CT Breweries/Beers

I have been wondering about Thimble Island Brewing in Branford. Been open for a while now, is barely 15 mins from New Haven, yet they have zero recognition on this site. Not even their beers are loaded up yet. I will probably be checking them out on my next trip back, but I am surprised at how BAs have generally ignored their existence so far.

 

To be perfectly honest, as snobby as it may make me sound, haven't enjoyed much by a CT brewery that isn't NEBCO. I thought Road 2 Ruin was not very good. Worker's Comp is the best Two Roads beer I've had to date, and I'd drink it again although I wouldn't go out of my way for it. Will need to try Back East - sounds interesting! Also looking forward to trying some Relic - I have heard good things.

 

I'm pretty much with you on that, as much as it pains me to say it. Road 2 Ruin was too expensive for what it is, although I did really like Worker's Comp. I've had 2 Relic beers so far and both were infected, and I had some of the Back East regular offerings after a Delaney's takeover and wasn't super impressed with any of their offerings.

On an unrelated note - I don't want to come across as a dick, but you don't have to sign your posts, Zbyler, your name is like 100 pixels to the left of your posts.

 

I agree with you two as well. NEBCO, then a FAR FAR falloff.

I didn't mind Road 2 Ruin, especially at the bomber pricepoint. Thought the White IPA was terrible, that may have been through dirty lines though.

Also thought that Backeast's Imperial Stout was good for it's pricepoint (9.99/750ml). And yes, Relic could use some work.

Was VERY disappointed with Beer'd Brewings Imperial Stout. Was REALLY light with next to no taste.

 

I too, am head over heals in love with NEBCO. They can do no wrong... Two roads has not been all that impressive, nor has Back East. I have had a few things from Relic, all of which have been pretty tasty. They probably rank second for my CT beers. I went to the grand opening for Shebeen on Sunday, I really liked their Black IPA, but everything else was just OK. I have only had one beer from Half Full (thier pale ale), so I need to try more to figure them out. Hooker and Burnside are OK too, just nothing all that spectacular. I do want to stop by Thimble soon.

 

Agree with most of this. NEBCO is sitting high above the CT brewery throne, and deservedly so... They have been around since before craft was "cool".

Don't write off Relic. New system put in earlier this year, PLENTY of small batch brews that never make it to a bottle...yet. Their mosaic pale ale was a work of art. Mark is getting better and better and expanding his horizons. I expect them to have a killer 2nd half of the year.

 

Hooker Liberator! Wooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!

Olde Burnside made an excellent sour last year that I wish would return again. I've yet to have a Relic beer but I'm very excited to. I thought Back East made a solid IPA and imperial stout, loved their porter. City Steam is very meh. I liked Cotrell's scotch ale for the price. Two Roads hasn't impressed me a great deal. Wiilibrew has some very solid beers on draught. NEBCO can have my babies.

 

I've had a few Back East and Half Full offerings on draft at bars/and restaurants and found them to be good overall. Back East will be canning their Misty Mountain and Back East Ale for June release, which is nice. I've passed on their bottles in stores before, since I thought they were too expensive to try for the first time; hopefully the cans are better priced.

Relic - They had a cask of their Triple IPA Blind Justice at Mikro this weekend... And a few of us agreed that it was terrible. I've passed over their bottles before; too expensive for an unknown/potentially infected beer. I think their growler prices are reasonable at the brewery ($5-$15 depending on the beer and size) and I'd like to swing by.

In general, I'd like to try more of these other CT beers, but it's hard to bring myself to buy beer that is a step down from my normal choices, for the same price.

 

Cool. Hope you're right!

 

Forgot about City Steam. I fond there bottle terrible, but some of their beers at the actual brick and mortar site are pretty decent.

Not an Olde Burnside fan. Thought the sour was decent, not great. Decent price on it though.

Willibrew can be pretty great in general.

Half Full I had at a FInal Friday and thought it wasn't very good. Tried to swing by on Sunday since I was in the area, and they were closed. I'll give them another shot though.

 

Half Full has been meh for me. They are still tweaking recipes though so I intend to continue giving them a chance as I work in Stamford so see them often at bars. Their IPA was developing some character with some dry hopping last time I had it but was not a stand out. The people there are very cool though and it's worth a visit just to chat beer. Their hours are much better now and it's still small scale so you see / meet everything / everyone.

