Novel full-bodied peculiarity enhances creamy dark chocolate malt richness with spearmint-leafed herbal freshness. But its minty influence gets emphasized above meandering mocha mantra and dark-roasted barley flakes. Wavered black licorice, black coffee, dark cocoa, vanilla bean and raw molasses illusions get depleted by creme de menthe and peppermint pattie prods. Spruce-tipped fern and evergreen tea nuances further promote chocolate mint theme.
Smoothly crisp-watered dry Irish stout tosses smoky mocha malts and barley-roasted earthen peat at acrid hop char. Cocoa-powdered Baker’s chocolate, toffee, cacao nibs, day-old coffee, Irish coffee, black tea and burgundy nuances struggle to properly surface. Stylistically murky.
WATERBURY, CONNECTICUT
Established as a master wine sommelier, cultured Portuguese entrepreneur, Nelson Veiga, opened upscale bistro 1249 Winebar and its neighboring The Good Life Wine & Spirit shop in Waterbury during January 2012. Beguiled by the onslaught of craft beverages and authentic foods inducing health-conscious post-millenial savants, Veiga totally embraced the bourgeoning spirits and culinary revolution. Besides 1249 Winebar’s exquisite wine menu and locally sourced cuisine, the heavenly hotspot also serves many of Connecticut’s best microbrews on tap or in bottle.
Residing at the fifth largest industrial city in the Constitution State, this fabulous earth-toned gastropub (southwest of Hartford) features a tucked-in 8-seat main bar, elegant dining room (with slate-walled panel, leather-backed booths and wine racks), quaint second-floor Sky Bar martini lounge and black-trellised front patio.
On my initial post-noon February ’14 visit, my wife and I grab a booth near the pristine maroon-hued left wall to try a few previously untried ales alongside wonderful hand-prepared food. Cicerone-certified beer manager, Liz Pliska, comes by to offer her services while lounge Jazz plays in the background. Six upstairs taps and three downstairs taps provide fresh local suds to the growing crowd of families, friends and aged hipsters. Homemade pasta and burgers, bakery-fresh bread, a raw bar, Echo Farms veggies and artisanal desserts satiate a wide variety of good tastes.
We share the 1249 Frittata (eggs with mushrooms, peppers, onions and bacon) and Bita A Portuguesa (steak with poached egg, potatoes, prosciutto ham and wine-sauced burgundy reduction) while getting acquainted with a few hungry destination-bound out-of-towners.
On tap, Greenwich-based 1757 GW Beer (based on George Washington’s original pale ale recipe) brought light caramel toasting to honey-spiced grassy hops for a light-bodied opener. Afterwards, I settle into Narragansett Autocrat Coffee Milk Stout (which combines Natty’s bittersweet stout with Autocrat coffee). Its brusque barley-roasted hop char embitters lactose-sugared black chocolate and cappuccino coffee tones quite efficiently.
Before leaving, I stop next store at The Good Life to pick up more local brews for home consumption.
www.1249winebar.com
MANCHESTER, CONNECTICUT
Located at historic Hilliard Mills in the rustic eastern Hartford suburb of Manchester, TOP SHELF BREWING COMPANY opened its doors during August 2013 – right in the midst of Connecticut’s booming microbrew renaissance (and closed 2014). Distributing product all over the state from a 2,000 square foot warehouse, the three-barrel nanaobrewery has room for expansion.
Taking up the space Onyx moonshine distillery once occupied (and picking up the slack left by the closing of Tullycross Brewery), Top Shelf came into existence when three nearby UConn alumni (home brewer Mike Boney and fellow co-owners TJ Lavery and Joe Frost) gained inspiration from local New England and Back East breweries and decided “it was time to get involved” with brewing on a professional scale.
On my initial one-hour February ’14 Saturday afternoon exploit, the inconspicuous cement-floored tasting room featured samples of various limited edition ales and one winter seasonal as well as three flagship beers (bought for home consumption). Behind the tap room in a seperate space, the immaculate brewhouse puts out the well-rounded selection of generically-named American, Belgian and Irish styled ales.
I reach for Smoked Belgian Ale, an alternate to the regular Belgian, upon entering. Its lightly smoked peat malting, toasted caramel spicing and earthen musk pick up meager orange fruiting. But a lack of true Belgian yeast character hurts.
Three more limited edition brews hit my lips thereafter. Snowed In Imperial Stout brought chocolate-chipped molasses malting to caramel-burnt toffee-cocoa-coconut restraint, creme brulee sweetness and compost-wafted winter spicing.
Village Charm IPA gained floral-perfumed citrus prominence as lemony grapefruit rind and Chinook-hopped resin subtly embittered creamy crystal malts.
Interestingly experimental hybrid, You Be The Judge, an unclassified one-off (?) offered raw-honeyed cider souring to saison-like lemony orange tartness, vinous green grape esters, kiwi-mango-guava tropicalia, fig-dried acridity and sourdough wheat (retaining a crisp watered freshness).
My only problem was that Top Shelf’s Belgian- Style Ale surprisingly had a similar pungent yeast profile as their Irish Style Ale.
For the former, an astringent cider solvency seems to outdo the apple-soured green grape tartness and herbal-peppered guava-kiwi-pitaya tropicalia. As for the latter, a blatantly acrid cider souring overruns the peated molasses malting.
Bottled versions are listed in Beer Index.
