Yankee Brew News Archive

What's Brewing: Connecticut

Originally Published: 10/97

By: Gregg Glaser

The Connecticut craft beer scene must be growing up. We've got a closing, a Chapter 11, and trade name fights. All this plus new releases from existing micros and a flurry of start-ups.

Death of a Brewpub? -- Glastonbury's brewpub, Alewife Grille & Brewery, closed its doors last May 17 for "sixty or so days of renovations," but it doesn't look like they're going to re-open. Calls to the brewpub resulted in a message that the line had been disconnected, and calls to the owner were unanswered as of press deadline.

Financial Woes for a Micro -- The New Haven/Elm City Brewing Company (203-772-2739) of New Haven, a micro with an affiliated restaurant serving the brewery's beers, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and re-organization last summer when a financial company bought the brewery's loan from the brewery's bank. On purchase, the new loan holder told New Haven/Elm City to pay their note in full, thus the Chapter 11 filing. By the time this issue of YBN hits the stands, the brewery and restaurant should have new owners, an un-named (as of deadline) group of real estate investors from Fairfield County, Connecticut and Westchester County, New York. These same investors bought the building in which the brewery and restaurant are housed earlier last summer. All production for the brewery during this period was handled under contract at the North Country Brewery in Saratoga Springs, New York. This contract is expected to continue under the new owners, with draft production resuming in New Haven in the fall.

New Name for a Brewpub -- The previously-named Post Road Brewing Company of Waterford changed its name last July to Ledge Light Brewery & Restaurant (860-442-1200). Why the name change? It was already in use by another brewer, Post Road Brewing Company of Framingham, Massachusetts.

More Name Battles -- Essex Brewing (860-691-0408), a Niantic micro, launched its S. G. Hooker line of draft beers -- a porter, pale ale and blonde ale -- last March in southeast Connecticut. Essex's beers are now available throughout the state. Trout Brook Brewhouse (860-951-1680), a Hartford micro with an affiliated brewpub-type restaurant, began selling Thomas Hooker Ale last February. As of press deadline, Trout Brook had about 70 draft accounts in the Hartford area. Both breweries claim the Hooker name as their own, and cease-and-desist letters have begun flying between the two.

A New Connecticut Micro Sells Beer -- Cottrell Brewing (860-599-8213), a Pawcatuck micro, sold its first bottles and kegs of Old Yankee Ale late last June, mostly in New London County. The brewery doubled its capacity in August.

More Beer on Tap -- Bank Street Brewing (203-325-2739), a Stamford brewpub, terminated its licensing agreement with Maine's Shipyard Brewing Company under which Bank Street had been brewing two Shipyard beers at all times. These two taps have now been opened up for Bank Street's own beers.

New in Bottles -- Hammer & Nail Brewers (860-274-5911), a Watertown micro, added its second bottled beer, Vienna Lager, last summer, and plans to bottle its E.S.B. by the fall. A draft Scotch ale is on the schedule for December. Farmington River Brewing (860-242-3722), a Bloomfield micro, was just about ready to release 22-ounce bottles of its Blonde Ale and Mahogany Ale as of press deadline. Farmington River's brown ale will appear in bottles at a later date.

New Brewer -- The new head brewer at Norwalk's New England Brewing Company (203-866-1339) is Randy Czech, formerly of Denver's Broadway Brewing Company, brewers of Wynkoop and Flying Dog beers.

Pizza & Beer -- Naples Pizza (203-776-9021), a popular restaurant near the Yale campus in New Haven, has added a brewhouse to the facilities. In a 100-square-foot space where the bandstand used to be, the restaurant owners installed an 8-barrel brew kettle, two 8-barrel fermenters and eight 4-barrel conditioning tanks, all designed and fabricated by Micro Pub Systems International of Rochester, New York. Brewing industry veteran Carl Strauss, 85, of Milwaukee, and New England brewer Kurt Musselman serve as brewing consultants for Naples. The brewhouse produces extract-brewed beers in a process where the wort is brewed in Canada by the Canadian Malt Extract Company under the guidance of Strauss. The wort is reduced to 80 percent solids by a vacuum process and it is then shipped to New Haven. The Naples brewer (for the first six months this will be Mike Murphy of Micro Pub Systems) adds water and hops to the solid matter in the kettle and proceeds with normal brewing, fermenting and conditioning techniques. The first beers brewed at Naples will be a Pils-style lager and a raspberry wheat beer, due out the first week of October.

Start Ups -- Blue Sun Brewing (203-778-4654), a Danbury contract brewery start-up, scaled back its launch plans from bottles and draft to draft only. The brewery hopes to sell its first kegs in Connecticut in November, with bottles introduced six to eight months later, followed by an expansion into other states. Brewing will most likely be done by an upstate New York brewery.

Willimantic's Olde Wyndham Brewery (860-423-0444) was a victim of last summer's UPS strike. Brewery co-owner David Masopust reported that his 30-barrel brewhouse was installed, grains and hops were in stock, yeast was ready to pitch, bottling and kegging machines were standing by and distributors were lined-up, but several much needed pumps were in transit when the strike hit. "The place looks like a brewery," Masopust said, "but it doesn't smell right. I'm tempted to pour some beer on the floor."

The Hartford Brewery's (860-246-2337) second brewpub, the Nutmeg Brewery, hopes to be open by October. The Willimantic Brewing Company/Main Street Café (860-423-6777), installed its brewhouse last August and planned on Labor Day sales of their house beers. Danbury's Classic Rock Brewpub (203-792-4430) was awaiting BATF approval to begin brewing beer, as of press deadline. The message on the answering machine at Hartford's City Steam Brasserie & Brewery Cafe (860-525-1600), brewpub, tells callers to look for an autumn opening. Indian Neck Brewery (203-785-5393), a Branford brewpub, reported it was just about at the end of the money chase and ready to close a deal to raise enough money to open by mid-autumn.