Hello fellow beer enthusiasts! I managed to visit two breweries this week, both in southwestern CT. Both are well known throughout New England, and one has been growing at an exponential pace.

The first brewery I visited was Two Roads in Stratford, CT. I love this brewery, and they can turn out some pretty good beers. This wasn’t the first time I had been there, so I have had a large variety of their products. My favorite is an annual offering called Igor’s Dream, an incredibly smooth and delicious imperial stout. When I went for a tasting earlier this year, I was able to taste both a fresh batch as well as some aged for a year. It was clear as day that his beer should not be enjoyed as soon as possible. The aging process helped the stronger flavors, like coffee, to settle out a bit and let the more subtle notes come forward. The result was a pleasantly balanced stout with evenly distributed notes of coffee and chocolate. My recent tasting offered a variety of their more popular beers as well as a new summer beer released that day. Coincidentally, the previous time I was there was the day they release Rye 95. Moving in the suggested tasting order, I started with the Worker’s Comp Saison. This beer is great for summer: light and fruity with slight notes of spice. A farmhouse ale, it has four different grains (barley, wheat, oats, and rye) creating a balanced and smooth finish. The Ol’ Factory Pils is very good, a typical pilsener combined with the dry-hopping method. This creates a great balance of malty sweetness and aromatic hops. No Limits Hefeweizen is a great summer beer stemming from the light flavors of the wheat and fruity notes. The last of the lighter beers, the new summer beer was very good. Called Road Jam, it is made with blackberries, raspberries, and lemon-grass. Combined, you get a sweet, slightly tart with citrus notes. I was afraid this beer may have come out overly tart, but in fact is tamed and was very refreshing. A good beer for summer, if we ever get there.

Now, on to the IPA’s. Honeyspot Road is a mild IPA that goes back easy and accentuates its hops well. Road 2 Ruin DIPA was next, which is brewed with four hop varieties: Summit, Cascade, Palisade, and Magnum. This combination has pine, citrus, and floral notes over a malty background. Very good beer. The Belgian IPA was good, but overshadowed by the Rye 95, a rye-based Belgian Tripel. The rye brings dry, spicy flavor, and mosaic and amarillo hops add fruity notes on top. A great spring seasonal that I have been able to enjoy twice this season.

Alex, the guy behind the bar, was very knowledgeable about the beer of Two Roads and New England. We had a great conversation over a couple hours about the beers and where I should go next in the exploding craft beer market. I always have a great, welcoming experience at Two Roads, and highly recommend you visit. The bar is upstairs, looking down over the brewery through glass walls.

After Two Roads I ventured to Woodbridge, CT for New England Brewery, another respected brewery in New England. My experience there was vastly different from the more formal Two Roads. At a tiny bar with only four taps, they give out free tastings as well as fill growlers off the taps. On tap were the 668 Neighbor of the Beast, Galaxy Pale Ale, Sea Hag IPA, and Gandhi-Bot DIPA. I started out with the 668, a belgian-style ale. It was a good beer, with malty flavor from the pilsener malt with light hoppy notes. Next was the Galaxy Pale Ale, which had big notes of tropical fruits from the sole use of Galaxy hops, which are grown in New Zealand. It had good balance between malty and fruity flavor without a lot of bitterness. and at 4.8% ABV, I loved it as a great poolside beer for the upcoming summer. The third beer on tap was Sea Hag IPA. It was a bit cloudy, but overall a good IPA. It was hop-forward with citrus notes in the aroma and taste with a hint o malt in the background. My memory may be cloudy as well on this one, because next I tried the famous Gandhi-Bot. Gandhi-Bot was delicious. With three varieties of hops, you get a wonderful citrus and fruity aroma and taste with some piney notes mixed in. Behind it all is a light touch of malt that backs up the hops well. Just the right amount of IBU’s for me, it went down smooth over and over again. I took home a growler of it, which came after waiting in “line” behind many others who showed up at 3pm, when the bar opened. I’d say the beer is really good at NEB, but the experience was impersonal and lacked any description of the beers beforehand. Not a huge deal, but a quick description would have been nice since I was the only person tasting anything. I’m not going to complain, though, because their slogan is “Drink it. It’s Good.” They definitely embody that phrase.

Two down, many to go in my journey through the endless list of New England breweries. Next on my list are some more CT Shoreline breweries, so check back soon for a post about those. Anyway, to my fellow New Englanders: enjoy the warming weather!

Cheers!