On tap at Ambulance, homage to Brit singing legend, Scott Walker, features floral-bound yellow grapefruit tang and perfumed lemon spritz given light lactobacillus acidity a la mixed culture wild yeast. Below the polite citric-soured surface, mild white peach, mango and guava illusions pop up alongside dry earthen funk.
On tap at Ambulance (and named after a popular children’s picture book), dewy fig-spiced black lager malting provides fine initial impression for scaled-up German-styled schwarzbier. Bittersweet chocolate-seeded toffee spell quickly conquered by latent coffee-roasted burnt breading. Much neglected black lager category well served by this rangy moderate-medium body.
On tap at Poor Henry’s, “ultraclean” dry-hopped German-styled pilsner flanks light grain musk and brisk lemon-rotted pungency with Hallertau Blanc-hopped lemongrass herbage and white grape tannins. A slightly bitterer pils.
NORWICH, CONNECTICUT
Inside the large brick-walled expanse of an old printing press, EPICURE BREWING took hold June 8, 2017. Its high ceilings, cement floor, exposed pipes, metal-wood furnishings and old mill setting offer the perfect “lofty Industrial vibe” for brewers Ken Thiffeault and Jim Bojarski to craft their fine stylistically standard fare.
The 12-stool L-shaped bar features twelve-plus taps, a white Epicure banner and several mugs-growlers. Eight high-chair tables sit across the bar while several wooden pews and silver brew tanks don the rear. A vintage 1950 Sunbeam motorcycle hangs bear the front wall.
As I settle in on a cold December ’18 evening before dinner at neighboring These Guys, there are seven elixirs to consume.
Lovely light-bodied Kolsch, Cool Side Of Beautiful, stayed crisply clean as spritzy yellow fruit spicing, herbal hop astringency and straw-dried graining reached a pleasant pilsner-malted biscuit base.
Three rangy India Pale Ales hit the palate next. Briskly Citra-Mandarina-Eldorado-hopped Good Old Tom, a hazy New England-styled IPA, loaded juicy yellow grapefruit tanginess and navel orange peel sweetness alongside a slightly soured lemon zing, leaving mild wood tomes at the sunny citrus finish.
Stylishly bitterer, Damned Yankee IPA evenly spread grapefruit, orange, tangerine and lemon zest across piney hop resin and light herbal nuances.
Despite its lofty 8.5% ABV, easygoing Little Coat Double IPA will appease less heady pale ale fans with its playful lemony orange-grapefruit spritz, cereal-grained caramel malt roast and mild dry hop astringency.
Sweet ‘n sour raspberry puree draped silken brown chocolate malting for Raspberry Chocolate Porter, a dessert-bound dark ale finishing with a lemon-soured berry piquancy that crowds its mocha mightiness.
Dark chocolate bittering and soy-sauced earthen dewiness garnished semi-enigmatic Lightning Struck Twice Oatmeal Stout to its milk-sugared oats base.
Syrupy chocolate overwhelmed the toasted coconut adjunct of Zussamen Chocolate Coconut Stout, leaving subtle burgundy, espresso, marshmallow and dried fruit reminders.
epicurebrewing.com
NORWALK, CONNECTICUT
Right in the heart of downtown South Norwalk, IRON BREWING COMPANY opened in 2017 and soon became a well-attended local destination (before closing around 2019). Utilizing the slogan “better beer thru chemistry,” this red-bricked pub (formerly housing Guvnor’s Brewery) is run by three home brewing research chemists competing for recipes to fill its four sterling glass-encased copper tanks placed directly behind the serving station.
At its fifteen-seat copper-topped bar (with four sports-centric TV’s), seven tap handles serve homemade beers and cider.
Three community tables and fourteen dining tables sidle the bar while three back-spaced lounge sofas bring subtle sophistication. Industrial furnishings, Edison lights and exposed pipes fill out the medium-sized high-ceilinged venue. Burgers, wings and appetizers don the light menu.
My wife and I grab some hummus while imbibing four fine house offerings available this cold December ’18 afternoon.
Brisk MF Kolsch retained a spritzy lemony orange spicing delicately enjoined by grassy hop astringency and dry pale malt bliss.
Stylistically robust Hierro Miguel Vienna Lager brought toasted caramel spicing to frisky red-orange fruiting in a serene manner.
