5 Breweries to Visit - Connecticut

Perfect timing of this thread, for me at least. I'm going to Simsbury to visit some of the wife's family in two weeks. I've never hard of back east or relic and they're both pretty close to Simsbury. I was planning on checking on NEBCO, now I might have to check out a few more.

 

Olde Burnside might be worth a visit. And although more a brewpub than brewery I'd recommend Willimantic. I've been to Thomas Hooker a couple times and its pretty cool.

 

I've been to most of these, as I live in CT:

NEBCO
Willimantic Brewing
Two Roads
Shebeen

Are the 4 I'd do for sure.

Hooker (kinda shitty beer, but basically all you can drink from noon to 5, if that's your thing. Also only open Saturday) and Back East (solid beer) are 10ish minutes from each other, and Olde Burnside (not a fan of their stuff) isn't too far. Tullycross Tavern/Brewpub is also close, but not very good.

Half Full is in Stamford. Only had one of their beers and was unimpressed. Relic is between Waterbury and Hartford, but don;t much care for their stuff either.

If you only have time for a few, NEBCO and Two Roads are your best bet. They're relatively close to each other, and very different experiences in almost every way.

 

I second NEBCO and. Willimantic, Two Roads background makes it worth a try, and i do not support Hooker in years.

Also try New England forum.

 

NEBCO - best beer in the State
Two Roads - perfectly fine beer and you get yourself a legit tour of a bigger production facility
Shebeen - really enjoyed my experience there. Incredibly new and beers are developing.
Back East - never been but like their beers that I had bottled / canned. Nothing amazing but solid offerings
Half Full - beers are meh but the people there are very welcoming. A good visit but wouldn't be on the top of my list.
Willimantic - as previously said, a brewpub but probably on the higher end of quality in the state
Cambridge - again, brewpub, but beers are pretty good. Definitely like their offering s better than Half Full.

Full disclosure, I haven't been to Willimantic ... Speaking on reputation.

 

Relic for sure! They are always throwing out some unique things.

 

It's not good.

No. They're not good.

 

Can I get some comments on Shebeen? Found their owner/brewer's Untappd account and resolved to never visit because of how much of a dick he appears to be via the internet. Also was not all about the gimmicky stuff, e.g. cannoli beer, and the BA ratings don't look very good. Am I totally off base here?

 

Didn't know about the dude being a dick. That sucks.

Their stuff can be gimmicky. Some of their beers were solid, but nothing I'd buy a growler of. I thought the Canoli beer was dumb. The beers weren't crazy good, but it was a cool vibe there. I'd go back again.

 

Cool. I haven't met him in person or anything. Again, I may totally be off base. His Untappd account is just him reviewing all of his own beers, giving them all five stars, and talking about how much he loves them - that, and trashing NEBCO beers. Just not into brewers reviewing their own beers here, there, or anywhere (unless it's homebrew), and ESPECIALLY not into them reviewing their competition.

 

City Steam is out there in Hartford too. The beers they distro are terrible, but some of the beers "in house" can be solid.

 

Really? What a dick!

Can you PM me his screen name? I want to read this!

 

Would love to see this as well. If he bad mouths Weisse Trash Culture this could come to blows.

 

I'll be in CT next weekend, and the wife and I have time for a brewery stop on Friday.

I've narrowed it down to NEBCO or Two Roads. Is there any reason to visit one over the other? Interested in sampling, and not so much tours, although I do enjoy being able to see some of the facility.

 

Brewer4 on untappd. He gave Weiss Trash a half cap saying "wow is this stuff nasty" and gave Gandhi 2 caps "grass clippings. Way too hoppy for me" while giving 5 caps all his beers. A bit off putting and not at all classy