Light-bodied Chet’s Pale Ale brought honeyed red-orange-yellow fruiting to floral spiced whims for familiar sessionable alacrity. Equally affable German-styled moderation, 6 Balls Alt, prodded dried fig and grapefruit with light peppered hop bittering and toasted caramel sugaring.
BRANFORD, CONNECTICUT
In the rustic shoreline village of Branford just down the road from the Long Island Sound, BALLOU’S RESTAURANT & WINE BAR opened May ’12. Set inside a tan colonial edifice with white trim, white columns and roomy front deck, this homey establishment is owned by married couple, Steve Kaye and Debbie Ballou, whose humble beginnings include being a busboy and waitress at IHOP. Across the street from boutique-styled Indian Neck Liquor Store, Ballou’s Branford location competes favorably with their initial award-winning Guilford establishment.
Upon entering, the cozy two-room brown-walled space features a 10-seat bar (with 16 tap handles and small TV), 15-table dining room, pristine walnut furnishings and several wine racks. Though specializing in desserts, coffee, cheeses, fondues, panninis and flatbread pizza, its assorted comfort foods go well with the fine hand-picked wine selection that serve as Ballou’s calling card.
Nevertheless, seasoned beer geeks will find ‘beer guy’ Jeremy Antunes’ craft draft offerings extremely appealing as well.
Visited January ’14 just hours after a heavy blizzard, Antunes tends bar and chats up a storm this snowy afternoon while introducing two new brews. The first, Thimble Island India Pale Ale, crafted a few streets away from this humble pub, brought lively stone-fruited spicing to sharp grapefruit-peeled orange rind bittering and finished with a juniper-hopped wood parch.
Another local offering from southbound Stratford, Two Roads Route Of All Evil Black Ale allowed wood-smoked chocolate seeding and charcoal-burnt hop bittering to anchor plastique apple-skinned grapefruit-mango-papaya tropicalia. (Full reviews in Beer Index)
Happily, the food was just as worthy as the beer and wine choices. Creamy lobster bisque, chipotle chicken pannini and Turkish goat-cheesed flatbread pizza (with dried fig, prosciutto and field greens) were wholly enjoyed.
Anyone with champagne taste on a beer budget or large expense account will appreciate Ballou’s spirited menu and close attention to detail.
On tap at Ballou’s, brusque hop-fruited medium-to-full body leaves crisply embittered impression on tongue. Bountiful grapefruit-peeled orange rind bittering picks up brisk juniper bite to sharpen its wood-parched citric finish. Peach, apple and pear undertones sweeten almond-sugared crystal malting.
MIDDLEBURY, CONNECTICUT
In the northernmost New Haven small town of Middlebury, PIES & PINTS rule the roost. Boasting the happy slogan “Something For Everyone,” this glorified pizza joint offers take-out food, gourmet pizzas, homemade flatbreads, seperate ice cream parlor, three distinct dining areas and great draft beer selections from near and wide.
Open 2011, Pies & Pints’ gold-hued white-trimmed exterior features a small canopied patio space while the interior gets broken into a tan-walled open-kitchen dine-in pizza station, rustic left side barroom and hearth-warmed back lounge. Leather and wood furnishings fill out its entirety while antique fans, copper-pressed ceiling tile and an olden piano provide elegant antiquity to the saloon (with three serving stations containing 20-plus beers).
Stain-glass windows, five private booths, four TV’s and nifty collectibles crowd the space as well.
On our initial perusal, my wife and I get situated at the long rectangular 12-stool mahogany bar for lunch on this brisk Saturday at noon in early February ’14. We share a delicious eggplant parmegan pizza while the couple down a few seats enjoy calzone, pasta and salad.
I quaff three hoppy delights and one local winter ale before heading north to four previously unexplored brewpubs that just opened for business within the past two years (Manchester’s Top Shelf; Bloomfield’s Back East; Bristol’s Firefly Hollow; East Windsor’s Broad Brook).
Dry-hopped Belgian pale ale, Ommegang Hop House, placed grapefruit-peeled orange rind bittering above candi-sugared sweetness and floral white peppering. New England Supernaut IPA brought woody dryness to sharply perfumed floral hop resin and tangy grapefruit-orange juicing.
Better still, Evil Twin Molotov Cocktail provided barleywine warmth to orange-bruised cognac sweetness and exotic tropicalia for a devilishly complex Imperial IPA.
Locally brewed Back East Winterfest Ale added raw-honeyed herbal spicing to wintry fig-dried pine nut, fern and spruce notions. (Full reviews at Beer Index.)
By St. Patrick’s Day ’14, Pies & Pints will open a brewpub in nearby Waterbury. It’ll serve six proprietary beers alongside thirty well-chosen outside tapped selections. So the future’s so bright…
On tap at 1249 Wine Bar, mainstream golden amber American pale ale from original 1757 presidential recipe stays thin. Light caramel toasting and soft-toned grassy hop astringency pick up neutral celery watering.
On tap at 1249 Wine Bar, limited edition 2014 medium body combines Natty’s bittersweet milk stout with Autocrat dark-roasted coffee. Brusque hop-charred coffee bittering cuts thru barley-roasted black chocolate easement. Espresso, cappuccino and latte undertones pick up lactic sugaring. Bottled version: creamily bittersweet coffee roast loses luster by arid mocha finish. Fudgy black chocolate, dark cocoa, vanilla, espresso, cappuccino and mocha latte illusions fade in the distance.
