Non-hyped taprooms and breweries

Abandoned Building has a few 22's of their stuff often available for purchase on site. If not, it's around town in nearby Northampton.

 

Top twenty city in the country.

 

For sure. Great place to live.

 

Actually Two Roads will fill all growlers- the law is vague in CT so we sticker all vessels. We also make sure it's easy to peel off so we won't damage any growler.

 

I can't go to Northampton without having beers at Northampton Pub & Brewery. I love that place.

On another note, I still haven't been to High Horse in Amherst. Can anyone share their thoughts? I've been meaning to check it out, but I'm not out there very much.

 

Will second, third and fourth the recommendations for Lost Nation in Morrisville VT. Had lunch there last Thurs. as part of a beercation. Thurs. lunch special, three sliders, a side and a pint of beer for $10. Had three beer braised pork sliders with a sweet chili chutney and diced red onion on challah slider buns, a slaw of cabbage, red cabbage, arugula, carrot and green onion with a caraway-vinegar dressing and a pint of Lost Galaxy, a hoppy wheat IPA. Best meal I had in the three days I was in northern VT. Also had a pint of their saison. Fine beers and great value on lunch.

 

Love that $10 deal - best lunch around and really high-quality food and brews.

 

Riverwalk in Newburyport MA is mostly growlers and growel-ettes, but a few shops around carry them and do exchanges, so it works. Their brewery fresh IPA is tremendous (a bold hoppy west coast style) and the Porter they made this past season was delicious as well.

Made my first visit to Stoneface a few weeks ago and I enjoyed it.

Have yet to try Navigation, but will make a point to do that!

 

In no particular order:
High Horse- haven't visited the brewpub but love everything I have had from @konabrewer at beer fests and the original Blatant IPA

Earth Eagle Brewings- very strange/weird/unique ingredients and styles that I have found to be either hit or miss yet I thoroughly enjoy their creativity.

Stoneface- only visited last week for the first time after the Mott The Lesser release and am sure the wife & I will be back sometime soon.

Haven't visited the few other breweries mentioned yet have heard about them and def want to take a trip to visit them! Keep the suggestions rolling in, folks!

 

Medusa Brewing in Hudson MA, nice Tap Room, good beers. Have hit it a few times.

 

Firefly is really close to Relic too so you can hit both at once. Shebeen is close too but I'd avoid them like the plague.

The problem with CT breweries is that a lot of them are on the coast/in the sticks and they're pretty far apart. Almost better off just going to J Timothy's when they have a good tap list.

 

I think Firefly is flying under the radar. Steady Habit is supposed to be the next big thing in ct

 

Very small operation, but my inlaws live in Sheffield and we were amongst the first customers of Big Elm Brewery when it opened. The regular line up is very solid and some of the seasonals are top notch.

My wife does not like stouts at all and she loved their Dead of Winter Russian Imperial Stout. I aged a bottle for year too and it help up pretty nicely. They will barrell

Their tap room has been pretty basic but they are starting to spruce it up a bit.

 

https://twitter.com/FireflyBrewing/status/587276567879016448

Hnnngggg.

 

I will be passing through Portsmouth early in the day and trying to decide whether it is worth waiting until Stoneface opens to visit. They don't have food or sell pints right? Just samples, bottles and growlers? Is it worth killing an hour or two to visit the taproom? Is it easy to find bottles of Stoneface in the area? Lots of questions...thanks for your help!

 

I've been able to find their beers at CBC in Portsmouth and at Gary's. However, I don't think their beers are really worth going out of your way to find.

 

Really? That surprises me...the ratings for Stoneface beers seem to be consistently very impressive...I know that ratings can be deceiving but seems odd that they would be off base on everything they make...did you enjoy any of their beers?

 

I feel like they've been doing great things for a while, they just seem to get overlooked. I have to admit, though, I tend to lose them in the shuffle, too, and probably haven't had one of their beers in the last year. I'll try to grab some of their stuff soon.

 

I was there a couple months back when they had Hopulization bottles for sale. No pints or food, I believe, just samples, growlers fills and bottle purchases.

I'd say it's worth killing an hour or two to visit the taproom (someone can probably recommend somewhere good nearby to have breakfast). The taproom itself is pretty small, but the guys working that day couldn't have been friendlier or more accommodating to us. We posted up on one of the barrels in their room as there were already people at the bar, and they gave us samples of everything on tap -- and kept bringing the new beer over to us without us even going back to the bar again. They didn't even have the rye on for fills that day, but they cracked a bottle at one point to pour us a sample -- haven't had many breweries do that for me (if ever).

I think their beer is very, very good, and it's probably the best brewery in NH. After sampling, I bought a mixed case of the IPA and the Hopulization; both are excellent. I'd highly recommend visiting!