Connecticut shelf beers

There's a brewery in Derby, right next to Shelton, called Bad Sons. They're open 7 days a week. Sometimes they have cans to-go, always growlers. The beer is...pretty good. Not outstanding, but good. Not representative of the best CT has to offer.

https://www.badsons.com/home

At liquor stores, look for cans of New England Brewing Sea Hag (old school IPA, not NEIPA, but great), Counterweight Headway IPA and Relic Brewing has a lot of different IPAs.

 

New England Brewing Sea Hag
Counterweight Headway

Those are the two best, available most anywhere CT single IPAs.

 

Ha. It's unanimous.

 

Most of the Relic beers are good, midnight muse, the mage, the bloomist to name a few. All on the shelf. Super hazy and juicy, IMO prob the best shelf IPA's in CT.

Thomas hooker-no filter
Lawsons- sip of sunshine
Connecticut Valley Brewing- trailblazer, pathfinder, they have a few other good ones.

 

Indeed it is ... I also just went on seekabrew for the first time in ages. It looks like we get Pipeworks and PA does not. Any good beer store has some Pipeworks products which I'd have her buy some of for you.

 

In addition to what's already been said, I'd recommend trying out one of Kent Falls' IPAs. Good stuff!

 

New England Brewing Company is 15 minute ride from Shelton. Makes some of the best brews in CT. They have cans available at the brewery depending on the day,

Keep an eye on Twitter: https://twitter.com/NewEnglandBrew?ref_src=twsrc^google|twcamp^serp|twgr^author

Skip CT Valley unless you are looking for poorly made Haze Bro beers, and Bad Sons is really mediocre.

Counterweight Headway, Sip Of Sunshine and Sea Hag are your best bets as mentioned above.

Last Call II Liquor store on River Road in Shelton carries almost everything, send her there you won't be disappointed.

 

GlenRo in neighboring Monroe also has a pretty solid shelf selection, and they are more than accommodating if you inquire about special non-shelf stuff.

 

Agree

 

GlenRo is a good suggestion, there is actually one in Shelton (Huntington Center) which is a lot less claustrophobic and a lot less quirky than the original in Monroe. There is also a good shop next to Big Y on Bridgeport Ave - Kindred Spirits. Skip Wine Emporium and Cork & Keg. Check dates as with any shelf hunting trip.

 

I love the Monroe location's close quarters! Maybe it's the fact that I grew up right around the corner. I have great memories of riding bikes down there with friends and breaking bottles that we found out back. They did a great job of expanding the cramped back section last year, now the beers are a little more navigable.

 

Just bought a Relic Brewing Fact Pattern double IPA. It is super boozy - almost like a barley wine. Any idea how old it is? No date on can or 4 pakholder. Dissapointed.

 

Not much detail on this beer at relicbeer.com. Can't tell if it is new or old. If you told me I was drinking the kettle of vultures barleywine they describe on the website - I might believe you.

 

I think it was brewed once, end of June. The reviews are not good, something might have been off.

 

Beer'd just started being distributed through the state...almost anything from them.

 

Relic has some good offerings. Fortnight is one of their newest ipa's I think and it's pretty good.

CT is tough because a lot of local brewers will distribute but a lot of it sits on the shelves and gets old. I pretty much get all my beer at the breweries unless I find a gem that's less than 2 months old which isn't super common. Maybe I just don't go to the right shops.

 

I’ll be in Old Lyme in a few weeks. Any good shops in that area? Looking for Sea Hag and any NEBCO I can find. Looks like I’ll only be 50 minutes from the brewery, but I’m not sure my wife will be willing to make the drive. Any suggestions on bottle shops or breweries would be greatly appreciated.

 

10 mins north on route 9 is Essex Wine and Spirits. It's my personal favorite in this area. Tony's in Haddam is about another 10 minutes farther up route 9 and is equally impressive. It also has Steady Habit brewery in the same building. YMMV on Steady Habit.

Breweries in the area: Fox Farm in Salem and Beer'd in Stonington are both like 25-30mins away. If I were to pick one... Fox Farm. Although Beer'd is near Mystic if you needed other things to do to entertain the wife / family (downtown shopping, multiple restaurants, aquarium, etc...).

 

You will generally only see Sea Hag on shelves. Gandhi Bot is distributed but frequency is not that often. NEBCO always has a lot on tap and for growler fills and often cans at the brewery. Check out their website. I would second Beer'd and Fox Farm from Old Lyme. Beer'd just started distributing more heavily in the last 2 - 3 weeks so you may find them on shelves but the brewery is worth a visit.