Poor Execution

We purchased VIP tickets (we know...we're spoiled!) as we have friends who own breweries and wanted to get in early to catch up with them ahead of the crowds. We also wanted to catch a few of the newbie breweries before the crowds set in. Little did we know that the only enjoyable time would be during the VIP hour.

The organizers completely oversold the event.  Once general admin opened, the lines were 20 - 40 minutes to get a 2 oz sample. I won't go in to details, but shoving 4000+ people into Constitution Square is a joke.  All I can do is give a huge thanks to the folks from the various breweries in attendance who shared their beers and maintained much more patience than I could in a situation like this.  Many of the brewers we spoke with were overwhelmed...pouring as fast as they could to keep attendees from getting pissed off.

The VIP time was awesome but the general admin portion of the event was poorly executed and (I say again) completely oversold.  Social media was blowing up with attendees who couldn't get samples and were trying to figure out how to get their money back.  I know it's easy to criticize but it just seems like the organizers were greedy...choosing to oversell the event rather than limit the number of attendees and host a bigger event next year.  Our craft brew scene in Connecticut is becoming awesome!  Poorly executed events like this will keep some people from participating in future festivals.

The night wasn't a total loss!  We bailed (with a boatload of other folks) around 7:15 PM and headed home where we enjoyed some great local beers with friends.





Cheers,
Christopher

2016-09-03 Hog River Brewing Company

We'll have to give these guys another try after several months. 

They had only been open two weeks when we dropped in for a pint (or two or three!). We walked in and sat at the bar and waited 10+ minutes. The staff was awesome...communicating that they were swamped and would get to us as soon  as possible. We didn't have a problem waiting.

The owner came by and informed us that we wouldn't be served at the bar and we needed to line up at one of the kiosks and order...nice to know after we had waited patiently! As we were headed to the kiosk, I heard him say to a staff member that he wished folks would follow instructions. Hmmmm...the only instructions posted are above the kiosks that say you can order there...doesn't say anything about not being able to order at the bar. We're not really impressed right now and don't plan on heading back anytime soon.

OK...on to the beers! Very rooted in German malts and yeasts. We sampled 7 offerings and took home a growler of the porter. We didn't experience a beer that committed us to coming back the next day to enjoy again. As I said...we'll give them a several months to get settled and give them another try.

Just a quick note - we tried to sample the porter two days later but the growler was completely flat! We couldn't give it a second try. We were totally bummed!

Again, they've just opened and have some bugs to work out. We'll head back again in several months for a real experience.

The day wasn't a total loss! We enjoyed the Jungle Crush at City Steam and closed down BackEast in Bloomfield, CT while enjoying their new sour!

2016-08-14 TopShelf Annual Cornhole Tournament

Had a great time at the 1st Annual TopShelf Cornhole Tournament.  Made it to the second round before we got pummelled (maybe one too many of TopShelf's MIVE beers!).

Despite the heat, the event was awesome.  The couple of beers on tap were excellent and the BBQ provided by Mark's was great.
What a great way to support both a local brewery and a great charity!  We'll definitely be back for next year's tournament...might even do a bit better than we did this year if we practice up.

Special thanks to the folks at American Lung Association and their team of stair climbers for putting the event together.

Cornhole Anyone?

Topshelf Brewery in Manchester, CT is hosting a charity Cornhole Tournament on Sunday, August 14th.  Enjoy the brewery AND support the American Lung Association!

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION.

Go LOCAL In A Big Way!!!

On September 17, 2016, Hartford will host the Small State Great Beer festival in Constitution Plaza in downtown Hartford.

The event currently boasts 21 local breweries with more to be added as the event nears.

I know we all love heading out and exploring individual breweries and getting to know our local brewers, but what a great way to show you support multiple breweries in our state!

I'm a beer-snob...I know...but maybe one day Connecticut will rival states like Vermont, Oregon, Washington and Illinois as a craft brew destination.

Cheers!

2016-07-09 Hanging Hills Brewing Company

Grand Opening!

We hit the grand opening of the new Hanging Hills Brewing Company in Hartford with a few friends on Saturday...along with several hundred other beer enthusiasts!  The place was packed!  They offered a flight of 5 beers and, at least with our group, two of them were pretty outstanding - the Wheelhouse Weiss was our group favorite.  The House Mild is a very nice English Bitter style beer with plenty of character. 

The only unfortunate aspect of the brewery is that its located very close to a school and therefore there's no outside area to enjoy your beer. While this is likely not an issue normally, at the grand opening it was packed and it would have been a welcomed relief to head outside to enjoy our flights.

The folks behind the counter were quite friendly (as you'd expect!) and the experience was enjoyable, despite the crowd and lack of a food truck (there was one vendor there selling hot dogs).

We'll definitely be back but are going to give them a couple weeks to settle in.

Cheers!

2016-03 Newport, RI

Holy Cow!  Newport, RI is a fun and rockin' town full of history, good beer and great barkeeps!
Having never visited Rhode Island, we decided to take a jaunt to Newport during the off season to see what the city is like on a "normal" and non-touristy day.  We headed out Saturday morning with a couple of stops in mind: Benjamin's Tavern for lunch; Coddington Brewing Company and Pour Judgement.

So....lunch at Benjamin's is a must.  The food was great and the bar is very social.  Ended up sitting next to a guy named John who, we found out later, was the barkeep at The White Horse...more on
that later.  The food was awesome!  The beer was fresh and they had a limited but good selection of local beers.  I highly recommend the Newport Storm's Hurricane Amber Ale - just amazing with Fish and Chips.

Our next stop was Coddington Brewing Company in Middletown, RI.  We probably just need to give it a second visit (what a chore!) but we didn't find any beers that jumped out and made us swear that we'd be back.  The beers we're enjoyable but neither of us could tell you what we had or what we'd like to have again.



We demonstrated Pour Judgement on this day!  We are lucky enough to have a friend who lived in Newport for several years and told us not to miss out on Pour Judgement.  The name alone brought us in!  The bottle selection is fantastic.  The draft selection is great.  I enjoyed the India Red Rye IPA from Stoneface Brewing Company in Portsmouth, NH.  This is an AMAZING beer by a great group of guys.  Pour Judgement had several other local draft selections that we enjoyed and we probably could have stayed most of the rest of the day but we had places to visit!  If you're in Newport and want to drink with the locals...this is the place!

We ended our day (and our ability to remain vertical!) at The White Horse Tavern in Newport. Having been originally opened in 1673 we pretty much knew that these guys know what they're doing.  The food is absolutely terrific and the cocktails are artfully prepared without pretense.  Our buddy from Benjamin's earlier in the day (John) is a great bartender and knows much of the history of both The White Horse and the area.  Best drink of the night was his Buffalo Trace Old Fashioned.  Don't miss this place or cocktail if you come to the area.

Remember...UBER IS YOUR FRIEND!  Enjoy your adventures safely!