East Rock Brewing Company

 

 

Below the cliff, with memories of scaling the S&S Monument atop through the hole you climbed in back in the 80’s when it wasn’t all fenced off. My UNH years, hanging up on Steve’s peak (officially renamed from Indian Head as I was the one who discovered how to get a car up on to that lower peak to the south off English Drive) when the park was significantly more beaten up and edgy. Man, thems were days…

Easy access off 91, around the corner from Archie Moore’s (and where Spanky lived back in ’88 when I picked him up before heading out to see the Dead at Buckeye Lake). Housed in a large industrialish mixed use facility, they’re a cavernous space with a big brewery to the rear alongside some other bi’sinesses bordering this residential neighborhood.

Polished concrete floors, white painted ceiling with fluro tube lighting & ductwork, and the walls in black, white, & gray with logo beer & brewery prints. A wall of windows offers brew room views to the rear where the magic happens. Large mural piece on a wall divider there (me, pointing), flats on opposite wall over ‘Rediscover Lager’ lettering running the long wall (You only have to tell me once). Bar counter piece below and a looooooooong shuffleboard table set up fronting. Potted plants and that cool piece from Rock Brewery 150ish years ago in the general vicinity. Standalone 3-piece merch rack thing, another with growlers, a can cooler, and the front corner growler bar. Hightops & shortys along the perimeter, and shared picnic tables across the floor. Outdoor seating, too; we won’t be sitting out there today.

‘U’ shaped wood topped bar with steel topped straight extension pieces (I guess the whole thing is sickle shaped), smooth panel base, and no foot nothing. The bar top is slanted in towards you, so beware or be wearing your beer. 12 tap logo handle tower on the barback, and a light tap board aside (beer, ABV, price).

10 house beers (Pilsner, 5.2%; East Rock Lager, 5.2%; Vienna Lager, 4.8%; Black Lager, 6.2%; Maibock, 6.5%; Farmhouse Lager, 4.8%; Goat Herder IPL, 6.5%; Key Lime Kicker, 4.2%; Weisse Bier, 5.4%; Blackberry Gose, 4.5%), + guest beer R&D IPA, 7.5%, and Gluhwein, just for the fuck of it. You know I went at that Black Lager, right? Tasty tasty. Pilsner & East Rock Lager were solid, too.

Got our pretzel on (there’s a pandemic, you know). Industrial space as it is, but I think they’re a good Lager house, and thank you for that. I’ll be back when I’m in better shape to take this whole show in but I liked what I saw.

 

 

 

Spacious new beerhall-ish German inspired brewery in New Haven. Larger taproom overlooking the bottling line, with U-shaped bar that seats 18. Large communal tables fill open room. 12 beers on tap... all lagers, it's their thing, unfortunately not mine. The two I had were good. Friendly service.

 

Clean and beautiful, in a renovated mill complex. Layed out well with a clear eye toward growth.
Vibe was beerhall, with games to play, bright and airy, selection was all lagers and all were good to excellent.
The service was table side or a large bar, server was knowledgeable and not overbearing, attentive. with some board and card games available the time passed quickly.
Pretzel, options available, and many people had brought food, which I like. Worth a visit

They had a dozen choices last night. All were made with lager yeast, but most were not traditional lagers. They did have a nice pilsner. They had two that seemed like porter ingredients with a lager yeast, and a few DIPA ingredients with a lager yeast. Interesting choices.
Staff was very quick and pleasant.
Nice place to talk with friends. A few televisions.
They seem to have lots of room in the production area for expansion.

Nice, clean, new place. Everything I've tasted has been good - nothing has been great. In all fairness, everything I drank was from the first batch they made. As they get comfortable with the recipes, I would expect the quality to be even better.

Service from the bar was a little slow, but there are servers walking around who can take your order as well.

Selection wasn't great, but, again, they just opened.

Really good pretzels, although the cheese sauce was just grated cheese jammed into a ramekin.