Local CT brewer and beer recommendations

Back East Brewing puts out a double IPA called Pallet Mallet every so often. What I believe is their second canning is being sold at the brewery today and tomorrow and then whatever is left over hits CT distribution next week. Shebeen is relatively new. I pass on Hookers. And Sea Hag is by far and away my local go to beer.

 

Beer'd, up in Stonington, is very good...I hear. But ya gotta go to the brewery. And it's about 90min from you

Relic in Plainville is making some good beers. And they're finally getting distributed. Stubborn Beauty (Middletown) has a few decent ones

 

OEC in Oxford. Really can't talk about this place enough. It's not exactly close but it's worth the drive.

 

Check out firefly hollow in bristol, ct. They have some very good double IPAs

 

Here are my thoughts on the places i've been to, in no particular order. No offense meant of course on any of these comments, and you should definitely find out for yourself but these are just my opinions :

Nebco - Excellent, of course.
Black Hog - Cool people there but I really didnt care for...ANY of the 8 beers I sampled except the Coffee Stout.
OEC - Fanastic, unique sours (mostly) and just a really neat place.
Beer'd - Excellent. Particularly their top notch IPA's.
Relic - Worth checking out, but very hit or miss...i've had some truely vile beers from them but also some good ones. Always interesting at least.
Shebeen - Meh. Not bad, but not really worth the trip from where you are IMO unless you're in the area. Not too far from Firefly or Relic so you can check them all out at the same time.
Broad Brook - I don't care for it, but it's a decent place to have a beer if you're in the area. They make pretty straight forward, average beers.
Top Shelf - I just flat out don't like their beers.
Hooker - It'll do in a pinch but don't care much for their stuff.
Back East - Same as Hooker.
Two Roads - Their usual lineup is OK, really good place to visit though. Massive.
Stubborn Beauty - Wasn't blown away but worth a try
Willimantic Brew Pub - Great place for a meal (just went today actually, yum) and most of the stuff they brew is pretty good. Plus they typically have some great guests beers.
Cambridge Brew Pub - Hit or miss...i've had some really good food and beer from them, and some not so good.

I think that about does it...my favorites are definitely Beer'd and OEC currently. Welcome, and enjoy! There are plenty more breweries in the works too, hopefully they're all world class

 

New England brewing and treehouse brewing. Everything thing else is a waste of time/money.

 

I don't know about all that. I mean...look at my avatar, obviously i'm a HUGE Tree House fan. Nebco is great as well...but Beer'd is making some great stuff and OEC is also good stuff if you like sours.

 

Yeah OEC is a must. They've been open about 8 months and I think I've been there 10 times already. I live in Easton. If you love belgian style brewing and barrel aging/blending, they're what's up.

As far as visiting breweries, NEBCO is the only one i visit frequently. On the shelf, previous posters did a good sum-up job. IMO It's worth it to visit all the new breweries in CT.

 

These are the ones I've visited:
Shebeen: Had a lot of unique styles like their cannolli beer and concord grape saison, but nothing that I really enjoyed that much. Fun beers to try, but none of them were ones that I would really want to drink again.
OEC: Lots of excellent Sours. Fairly pricey. Kind of classy and mysterious atmosphere, but it also felt kind of douchy there.
Top Shelf: Ok beers. I enjoyed stopping by a bunch when I lived in the area, but its not really worth visiting from far away.
City Steam: Pretty cool facility with decent food and fun events like trivia during the week. Downtown Hartford so its a little harder to park at and get to. They have a couple beers that they widely distribute but most of the better beers I've had from them are brewery only.
Hooker: My favorite beers from them are usually their more generic styles like their Hefeweizen. Generous number of samples at the brewery compared to most other places.
Black Hog: Generous samples. Wasnt a fan of a bunch of their stuff, but the rest I liked. Tasting area is right in the middle of the brewery, but it was kind of cool looking. Staff was very friendly and informative.
Back East: Tour was very dry. Palate Mallet is their top beer for sure. Fairly standard brewery otherwise.
Half Full: Havent been there in awhile but I'm starting to see their stuff more widely distributed. Their Bright Ale is my favorite.
Two Roads: My favorite out of the CT breweries. Their facility is very cool, so its worth a stop to see. Their regular beers are better on average than the rest of the CT competition and their limited release sours are excellent. If they got a couple big name beers, they have the capitol and resources to really become a big player outside of CT.
Thimble Island: They make a Black and Tan out of two of their beers and that was pretty good, but I don't know if they always have that. It was ok there, but I dont have a strong need to return soon.
Duvig: They had a sour a couple months ago that was excellent. Their regular beers are fairly average. They had a cask version of one a couple weeks ago, but I didn't care too much for it. Very startup place still, so there's not much else to say about it.
Stubborn Beauty: Decent beers. I pass close to them on way home from work so I stop a good amount on Fridays. Still a fairly startup place in a very low-rent location next to the dump and some train tracks and in a mostly abandoned building.
New England: Obviously Gandhi Bot is their top beer, but I like Sea Hag a lot and its a lot easier to find.
Broad Brook: Lots of cool beers that I would definitely try again. I've been meaning to go back and visit there again.
SBC: Went to one of their restaurants and wasnt impressed by the brewery side. Waiter wasnt knowledgeable at all about any of their beers and didn't seem to care about selling their beers over the generic budweiser/shock top/angry orchard stuff on the menu. Decent discount if you have the trailblazer card though.

