Undead Party Crasher Stout given subtle mandarin orange twist outpaced by caramel coffee goodness. Java sway gains light vanilla influence as well as walnut, pecan and honey nut smidge nudging tarry-hopped peaty compost bottom.
All posts by John Fortunato
FOX FARM BREWERY
SALEM, CONNECTICUT
Open 2018 in the remote rural bedroom community of Salem, Connecticut, FOX FARM BREWERY incorporates two distinct refurbished farmhouses with plenty of outside seating along the agrarian homestead.
The expansive grain-siloed maroon and white complex (shown above) houses the pristinely open-aired natural wide plank pine-walled pub. Its majestic gable ceiling and dazzling wood interior are reminiscent of a town church. A wood top serving station features twelve tap handles while a few tables, counters and Edison lights fill out the raw space. The large rear area contains many standard stainless silver brew tanks. A slate side deck adds further seating.
Going around back, the separate white-columned farmhouse with beautiful earth-toned stone frontage stores the sour and spontaneous ale tanks.
My wife and I grab a table at the pub’s mezzanine, November ’21, to down a few pints on a brisk Sunday.
Many Fox Farms brews have a rustic, reserved feel and various European styles are respectfully well crafted.
Musky raw-grained Saaz hop herbage, celery-watered lemon oiling and delicate floral spicing refined German-style pilsner, Gather, a stylistically robust Bavarian Kellerbier.
Spritzy sour lemon herbage, orange-dried champagne esters and mild white peppered floral spicing paced dry kolsch, Bower, softly rising above its doughy bread crusting.
Tidy pale ale, Amble, let piney lemongrass-herbed Columbus hop musk seep inside perky grapefruit-orange spicing.
Sedate blonde ale, Little Brook, allowed sunshiny yellow grapefruit, mandarin orange, peach and tangelo tanginess reach its grassy hop stead as mild pine resin and slight herbage stay distant.
Straightforward easygoing India Pale Ale, Burst, maintained a crisply clean citrus spritz as tangy orange, tartly sour lemon and zesty grapefruit laced mildly bitter pine hops.
Mild unfiltered IPA, Tideline, took mellow grapefruit rind bittering and subtle mandarin orange, pineapple and mango tanginess to juniper-licked grassy hops.
Another soothingly soft-toned IPA, Alta, brought floral-spiced yellow grapefruit, orange rind, pineapple, peach and tangerine tanginess plus spritzy lemon zesting to piney hop resin above spelt-like wet graining.
Brisk orange-peeled grapefruit zesting fronted bold Imperial IPA, Burrow, pushing lemon-candied peach, pineapple and tangelo tartness forward alongside mild piney hop bittering topping crystal malt sugaring. Arguably Fox Farm’s best elixir.
Perfectly re-creating a German rauchbier, The Camp Smoked Lager let beechwood-seared peat malts pick up meat-cured salami, pastrami and bacon fat above dried cocoa malts, leaving stylish soap-stoned Band-aid-like astringency upon the smoky finish.
Dry waddle-seeded pumpernickel rye breading soaks up lightly embittered dark cocoa and black chocolate malting above dewy peat earthiness for English-styled Dark Mild, Tiddly, a frothily creamed nitrogenated charmer.
For a true turnabout, exquisitely vinous Foeder-aged Biere De Garde, punctuated its mildly puckered white wine tannins and lemon-lime-squeezed green apple cider souring with leathery barnyard acridity, leaving earthy sawgrass, heart of palm, alfalfa and horseblanket whims on the funky farmhouse ale’s tail end.
BEER’D BREWING COMPANY (THE SILO) – GROTON
GROTON, CONNECTICUT
Following the success of its Stonington pub at American Velvet Mill, BEER’D BREWING COMPANY opened “The Silo” in nearby Groton’s Airport Business Park during January, 2020. Inside a gray aluminum cement-floored warehouse with large beige silo and casual front deck, the pristine black-walled Industrial art deco pub features a slate top, 12-seat, slate top bar containing 24 tap handles and black pendant lighting.
There are several tables and chairs fronting the bar and a few cool canvassed mod art designs hanging sparsely along the walls. The distinct Beer’d insignia sits across from the bar.
Producing 6,000 gallons of beer yearly at Groton’s 12,000 square-foot operation will increase production threefold for convivial entrepreneurial partners, Aaren Simoncini and Precious Putnam.
My wife and I stumbled upon four previously untried beers on my initial November ’21 stopover.
Stylishly offbeat, quirkily fruited, Huell Melon/ Mandarina Bavaria-hopped pilsner, Connecticut Casual, plied salty grapefruit-pineapple bittering to lemony sour-candied Gummy Bear tartness above its straw-dried bohemian pilsner malt floor.
Dry Imperial IPA, Riff, let floral grapefruit-peeled orange pith bittering and lacquered pineapple-passionfruit-mango tropicalia pick up musky herbal pining and slight grassy hop astringency above glass-candied crystal malting.
