Stratford gets second craft brewery

Brewmasters and owners Joseph Bow, left, and Mike Borruso at Fairfield Craft Ales on Honeyspot Road in Stratford, Conn., on Thursday Aug. 4, 2016. The micro brewery, which opened on July 9th, has created a line of music inspired beers like Quadrophenia Belgian Quad, Live & Let Rye and Revolution IPA. less Brewmasters and owners Joseph Bow, left, and Mike Borruso at Fairfield Craft Ales on Honeyspot Road in Stratford, Conn., on Thursday Aug. 4, 2016. The micro brewery, which opened on July 9th, has created a line ... more Photo: Christian Abraham / Hearst Connecticut Media Photo: Christian Abraham / Hearst Connecticut Media Image 1 of / 15 Caption Close Stratford gets second craft brewery 1 / 15 Back to Gallery

The only thing better than a brewery in Stratford is two breweries in Stratford.

Or at least that’s what two Fairfield couples, Joseph and Marcie Bow and Mike and Amy Borruso, are banking on.

With the help of a Kickstarter campaign, the couples have opened Fairfield Craft Ales on Honeyspot Road just a beer glass throw from Two Roads brewery. But with some break-out fresh brews, they hope they won’t be in the shadow of the other beer behemoth for long. And in fact, Two Roads has been very helpful to the little upstart.

“Before we opened we talked to the owners of Two Roads because we didn’t want to cause any issues,” said Joseph Bow. “They couldn’t be nicer, offering us advice and help.”

Both Joseph Bow and Mike Borruso have day jobs in Manhattan, but each had been brewing beer at home for more than 20 years.

“I was making it in my kitchen until Marcie kicked me out,” Bow joked.

Neither knew each other until Bow began coaching Borruso’s son in Little League.

“We started talking and it turned out it was Mike’s dream, too, to open a small brewery,” Bow continued.

So in August 2014 they began exploring possibilities, checking out sites from Norwalk to Milford and going around talking to the owners of other breweries.

“The best advice we got was to go to a town that already had one brewery because that town would be more receptive because they already had a process for approving the permits for setting one up,” Bow said. “The town of Stratford was very welcoming to us and we ended up signing a lease that October.”

It took nearly two more years for the operation to get up and running. Although they hired a carpenter and a plumber to put in the bar and the taps and hook up the brewing system, the couples did much of the work themselves.

Fairfield Craft Ales occupies the center of a single-story brick warehouse building on Honeyspot Road and Browning Street. It’s between Hellbent Barbell Gym and a gas station. A simple sign hangs over the door.

“We tossed around a number of names and agreed we didn’t want to name it something goofy,” Bow said. “We all live in Fairfield and want to serve Fairfield County so that’s what we ended up with. We kept it simple.”

Inside, the brewery is warm and inviting with a polished wood bar and taps coming out of simulated kegs mounted on the wall behind the bar. On one wall is the brewery’s symbol, a large guitar pick with the letter “F” emblazoned on it.

“Mike plays the guitar and we are all avid music lovers,” Bow said. And that would explain the names of their beers.

There’s Whiter Shade of Pale Ale, Live & Let Rye IPA, Turn! Turn! Turn! Saison, Quadrophenia Belgian and Revolution IPA. They’re brewed to satisfy both the casual beer drinker and the aficionado.

“Right now we are making some easy-drinking beers for the summer, but as the seasons change we will be changing up our lineup,” Bow said. So in the future patrons can expect to find some porters and the inevitable “Twist and Stout.”

In addition to selling beer by the glass they also fill growlers to take home and eventually hope to sell their beer to area bars and restaurants.

“We just got labeling approval so we will be going out to see where else we can sell our beer,” Bow added.

In the meantime, in addition to the brewery, beer drinkers can also find Fairfield Craft Ales at several summer craft beer festivals in the area.

Fairfield Craft Ales, at 724 Honeyspot Road in Stratford, is open Thursdays 4 to 9 p.m., Friday 4 to 9 p.m. and Saturday noon to 9 p.m.