I like Two Roads. The Saison and Road to Ruin are there best for sure. The other two were not bad and are still very well priced, but I haven't rebought. I definitely like gettin the Road to Ruin in the 22 oz-er. The Workers Comp (Saison) was fantastic the first couple six packs, but my most recent 6-er has been super over - carbonated. Might be age or bad batch ... not sure.

Some of the other new ones ... Beaver, Cavalry, Charter Oak ... haven't been impressed.

Have not had anything from the newer ones in the Hartford area.

Obviously, NEBCO is king still ...

 

I stopped by Half Full once, the Bright Ale was ok and drinkable but nothing great, I tried their raspberry sour and and IPA which weren't that great but like you mentioned they repeatedly told me they're still tweaking stuff and trying to get them right. I wish their stuff was better because they have a great space to hang out and the guy there was very nice but I don't see myself going back until I hear that the beers have improved, I don't have any interest in spending $10-12 on growler fills of stuff they're telling me is still being developed.

Two Roads 4 core beers besides the white IPA are solid but unremarkable, I haven't had much desire to revisit them though. Sea Hag is cheaper than Road 2 Ruin and I much prefer it to Road 2 Ruin. I did really like their Little Heaven pale ale with Calypso Hops but a growler fill of it was kind of expensive for a pale ale at $8 for 32oz.

 

Give Beer'd another shot. I go there a few times a month and honestly their Imperial Stout was my least favorite. All of their Ipas have been really good as well as their Brown Ale. Their best beer so far has been Anamoly, the black Ipa. They are closed this week but will be back open next weekend and I believe it will be one of the brews on tap. I have been thrilled that such a solid brewery has opened relatively close to my home. /End pimping.

 

I'll be happy to try them again. Was just massively disappointed with the 1st offering I tried.

 

Cambridge House? just saying......

 

I agree with most of the sentiments here. Its NEBCO #1, with Relic/Two Roads a distant second, followed by a heck of a lot of mediocrity. Not to say some of these other breweries don't hit gold once and a while (I loved the Burnside Highland Wild and Half Full's Apple Pie Ale), but when you stack up Beaver Beer, Cottrell, GW, City Steam, SBC, Cavalry, Charter Oak, etc etc, you are left with lots of breweries that crowd the "Made in CT" section of our favorite beer stores, often with the same old standard styles nobody is too interested in.

I will reserve judgement on Backeast and Thimble until I've tried their offerings, though I got a pour of a Backeast Stout and it was pretty solid. Just wait until Mark and Tess start kickin'@ss with their new brewery at Maltose by the end of the year!

 

All NEBCO awesomeness aside, the only CT beers I've had that have truly impressed me have been Two Roads Workers Comp and a few Willibrew standouts.

In the mediocre+ category have been the rest of the Two Roads and Willibrew lineups, Half Full Bright Ale, Cottrell's stuff, Olde Burnside's Stone of Destiny and Highland Wild, and Charter Oak's brown ale.

I've had nothing but negative (and sometimes incredibly negative) experiences with Hooker, Relic, City Steam, SBC, and Cavalry. Even thinking about some of these beers makes me shudder.

Haven't yet tried Backeast or Thimble Island.

 

i think mediocre+ is selling highland wild short... if you're judging it as "trying to do the same thing as supplication," then it's a shitty wild ale. if you judge it on its own, i think it's really spectacular; oaky, sweet, sour, but mysteriously well balanced and satisfying. (they'll never recreate it though)

i also think ten penny is rock solid. great tap-saviour, especially a few years ago. boston lager, ten penny, and macros... always happy to see ten penny in scenarios like that.

that said, i think city steam sucks, hooker sucks, tully cross sucks, SBC below average. haven't bothered with relic or cavalry. willibrew's IPAs are often weak, but they can hit some real homeruns.

p.s. hate to bash breweries... uncle frank is awesome too, and he's done great things now and then. tully cross really took a shit though; it went from the miss, miss, miss, miss, hit, miss, miss, (repeat) of john harvard to: undrinkable, terrible, awful, decent test batch IPA that kicks before you can order a second glass, huge miss, terrible, etc. sorry man