Parable Brewing Co.

As someone trying to visit every brewery in the state, they're not making it easy for me.

 

Haha

 

Maybe they only brew in 5 gallon batches.

They are the only brewery/cidery/winery or distillery that has been "open" for more than a week I haven't managed to get to. I tried a couple of times unsuccessfully.

 

What’s been the best non hyped one so far?

 

I have a soft spot in my heart for Outer Light for whatever reason. I've been there twice and thought that they warranted more praise than they've received. Kinsmen also has their act together, even if the place is a little noisy.

Other than that, most of the hyped ones (fox farm, new park the most recent additions) are hyped for a reason. Next visits are Breakaway, Five Churches, and Brassworks. Also, Tribus and Milford point, when they open.

 

Brassworks is pretty decent. Their beers are not the best in the world, but their offerings are solid.

Now that Kinsmen also offers pizza, they've pretty much vaulted to the top of the heap for me. Outer Light has some nice hazy offerings from time to time and they are not far from Paul's Pasta which I love to hit when in that neck of the woods.

I also really like these:

Fat Orange Cat (Seasonally open)
Black Pond
Bad Sons (started slow, but stepped it up with Lupified)
New England Cider (the best cidery I've been to outside of Europe)
Forest City (Plus Stubborn Beauty and Spoke and Spy are in the same parking lot)
Hanging Hills
Counterweight

On the radar/Potential:

Lasting Brass
Front Porch

Hyped and worthy of the hype:

Fox Farm
Beer'd
Kent Falls
Nebco
OEC
Black Hog

Disappointing:

Barley Head
Cliffside
These Guys
No Worries
Brewport
Epicure
Redding (Though last time there, they had an Old Ale that was solid)
Witchdoctor (This place is so cool looking inside I REALLY hope they improve)

Also, FYI: Milford Point opens this Saturday!

 

@jjpm74 agreed on most points.

I was just including Counterweight and FOC (small batch, non-contract beers) in the hyped group. I will actually be at FOC and Breakaway this weekend if things go as planned.

Front Porch is run by friends of mine, and it's nice to see they have a 15bbl (or more) canned batch coming out. The beer is great, too.

No Worries and Brewport are hit and miss. The former has improved quite a bit. Jeff, the brewer at the latter, does older styles better than the modern stuff so I don't expect to go there and have my mind blown by some ridiculous hazy IPA. Had a stellar dark lager there last fall and another old german style that I forgot. The service when they first opened was atrocious, but improved with time.

Witchdoctor was middle of the road (or slightly worse), but the space is amazing. Any place with dart boards gets instant points from me.

These Guys, Cottrell, and Redding probably make the worst beer in the state. In the latter case, it seems that they just focused way too much on making the place homey. It's a super comfy local tap room, but the beer is not on par with the setting. Also, Georgetown is just a weird little neighborhood and I can't quite put my finger on why I feel like I'm going to get kidnapped and drugged and forced to be someone's pool boy when I'm there.

I'm expecting Tribus to be wonderful, but I don't have my hopes high for Milford Point. Usually when every beer is named after a place in town, the beer is just as boring as the naming scheme.

 

@Lupin--I agree with you on Milford Point, but I kind of have to pull for them since they are less than a mile from me. I plan on hitting them then heading up to Five Churches and revisiting some of the breweries around NB later in the afternoon if all goes well.

 

Worse than Powder Hollow? Haven't been to Cottrell in years and have never had These Guys or Redding, so I can't compare. But I could not believe Powder Hollow actually released some of the beers I tried. Just super bad and made me wonder if the brewer even has a palate.

 

Lasting Brass is top notch. That is all. The End!

 

Surprised Alvarium hasn't been mentioned yet. Cool place to hag out and most beers I've had from them have been excellent. Plus, now that Five Churches has opened, you can make a quick two brewery tour.

 

I love Alvarium's decor, the beer was inconsistent, but I enjoyed some of it. I'll be back.

I haven't been to Powder Hollow, but my friend who has been to 59 CT breweries threw it in his bottom 5. I'll get to them when they're convenient. Not going out of my way.

 

Wow,I guess everybody's tastes are different but Front Porch, Alvarium and Bad Sons were some of the worst beers I have ever had in CT. Stuff I had at Front Porch was almost undrinkable, same with Alvarium? As always I will give places a second try in case I caught them on a bad day but not hopeful. Also I wouldn't say Cotrell makes bad beer, a lot of people just don't like that style, too malty for many. Just my two cents.

 

Did not enjoy Bad Sons (unbalanced beer all over) my first visit, but I haven't had anything from them in about 3 months.

My first visit to Front Porch was pre-opening and the beer wasn't great. Last time around (about a month ago), I enjoyed everything I tried.

 

Be sure to stop by Cold Creek

https://twitter.com/ColdCreekBrew

 

Bad Sons was not good when they opened. Their beers have improved quite a bit since then. Power Hollow's beers need a lot of help.

Two I forgot to mention: Veracious started as a disappointment, especially given how great the people who opened the brewery are to the CT beer and homebrew scenes. They've since gotten a lot better as well.

Another under the radar brewery for me I forgot to mention is Duvig who make an excellent cream ale and occasionally surprise everyone with the odd Berliner Weisse. Cottrell is one of the old guard and make some solid malty beers. It's also nice that Grey Sail is 5 minutes away from them in Rhode Island and have one of the cooler tasting rooms to visit in the region.

 

Looks like they will be open this Saturday from 11am - 4pm.

 

For one beer?

 

According to their social media posts, it looks that way.

 

Tug! 1 pump chump. The ship has sailed.