 

For food you have a few Food Network featured places within about 3 miles of each other - Rawleys, Wilson's BBQ, and Super Duper Weenie. Also along the main drag and in the same area, Colony Pizza, Archie Moore's and the Firehouse Deli. A little further out, for that taste of NY is Two Boots. All my favorite junk food is close at hand in Fairfield.

 

Wilson's is ok, worth a stop to check it off the list. Walk to Rawleys after for a dessert dog. Make sure to get a dog with bacon, they do it really well.

 

Every single nebco is the only beer I ever need. That being said... OEC is a must have, and the events (usually monthy) are really solid with food trucks and interesting/rare/crazy things being poured. Most of the other stuff around CT is hit or miss for one reason or another, with some shining stars but plenty of duds too. Just get out there and try em!
As far as food... I will never step foot in another SBC as far as I can help it. There was one that was down the street from me and I gave it fair chance after chance, but NOTHING even came above the average level. Archies is a great chain with decent taplists and great wings. Where were you before moving to fairfield? If you can make it up to the New Haven area, there is a plethora of beer bars and foodie haunts. Stamford area, of course, carries its own top notch places, but I am less familiar with them. I will say coalhouse pizza is pretty damn unreal.
All in all, the area is on the upslope for beer. Welcome, and I'm looking forward to hearing more about what you've found!

 

I used to live around the corner from SBC myself. (granted we're talking 14 years ago...) For all the knocks it gets, the food was pretty good and there were always one or two beers good enough to make me happy. Yes, there's better to explore, but SBC isn't that evil. And I just drove through town last week. Man how it has changed. Always nice to stop in Harry's and get a sandwich from the deli across the parking lot, though.

 

For sure, I wouldn't call it evil. More like careless or unmotivated. I also agree that I could find something to drink from their house selection, but there's a reason SBC's recieved something of a stigma amongst craft enthusiasts: its just not that good. I wish it were. There was better food than beer, but I can find the same food with the same taplists at Chilis (which is not a place I frequent) or buffalo wild wings; I could find better food and beer at plenty of other establisments, which is why, IMO, SBC doesnt deserve my business.

 

The easiest way to try a bunch of different CT brews is to hit up Craft 260 in Fairfield, ownership there has good relationships with a lot of local brewers and they rotate the taps regularly. Nearly all of the brewers listed in this thread have had beers on tap at Craft. They're also diligent about keeping their tap list up to date on their facebook and twitter pages and on their website. Guess I should mention they have a really good reputation for food too, but I haven't eaten there myself.

In terms of other bar/restaurants to hit in the Fairfield area, if it's beer you're after I'd recommend Local Kitchen and Beer Bar or Walrus & Carpenter in the Black Rock section of Bridgeport. Local has great happy hour pricing on draft beers and Walrus has both a legit beer list and amazing bbq. Smoked meats for the win.

Bottle shops, besides Harrys and Moes you might want to check out Turnpike Spirits on Blackrock Turnpike. Great beer selection and service.

 

Wilson`s is just OK...would recommend Bobby Q`s a few miles south in Westport over it for BBQ, decent beer too. And for a large tap list, bottles too, check out The Ginger Man in Norwalk. Very similar ambience to the one in NYC, if you ever went to that one. NEBCO, CL, other CT & NY brewers are well represented. In addition to international breweries.

 

Nebco and OEC are really the only ones worth visiting with any regularity. CT is filled with average or lesser breweries. I will say that I've had a few things from Beer'd worth trying but nothing I'd go out of my way for. Willimantic Brewing is also a nice spot, but from Fairfield county not worth the trip (unless on a detour from Tree House I suppose).

Edit:Back East porter is very good imo....look for it on shelves though, another brewery only worth stopping at if you're in the immediate area.