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| Tin Type Brown 5.5% & Twist and Stout Double Milk Stout 7.4% |
In the quaint New England town of Chester, CT you will find Little House Brewing Company. Chester is a small and charming little town, and downtown is especially lovely to walk through in autumn!
Little House Brewing is in fact in a little house! As you walk inside, you are welcomed into a warm, cozy and smartly decorated taproom - with a small bar, comfy little nooks and a some high top tables and chairs. Brewing takes place in the back of the house... and there's also a beer garden outside in back to relax with your brews in the crisp autumn air! We were very impressed with the detail - from their especially cute logo to the song pairings listed on their tap list for each beer! Seriously - how cool is that? It seems that Co-Founders Carlisle Schaeffer and Sam Wagner have thought of everything! And the beer? They're solid!
The chill in the air outside made us crave dark and malty so we dove right in and tried the Tin Type brown ale 5.5% & Twist and Stout double milk stout 7.4% - which were both awesome! We also tried and recommend the Sleepy Bee Kolsch 4.9% - crisp, light and easy drinking. They have a good variety of styles on tap which is ever changing and they have a bunch of new brews coming down the line - including some IPA's and a maple stout. They also offer 32 oz crowler cans to go. We were very happy to have stopped in and will definitely try to get back soon! Definitely check these guys out if you're in the Chester area!
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| Little House taproom |
Since it's on the way, and its been awhile since we had been, we stopped into Eli Cannon's for lunch. Killer burgers and always a huge selection of brews on tap! As I mentioned in our part 1 post... Eli's has definitely helped put Middletown on the map and is definitely a staple! I ordered a Counterweight Headway IPA 6.5% and Chris had a New England Brewing SeaHag IPA 6.2%. If you're looking for yummy lunch in the Middletown area, that has a great selection and variety of brews... check out Eli's!
We knew for sure that we were going to head back to Alvarium in New Britain, CT since we first visited last weekend. Last Saturday night was pretty busy - we're talking wall to wall people! The beer was SO GOOD we knew we were definitely coming back to get the full effect on a quieter afternoon during the week. So glad we did!
We met and talked to the taproom manager Kate, AKA "the craft sorceress" (and yes, that is also a beer named after Kate), who gave us the lay of the land. She told us how much time and work went into building the brewery/taproom, which by the way can hold up to 270 people! All their hard work has certainly paid off...the space is just awesome! The bar is long and there is a huge sitting area in the back with huge tables... and even some table games including pin ball, shuffleboard and foosball! Oh and let's not forget the outdoor patio in front as you walk in!
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| Phresh NEIPA 6.5% & Honey Shot DIPA 8.2% |
Chris also ordered one of their flag ship beers, Phresh NEIPA 6.5% which is loaded with Mosaic and citra hops. I opted for the Honey Shot DIPA 8.2% which was juicy and tropical from the citra hops and had sweetness from wildflower honey - totally loved this beer - highly recommend!
Also worth mentioning they have kielbasa and pretzels available for purchase and they almost always have a food truck visiting and set up outside. Check their Facebook page before you head up!
In our opinion this is one of the best breweries in Connecticut! Excellent beer, fantastic staff and a gorgeous taproom! We will definitely be visiting Alvarium again soon - you should too!!
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| Ludwig Festbier 6.2% & Roast Breakfast Coffee Stout 6.9% |
About a 15 minute drive South from New Britain is Kinsmen Brewing in Milldale, CT. We had originally discovered this brewery at the Berlin fair back in September. There we met one of the brewery workers Nick, and tasted a couple of their beers. We had been wanting to visit the brewery and we finally made it there last Saturday. It was packed - just as it was at most of the breweries we visited that day. So we also wanted to come back and check them out when they were a bit quieter.
Kinsmen is housed in the old "Clark Brothers Bolt Company" building - completely renovated and restored using reclaimed lumber to craft their brewery. Its a very large hall - and at the end sits Sauced, their own on-site pizza kitchen. And let me tell you - the pizza is awesome! Get the "Cheese Wiz" 4 cheese pizza, you won't be disappointed!
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| All Fruits Ripe Berliner 4.6% & Tin Foil Helmet APA 5% |
Last Saturday we tried Roast breakfast coffee stout 6.9% and Ludwig Festbier 6.2%. I really loved the festbeir - crisp and light in body - definite notes of caramel. Chris was all about Roast - which I've read uses medium roast Ethiopian coffee from Rebel Dog Coffee in Plainville, CT - highly recommend trying this one!
Kinsmen also has a sitting room as you walk in that has TV's and a pool table - which is awesome for any sports fan this time of year. What's better than having a few excellent pints and killer pizza while watching the game? Nothing! If I lived closer, I'd be a Kinsmen all the time! If you live in this area and have not checked them out - do it!