2018-10-24 Baxter Brewing Company

2018-11-18 Little House Brewing Company

We were out exploring on a dreary, November day and decided to shoot down to Chester, CT for an early lunch.  We hadn't been there for a year or so and remembered what a cute town it was. After a very enjoyable lunch (and a couple of good beers) at Pattaconk, we ventured across the street to Little House.  It's a cool, hip little place with a nice tasting room and good people...and Kimber the Pug as the brewery's welcoming committee!

We did a flight of everything and came home with a crowler of Twist & Stout, an extremely well crafted double imperial milk stout.  It was delicious.  Shockingly, Joy picked it.  This is a woman who, when it comes to stouts, will only drink Guinness and only in Dublin, Ireland.  I'm not joking here!

The brewery had several other fine offerings - I was partial to their Axel Crusher (their Belgian Tripel) and their Pool House Bock which was malty and toasty with a nice, clean finish.

The folks are currently brewing on a 2 barrel system and are really maximizing space with tanks stacked on top of tanks in the back.  It is is a really nice little brewery (seating for around 20 - 25) and makes for an enjoyable stop in a quintessential New England town.

Cheers,

Christopher

2018-10-20 Allagash Brewing Company

It's simple...we love these guys! The White, the Curieux, the Sixteen Counties, etc...they're all really solid beers.  While they're definitely not for everyone, the fact that such mature beers are produced here in American (and in our little New England backyard) is AWESOME!

We did another tour of the brewery this year in October.  If you haven't done this tour, we highly recommend it.  It is one of the best brewery tours we've done...and we've done a lot of 'em!
This year's host was a longtime employee and his passion for beer (and especially beers from Allagash) was apparent.
The place was hoppin'!  It had been a couple years since we were here last and I guess the secret is out.  All the tours for the day were booked and there had to be at least a couple hundred folks around the brewery either sampling or touring.  It's awesome to see that level of interest.

As usual, the barrel room at the end of the tour was a big hit and a fun place to sample some great Allagash beer!  We looked for a couple of barrels that were aging on our last tour but I think they had all been consumed!

The highlight of the visit was hanging out for a bit with Rob Todd, owner and founder of Allagash, and learning a bit about the early days of the brewery and the struggles to get American palates to adjust to a Belgian-style wheat beer.  He's a pretty avid surfer and it was great to have a connection as several of us have (or do) live in So Cal and grew up surfing in Huntington Beach, San Onofre, Baja, etc.

2018-09-16 5Churches Brewing

We discovered these folks at the Extreme Pint Fest earlier in the year and were impressed with the beers they presented at the festival.

Seemed like they were bucking the cart a bit by offering an awesomely crafted stout and a couple of other styles...not just the big, juicy NEIPA we all enjoy these days.

The facility is fantastic and the pizza & pretzels are pretty good too!
We sampled every beer they had on tap and the highlights were the Lil' Stouty and the Once and For Fall.  They had 19 beers on tap...which seems excessive to us for such a new brewery.  Not every beer every brewery makes will be stellar, but many of their beers - while enjoyable - were not outstanding.  This is likely a great place for locals to hang out and drink some decent locally-made beer.  We'll definitely visit again.

2018-07-22 Kinsmen Brewing, Southington CT

Soooo...we've been a couple times now and have had at least 15 of their different beers.  My only complaint is that with a name like "Kinsmen Brewing" and the obvious celtic vibe...I haven't been able to get a celtic ale!  I expected to get a good, traditional scotch ale or even a good bitter but there are none to be found here.
They rotate some funky stouts though and have a decent porter every once in a while.  However, they have many great IPAs and other styles.  I was thoroughly surprised today when I had their Conical Form (sour gose).  This is an amazingly mature recipe...it seems like they've been brewing it for years and it could easily go up against some of the entrenched sour-focused breweries in both New England and abroad.
Its a great facility (we've done a fundraiser there) and seems to be always busy.  They're doing it right!
- Christopher

2018-07-21 Black Pond Brews, Danielson CT

These guys were on our list as one of the
interesting, "out-of-the-way", smaller breweries in Connecticut that we needed to visit.  The guys didn't disappoint!  They had some very interesting offerings.

The favorite of the visit was Machu Pichu, an amazing Jalepeno saison.  It was a refreshing experience to visit a new brewery that did not have a single "juice bomb" IPA on their taps...not that we don't love 'em!

They had several interesting beers on tap across a plethera of styles - including a seriously kick-ass german-style hells called "Hella".

Definitely put this brewery on your list...even if it's a pretty good drive for you.  It's a small venue with a welcoming atmosphere and nice outdoor seating area. There's lots of other stuff to do in the area (including a Bison Farm) so you can easily make a day of it.

We'll be back to see what the guys have up their sleeves later in the year as they rotate their brews and taps frequently.

Cheers,
Christopher

2018-01-13 Extreme Pint Fest

Soooooo...after the complete shambles that was the 1st Annual Small State Great Beer festival in Hartford and swearing off beer festivals in general, Chuck D. from Lawson's Finest Liquids reached out and invited us to Extreme Pint Fest.  We've known Chuck for some time now and his energy and crazy antics never disappoint.  He's also an extremely nice guy and fun to be around.  He urged us to get our tickets early as space was limited.

 

It was awesome!  There were only around 200 people sampling beers from around 20 different breweries with a kick ass band and food from the Polish National Home.  Many of the breweries were local (5 Churches, BackEast, Stony Creek, Black Hog, Counter Weight, Relic, etc.) with a few out-of-staters represented by Lawson's Finest Liquids, Allagash and others.

Average wait for a pour was less than 5 minutes and the beer ambassadors took a lot of time to discuss their beers (and other's beers).  It was a really enjoyable night and we'll definitely do it again if it happens. 

I highly recommend going if it happens again and definitely advise attendees to Uber or Lyft...'cause you shouldn't be drivin' after all those high-octane beers!

Cheers,
Christopher