New Haven & Vicinity Bottle Shops

Discussion in 'New England' started by papposilenus, May 23, 2018.

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  1. papposilenus

    papposilenus Grand Pooh-Bah (3,232) Jun 21, 2014 New Hampshire
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Howdy, Nutmeggers!

    I'm going to be in New Haven on June 26th. Naturally, everything but NEBCo is closed on Tuesdays (I think?) so NEBCo is where I'll go after my chores are done. But is there any place thereabouts, or easily accessible from 91, bottleshop-wise, that might have any noteworthy local distro?

    Thanks!
     
    #1 papposilenus, May 23, 2018
  2. Wenzl

    Wenzl Initiate (0) Jun 22, 2015 Massachusetts
    Trader

    Amity Wine and Spirit is about a 30 second drive from NEBCO, worth a look.
     
    #2 Wenzl, May 23, 2018
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  3. pbrian

    pbrian Pooh-Bah (2,118) Feb 8, 2001 Connecticut
    Pooh-Bah

    And if you're coming in via 95, Coastal in Branford.
     
    #3 pbrian, May 23, 2018
  4. lbower860

    lbower860 Initiate (0) Jun 28, 2011 Connecticut

    Gags Jr on Chapel Street in Downtown New Haven usually has some interesting things. Bella Vita on Wooster Street usually has whatever fresh IPA Kent Falls has released most recently. Also, New Haven Beer Collective and Cask Republic always have good stuff on tap.
     
    #4 lbower860, May 23, 2018
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  5. papposilenus

    papposilenus Grand Pooh-Bah (3,232) Jun 21, 2014 New Hampshire
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Thanks all!
     
    #5 papposilenus, May 23, 2018
  6. papposilenus

    papposilenus Grand Pooh-Bah (3,232) Jun 21, 2014 New Hampshire
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Oh, wow. That looks like a mandatory stop.
     
    #6 papposilenus, May 23, 2018
  7. Jsukys

    Jsukys Devotee (301) Apr 18, 2015 California

    Beer collective often has Fox Farm on tap. Yummy
     
    #7 Jsukys, May 24, 2018
  8. lbower860

    lbower860 Initiate (0) Jun 28, 2011 Connecticut

    Yeah pretty cool place. People are cool that work there and the food is good as well.
     
    #8 lbower860, May 29, 2018
  9. papposilenus

    papposilenus Grand Pooh-Bah (3,232) Jun 21, 2014 New Hampshire
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Someone once told me that, as a point of etiquette, you should always try to report back on these kinds of threads to let folks know how your adventure turned out.

    In the spirit of no plan surviving first contact with the enemy - the enemy in this case being my daughter - it turned out that although, yes, she was supposed to be starting summer classes at Yale on Tuesday, no, she was actually supposed to be there on Sunday, something which she didn't tell me about until Saturday night while I was getting ready for bed. A lesser man would have been annoyed. I ran back downstairs to see what was open on Sundays.

    Connecticut is a relatively glorious state! Breweries are open on Sundays! But, only 'relatively' because they limit you to, what?, 9 liters at each stop? Something like that.

    On the way in we stopped at Counter Weight for cans of Velicorapture and Inundation and a growler each of Headway and Lustration then on to NEBCo for growlers of Double Hag and Spin Cycle #10.

    Then into New Haven to drop the kid off on Tower Parkway. My home town is Boston; New Haven, at least the parts of it I saw, is much prettier than Boston but the traffic lights are very much more annoying inasmuch as you all seem to actually pay attention to them. You need to stop that.

    From New Haven I went to Fox Farm to fill a case of swing-top 750ml's and grab a couple of pours then, from there, to New Park in Hartford for a glass of Cardigan and a growler of Double Cloud. I always thought that Austin Street in Portland had the douchiest hipster scene but, as it turns out, New Park has them beat all over, at least when I was there. Outstanding NEDIPA's, though. Then back onto 91 to crawl home up to NH through the torrential downpours.

    I never got to Beer Collective and I never went into a bottle shop. So, totally mis-titled thread. But thanks, Nutmeggers! You've got a lot of really good beer!
     
    #9 papposilenus, Jun 25, 2018
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  10. lbower860

    lbower860 Initiate (0) Jun 28, 2011 Connecticut

    Wow you fit a lot in huh! Glad you got to see what our state has to offer in terms of great beer. Interested to hear what you think of the Counterweight cans. In my opinion they are as good as any hoppy beer being made right now. Also, I agree with you about New Park. Ive only been there once myself, but was not a fan of the vibes there in general. Fox Farm however is great.
     
    #10 lbower860, Jun 25, 2018
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  11. lbower860

    lbower860 Initiate (0) Jun 28, 2011 Connecticut

    Also, thanks for the kind words about New Haven. The downtown is in fact, incredibly walkable, historic, and beautiful. It gets a bad rap, but it actually has quite a bit to offer as a small city. But yes, the traffic lights are awful..
     
    #11 lbower860, Jun 25, 2018
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  12. pbrian

    pbrian Pooh-Bah (2,118) Feb 8, 2001 Connecticut
    Pooh-Bah

    The most accurate description of New Park I have seen! LOL But you forgot to mention that the small parking lot is always full too... Glad you had an enjoyable afternoon in CT, it's really not as bad as our northern neighbors like to complain about it.
     
    #12 pbrian, Jun 25, 2018
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  13. papposilenus

    papposilenus Grand Pooh-Bah (3,232) Jun 21, 2014 New Hampshire
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Yes! I grabbed the last parking space. If, in fact, it actually was a parking space and not just a small flat spot between the parking lot and the landscaping. My tires were pretty definitely on mulch.

    Fortunately, the gentleman pulling the taps did not get that long overdue call from his agent to arrange the book signing or gallery opening or whatever it was that he was obviously waiting for, otherwise I'm sure he would have sloped off and just left my growlers under the taps.

    Or maybe I shouldn't be so judgy.
     
    #13 papposilenus, Jun 25, 2018
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  14. Shyla987

    Shyla987 Zealot (599) Jul 18, 2013 Connecticut

    Did you also happen to notice that New Park is the only brewery you visited (and the only one in the state) that won't fill any other growlers? Silly.

    So glad you enjoyed your visit to our small state that most people forget is even part of New England!
     
    #14 Shyla987, Jun 25, 2018
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  15. Lupin

    Lupin Pundit (894) Jun 4, 2006 Connecticut
    Trader

    This policy is the dumbest in the state. They say it's for "quality control" purposes even though they won't fill the EXACT SAME GROWLER from other breweries and I had one of their own growlers explode sitting in my (parked) car last fall.
     
    #15 Lupin, Jun 25, 2018
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  16. papposilenus

    papposilenus Grand Pooh-Bah (3,232) Jun 21, 2014 New Hampshire
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Yes, well, I'm sure the fact that you can buy that particular style of growler for something less than $3 and they sell it for $5 has nothing to do with it.
     
    #16 papposilenus, Jun 25, 2018
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  17. sulldaddy

    sulldaddy Grand Pooh-Bah (5,716) Apr 6, 2003 Connecticut
    Mod Team BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    You did a very good job getting around some CT spots. Well Done! Hope you come back and hit up some of the new haven suggestions. there really is quite a lot going on in the beer scene in our little state!
     
    #17 sulldaddy, Jun 26, 2018
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