LOCK CITY BREWING COMPANY

United States Brewpubs,

STAMFORD, CONNECTICUT

Originally opened in 2017 at former historic manufacturing warehouse, Yale & Towne, Stamford’s LOCK CITY BREWING COMPANY closed down temporarily, changed ownership, then revamped and resumed business in 2024 under the leadership of beer enthusiast Rick Moll. In the industrial mall-bound section of Stamford west of Route 95, the aluminum brown-sided, brick-based pub welcomes folks to its casual Industrial setting.

A sterling white tile-walled bar with orange and brown Lock City banner, brown-pipe-handled draughts and twelve seats centers the community-tabled interior. Brewmaster Shaun Leemhuis crafts a sturdy selection of stylishly diverse beer in the spacious brew room.

Stopping in on the way home from Newport, Rhode Island, I soaked up seven sundry suds Sunday afternoon late June ’26.

Musky light-bodied Czech pilsner, Iron Grandfather, placed rustic herbs, dainty floral hops and musty barnyard acridity atop mineral graining.

Crisply clean classic German lager, Gold Ratio, let mild lemon briskness touch salty raw-grained pilsner malts and herbal hop phenols.

Flagship New England IPA, OJ’s On Parole, retained resinous pine-dried orange-oiled Simcoe hop herbage to contrast sunny orange pith-embittered Citra hop zesting given light oats creaming.

A veritable fruit cocktail, lactic milkshake IPA, Shake Your Booty, draped milk-sugared marshmallow vanilla sweetness atop creamy oats while Mosaic-Citra-hopped pineapple tanginess, mango salting, guava tartness, white grapefruit bittering and peachy white grape snips gathered for a nifty tropical delight.

Dry fruited gose, What Gose Around, placed coriander-salted plum and passionfruit above brittle white wheat base, picking up subtle white wining.

On the dark side, nutty coffee-burnt black cacao bittering anchored richly mocha-driven Padlock Porter, scattering its blackened hop char.

Decadent limited edition 14.6% ABV bourbon-aged stout, Vaulted Darkness, a wonderful winter warmer, serenaded luxurious bourbon chocolate sweetness with bruised dark cherry, green raisin and brandy niceties.

BUTTONWOODS BREWERY

United States Brewpubs,

PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND

Since opening its 2,500 square-foot spot in Cranston during 2017, BUTTONWOODS BREWERY has expanded to thrice the size at the former Revival Brewing venue in the industrial red bricked warehouse section of nearby Providence in 2023. Teamed up with resident scratch kitchen, Screaming Unicorn, Buttonwoods’ rustic wood setting is the perfect setting for the cool local hang out.

Buttonwoods’ sterling cement-floored, black-walled, steel-columned barroom includes wood-designed community tables, olden chaired tables and cafeteria tables plus an overhead door and exposed pipes. An eight-seat lacquer wood-topped bar stations a dozen draught handles and a to-go refrigerator. A separate multi-barreled brew room stores the proprietary liquid.

Gaining early experience at Bronx Brewing before coming to Rhode Island, founding brewmeister Morgan Snyder has spent well over a decade crafting a wide array of letter perfect elixirs.

German krautrock denizens, Kraftwerk, play in the background as we downed six of Snyders’s snazzy suds on a Friday at noon in late June ’26.

I bought home Italian Pilsner, 401 Hoppy Pale Lager, Sudden Enlightenment Jasmine Rice Lager, Rooney’s Nitro Irish Red Ale, Object Permanence IPA, La Grande Truite Abbey Ale and Invisible Monsters Barleywine (reviewed in Beer Index).

The one beer to have if you were going beyond stylistic boundaries this warm summer day was an offbeat mollusk-derived barrel-aged Belgian ale. Utilizing bourbon-dried whiskey tones to sway its lightly creamed oyster-shelled saltiness and sweet tarragon influence, Golden Unicorn, a variant Belgian strong golden ale, picked up candi-sugared fig, date and raisin illusions.

On the light-bodied side, straw-like mineral graining saddled the musky Tettnang hop herbage of rustic German Pilsner, gaining alfalfa, buckwheat and wild oats snips.

Disguising its stylish coriander-spiced orange peel sweetness a tad, Woonasquatucket Wit placed musky lemon-soured champagne grape esters across musty herbal earthiness over white wheated dried oats.

Mild honeyed maibock, Screaming In The Woods, utilized coriander and hibiscus to saddle its sour lemon musk.

Waxy fruited Galaxy-Strata-Alora-hopped IPA, Razor Crest, retained lemon meringue, salted pineapple, navel orange, white peach and white grapefruit tropicalia given slight boozy rum sugaring atop creamy oats.

On the dark side, dry Baltic Porter combined cacao nibs with dark-roast coffee and gained mild espresso, molasses oats and dark chocolate licks.