Approachable Washington Street IPA linked light grain-hopped musk to vegetal-tinged herbal hop restraint, recalling a lighter pale ale. Yet its orange-spiced grapefruit, pineapple and peach tang and mild wood tones (IPA trademarks) soon took over alongside teasing vanilla cream sugaring.
Sedate Nitro Winter Stout may’ve lacked seasonal Christmas spicing, but its soft-tongued cocoa powdering, dark chocolate rift, black coffee bittering and mild hop char sustain.
ironbrewing.com
NORWICH, CONNECTICUT
A few doors down from Epicure Brewing in the historic harbor town of Norwich, THESE GUYS BREWING COMPANY resides inside the space once occupied by an 1890’s-built Prohibition Era pub. Its bronze stamped tile ceiling, rustic wood columns and exposed pipes bring back the feel of yesteryear while brewer Becka Alberts (formerly a Willimantic Brewing apprentice) crafts easygoing fare to go alongside healthy portions of pub food. A few well-chosen outside brews such as Allagash Wit are also available.
Open since August 2015 (and moving to larger facility in Marina at America Wharf), These Guys 15-seat front bar (with corner TV) serves several four-seat tables and a quaint solarium-draped back dining room.
During my mid-December ’18 dinner excursion, imbibed five stylishly well-rounded brews (crafted at the hidden back tanks) to go alongside nachos, butternut squash and guacamole.
First up, approachable straw-hued moderation, Effed Up On Pils, brought peated corn whiskey snips to delicate yellow-orange fruiting, sweet oats-sugared pilsner malts and pithy Hallertau-hopped herbage.
Unfiltered American-styled wheat ale, Batch 100, stayed placid as mildly spiced citrus tones gained grassy hop astringency. light white wheat malting and wispy herbal notions.
Polite autumnal seasonal, Lil Narwitch Imperial Pumpkin Ale, pleated yam-spiced pumpkin roast into lemondrop-candied souring and caramelized pale malts.
Semi-sweet milk chocolate creaming eased into Kaiser Willie Oatmeal Stout, leaving ancillary dark-roasted coffee, cocoa nibs and espresso illusions to saddle toffee-spiced rye malts.
Before heading out, stylishly mild Timeout Corner Barleywine (a bashful 10% ABV collaboration with nearby Outer Light Brewing) placed tingly toffee-spiced sweetness alongside caramelized almond-buttered baked apple sedation.
theseguysbrewing.com
Seemingly unvaried takeoff of brewers’ Illuminati (bottle conditioned at Jolly Pumpkin) tosses wild yeast bacteria into bourbon-aged stout, creating sour-fruited raw molasses template over leathery cocoa musk. Dry whiskey waft consumes the nose as oaken cherry-vanilla tartness nearly conceals tannic red wine vinegaring and dry bourbon-burgundy whir while curdled soy milking gains lactic mocha edge.
On tap at Ambulance, subtle dry bourbon aging creeps into light-roast coffee bean thicket. Serene bourbon coffee continuance enjoined by milk chocolate sweetness, mild espresso trinket and slight vanilla wisp. Benaeth, brown-sugared oats sweeten against ashen hop char.
Tart strawberry, raspberry and blueberry adjuncts leave mildly sour mouth pucker alongside bittersweet cacao-nibbed vanilla bean influence. Subtle Blackstrap molasses tinkle sharpens sour-candied berry tartness.
On tap at Stone & Rail, outstanding Jameson whiskey-barreled Irish Stout layers luscious vanilla and coffee beaning with bittersweet dark chocolate syruping. Tertiary toasted coconut, marshmallow and hazelnut illusions slip behind luxurious mocha-bound bourbon vanilla richness. An Irish coffee alternative.
On tap at Curley’s, richly creamed bourbon-aged chocolate spiciness stays rambunctious above cedar-burnt hop char. Sturdy vanilla-beaned coffee influence and chewy raw molasses gunk deepen mocha resonance. Latent walnut sear contrasts sweet burgundy wisp beneath the bold bourbon chocolate dessert surface.
On tap at Ambulance, dry brown-malted ground coffee nuttiness and wood-burnt hop char regale Irish Stout-like tendencies. Underlying scorched earth soiling seeps inside ancillary black chocolate, espresso and cocoa tones to its barley-flaked mocha bottom.