Cold-brewed coffee infiltrated P^2 (with Coffee), a full-bodied java-based cold one with cocoa-smoked roasted chocolate grazing tobacco-chawed bittering.
Nutty roasted espresso beaning led Russian Imperial Stout, Roulette, a rich nightcap with dark cocoa and black coffee riffs settling above tarry hop-charred oats.
BANK & BRIDGE BREWING
MYSTIC, CONNECTICUT
Right next door to Mystic Pizza in a beautifully prominent beige marble-columned gothic edifice, BANK & BRIDGE BREWING began operations July ’21. Downtown Mystic’s second brewpub (after Barley Head), this ‘laidback production brewery and taproom’ also offers fine culinary cuisine.
Bank & Bridge’s pristine white-walled interior features several skinny beige-marbled community tables with plastic stools fronting the exquisite 14-seat slate-topped bar. Antique lights add to the vintage feel.
The cement-floored brew tank area is off to the right, a semi-private couched lounge area is situated near the front windows and wall-hung caricatures of Bob Marley and Amy Winehouse are to the left.
The fab pub food menu offers fried chicken, rib eye and cod sandwiches plus burgers and appetizers. Guest taps and red-white wines are available and a game room keeps kids busy.
My wife and I visit on a crowded Saturday afternoon to try all four available home-crafted brews plus Vermont’s Snow Republic Chocolate Twix Highway Milk Stout (reviewed separately in Beer Index).
Crushable light pilsner, The Joker, maintained a musky herbal grained rusticity, lemon-dropped tartness and dry cracked corn malting, staying true to style.
Fluffy cumulous-headed amber yellowed Mystic IPA, a New England-styled medium body, coalesced Citra-hopped grapefruit-orange zesting, Galaxy-hopped piney floral herbage and Nelson Sauvin-hopped pineapple, guava and gooseberry tropicalia above a delicate oated wheat base.
Brisk floral-spiced citrus zesting, hard-candied raspberry tartness and mild coconut watering emerged for Shock-Hop-alypse, a tidy NEIPA with minor pine resin.
Sharp redcurrant-juiced citrus tanginess emboldened Imperial IPA, Celestial Navigation, letting orange-peeled grapefruit, tangerine and clementine receive juniper-licked pine tones.
MIKKELLER GAME OF THRONES CASTLE BLACK IMPERIAL STOUT
On tap at Ambulance, fudgy brown chocolate sugaring and bittersweet vanilla beaning serenade ambitious bourbon-barrel aged stout. At the midst, doughy chocolate cookie richness picks up spiced toffee splotch, black cherry perk and sweet burgundy warmth.
KENT FALLS MULTIVERSE (AGED IN RED WINE BARRELS)
On tap at Jealous Monk, mellow red wine tannins sweeten chocolate-roasted dark cocoa splurge above mild flaked oats base as subtle red cherry, dry burgundy and plum illusions scurry thru light hop char.
SNOW REPUBLIC CHOCOLATE TWIX HIGHWAY STOUT
Twix candy bar knockoff lets lactic malted milk powdering serenade salted caramel shortbread richness and liquid cocoa contrasting peppery wood-burnt coffee roast. Tertiary dark chocolate, toffee and cola nut illusions surface latently for confectionery dessert.
OTHER DESI HIGH CHAI STOUT
On tap at Jealous Monk, intensely designed chai tea-spiced mocha deliverance picks up dewy peat mossing and waddle seeded cocoa crisping. Ascending chocolate vanilla sweetness seeps into Indian shortbread-floured cinnamon, cardamom and ginger spicing, picking up lavender-minted black peppercorn herbage and sassafras smidge. A unique offbeat stout.
902 I BOMB AUTOMATICALLY IMPERIAL STOUT
On tap at Beef Trust, resilient dark chocolate syruping drapes subtle oats-flaked pilsner malting. At the midst, bruised cherry tartness spreads across smoked mocha glaze to promote latent Black Forest caking.
BRIX CITY PEANUT BUTTER AUTHORITY
On tap at Taphouse Grille – Wayne, freshly roasted peanut butter creaming clings to coffee-stained dark chocolate malting above its honeyed wheat spine. Abounding peanut-oiled mocha finish retains robustness.
PETRUS CHERRY CHOCOLATE QUAD (NITRO)
On tap at Beef Trust, lovely confectionery dessert stout reinforces sweet cherry-covered dark chocolate candy richness with soft nitrogenated creaming. Quad-like candi-sugared dried fruiting brings tertiary rum raisin, red grape, plum and grenadine illusions to mocha bound bluster. Mild coffee, cocoa, amaretto and vanilla riffs sway the backend.
902 DINER STYLE MILKSHAKE IPA WITH LACTOSE AND VANILLA
Vodka-cleansed grapefruit, mandarin orange and white peach tang stays mild alongside ticklish lemon spritz over lactic Madagascar vanilla-beaned oated wheat base. No distinct milkshake thrust despite lactic setting.