ANTIMONY BREWERY

United States Brewpubs,

LENOX, MASSACHUSETTS

At the bucolic Lenox Country Shops complex, community-focused ANTIMONY BREWERY & KITCHEN was established Memorial Day ’22. A fitting Berkshire Mountain hideaway, the capacious slate-based, gray-shingled pub boasts a chic mod Industrial main barroom with structural steel frames, metal and wood furnishings, a few couched booths, well-placed Edison bulbs and a large mezzanine. Truly, Antimony resembles a cozy cabin retreat.

The windowed brew tanks (currently a 7 barrel system) back the 20-seat, U-shaped, foil-sided bar with colorful tap list of today’s draughts. A stage area attracts local musicians and artists. A scratch kitchen serves pizza, seafood, burgers and apps.

A plank fenced patio with lovely forest mural and umbrella-lined picnic tables add to the rustic splendor.

During late June ’26 on a Thursday afternoon, a bustling lunch crowd settles in as my wife and I and son, Chris, grab patio seats to chow down yummy swordfish with pineapple, an elk burger and fig pizza alongside a bakers dozen of proprietary elixirs.

Complementing the hot June weather, Lemondrop-hopped summer wheat, Lawn Ticket, retained lemon peel, rind and pith bittering given lemon-wedged lime, grains of paradise and coriander spike.

Citrus-bound gluten-reduced New Zealand pilsner, No Worries, seeped candied lemon-grapefruit-orange tartness into pungent mineral graining, grassy hop musk and mild herbage.

Another crisp easygoer, Catalyst Blonde, spread sunny lemon zest across mild grassy hop astringency, picking up subtle grapefruit-peeled orange bittering.

Fruited wheat ale, Equilibrium Strawberry Blonde, brought sun-ripened strawberry tartness to lemony rhubarb twang in summery Strata hop haven.

Salted lime led dry Mexican lager, Dawna To Dusk, picking up agave, cactus and floral sideswipes in a gluten-reduced buckwheat setting.

Musty herbal fungi scoured citrus-brightened Belgian white, Nosey Ester, squeezing bittersweet lemon zest across white grapefruit, mandarin orange and Reisling wine pleasantries atop white wheated pilsner malt bed.

Dry East-West Coast-styled India Pale Ale, Coastal Fusion, a Citra-Mosaic-hopped moderation, stuck lightly embittered lemony grapefruit zing, zesty orange peel tang and salted pineapple swipe as well as grassy pine resin above sticky caramelized pale malting.

Bold old school West Coast IPA, Radical, sunk dank pine resin and slight herbal musk into grapefruit and orange rind bittering given peachy pineapple punch over dry pale malts.

Dryer double dry-hopped IPA, The Squeeze, retained waxy fruited pine lacquering as salted lemon, musky orange pith, tart guava and tannic white grape illusions gained mild herbage.

Lemony grapefruit bittering straddled light piney cannabis resin for juicy IPA, Inner Displacement, a Citra-Strata-Nectaron-hopped medium body with mellow orange-peeled guava, mango and yuzu tropicalia.

Pinkish plum-pureed No Rules Plum Sour brought dry salting to green grape esters, sour lemon candy and watermelon pith as well as floral-dried hibiscus.

Coffee-roasted dark chocolate nuttiness paraded thru creamy oatmeal stout, Coldhead, securing the roasted oats base.

Semi-rich chocolate stout, Cocoahead, started with a Double Dutch chocolate powdered cocoa nibs fury swerving into dark-roast hops before gaining confectionery Devil Dog, Black Forest cake and Nutella whims with its latent coffee caress.

FIRESTONE WALKER XXVI ANNIVERSARY ALE – BOTTLE

Beers A-Z,

Decadent 26th anniversary barrel aged stout combines vintage bourbon-brandy barrels with Parabola and Velvet Merkin stouts. Creamy milk chocolate syruping creates classic Black Cow soda fountain frontage for dry brandied bourbon wining, gaining sarsaparilla, oaken vanilla and hazelnut coffee illusions for its chocolate pudding skin midst. At the finish, bourbonized vanilla-chocolate scheme gathers toffee-butterscotch sweetness to contrast receding dark-roast hop char.

VICTORY VERY MERRY MONKEY SPICED HOLIDAY ALE

Beers A-Z,

Festive Christmastime-spiced Belgian-styled tripel (with hefty 9.5% ABV) knocks off “classic cookie” confection. Sharp ginger snap sweetened by rum-soaked cinnamon, nutmeg and coriander seasoning as well as candi-sugared fig, date and plum tones plus mild banana breading. Mild creamy vanilla frosting coats molasses-draped holiday spicing while earthen pine nut, minty fern and white pepper illusions further secure luxurious wintry treat (though its tripel influence seems negligible).

OMNIPOLLO BIANCA APRICOT ALMOND DEEP VANILLA LASSI GOSE

Beers A-Z,

Complex nutty fruited gose variant brings Jordan almond glaze to concentrated dried apricot adjunct. Lactic sugaring gains ‘deep’ vanilla marshmallow creaming and cotton candied confection to counter rock-salted coriander spicing and vinous cider wining, picking up rummy sun-dried raisin, sugarplum, desiccated prune and Beaujolais grape niceties as well as steadfast Fruity Pebbles cereal reminder. Gose gone crazy!