Never had Meade before and I'm kicking myself now. I'm not a fan of "hoppy" drinks, BUT the hoppy…read moreMeade I will drink and actually got me to venture down other "hoppy" lanes, like beer. Especially for someone who likes cider and wine, the Meade has a nice, refreshing flavor. The different flavor nodes of the honey make it sweeter and not bitter (personal preference). Awesome sit in areas with TONS of games for socialization with friends. In this order are my favorites!! Wally, Whip, Lemon, Bouchot, Ginga, Cherry, Hoppy, Pecan

Bergen House is a craft meadery that opened in Middletown, Connecticut in September 2020. It was…read morefounded by army veteran Talon Bergen. He first began experimenting with homebrewing when his brother-in-law gifted him a Mr. Beer kit. The first batch of Bergen's homebrew was awful, but the kit came with an interesting book that he read over and over again. He soon became fascinated with the science behind brewing and fermentation. Later on, a friend gifted him a bottle of homemade mead. Bergen's wife Emilie liked it much more than any beer she ever tried, so he decided to try his hand at crafting mead. Mead is a fermented beverage made from a mixture of honey, water and yeast. It is the oldest fermented beverage known to man (predating beer, wine and cider). Like his first batch of beer, Bergen's first batch of mead was also awful. After several months, Bergen finally began making mead that was drinkable. The Bergens later had an idea to open their own brewery. After seeing how many breweries that Connecticut already had, they instead decided to open a meadery. The Bergens found a space in Middletown's old trolley barn building to house their meadery and taproom. Although not the state's only meadery, Bergen House is the only one to have its own taproom for on-site consumption. I recently visited Bergen House for the first time after going for a long bike ride on the nearby Air Line State Park Trail. I was greeted by Emilie Bergen who was very friendly and talked to me about the different meads. There were eight different meads on tap during my visit. Each one has different spices and fruits added for flavoring. I ordered a sampler flight which featured "Crime Scene" (Rye Bourbon Barrel-Aged Sweet & Sour Cherry Mead), "Local Buzz" (Dry Mead made with local honey from Hilltop Apiaries), "Wally" (Off-Dry Mead made with wildflower honey, green tea and Citra hops), and "Grapefruit Meads Business" (Wildflower Mead flavored with rosemary, grapefruit & ginger). The latter two were my favorites! Emilie also gave me a small sample of "Bochet": a traditional French Mead made with wildflower honey caramelized before fermentation. I ended up taking home a growlito of "Wally", which tasted a lot like a honey-infused New England IPA. I had a great experience at Bergen House and I look forward to returning!

"Concentric circles Wider and wider…read moreFrom the stones that you threw" (Fatboy Slim) Located pretty much under the Arrigoni Bridge connecting Portland to Middletown lies the Concentric Brewing Company. When you walk in, you'll notice two big attention grabbers -a big circular bar in front of you and big silver brewing tanks to your right. The tanks are key, because all of their beers are made right here at the brewery. Fourteen of them were on tap, with representatives from the IPA, Stout, Fruit Sour, Pilsner, Irish Red, Witbier, Brown Ale, Saison, and Stout branches of beer's family tree. The non-beer drinkers won't go home thirsty, because Concentric offers them cocktails, wine and ciders on the menu. A professional organization I belong to met there last night for beers, food, and a charity collection. I enjoyed a pint of their Portland Lite Pilsner (5.1% ABV) - it was refreshing and quite tasty. Concentric has a pretty nice bargain on four-beer flights for just $12. Our group bought quite a few of them and I also enjoyed a short pour of their Forever Red Irish Ale (5% ABV) and Quarry Brown American Ale (6.2% ABV). I enjoyed both and as a non-IPA guy, I was struck by how many non-IPA's they had. Now we all know that a good beer goes best with some good food, right? Well, we had big serving trays of Chicken skewers, French fries and excellent Firecracker Braised Pork and Beef Meatballs, cooked with Concentric Beer and a Smoked Ancho Glaze. The chicken was served over an incredible bed of spicy cabbage chunks that a friend described as "vegetable crack". That serving tray should have been classified as a controlled substance! It was cold last night, so we didn't have the chance to wander around outside and take advantage of the outdoor beer garden and lawn areas. The staff was excellent, especially the young ladies who chose a non-IPA flight for me! Well, done, Concentric.

I went for New Years Eve for about an hour because they closed early :(. I really enjoyed the…read moreflight, specifically the Donut stout or porter was well made, and actually tasted like a DONUT. I couldn't believe it! Definitely good vibes! I will be back to play games, there are plenty to choose from!

Cool venue overall. 3.5 rounded up for having some local 3rd party drink options, a large clean…read morespace, food truck and a bunch of fun vendors with booths setup while we were there (though I believe it was the last day for that). It's not very local nor particularly convenient to any of my normal routes, but it was a nice stop on the way home recently. They're in the back section of a multi-tenant complex, sharing part of a steel / metal siding "Butler" building with a few others such as a cross-fit place. Decent enough parking, huge indoor space with games, some TV's, a large bar and very nice, newly built restrooms. The beer overall was pretty good. All seemed clean, refreshing, and of sufficient quality, but none of the ones I tried were enticing enough for me to consider any to go. The sour was probably my favorite overall. The water station needs work. It doesn't work all that well / kind of slow, and it's frustrating to find yet another business won't serve water (even when not busy, and apparently even if you're seated at the bar. I get it, that costs time and thus money, but it seems odd to expect people seated at the bar to get up and walk away for a water. If there wasn't any bar seating, it would make more sense to me. (Couple places in Manchester follow the same trend, but neither of those has bar seating.)

Rule of 3 offers several beer options and all done well. The owners set up a very inviting…read moreatmosphere with large TVs and games to play. You can sit with friends play cards or pick a day board for a couple rounds. Plenty of seating available. Service is friendly and knowledgeable on the beer selection. They have cool merch with their cool logo. Enjoy!

Still Hill Brewery is located amongst some industrial offices. It looks unassuming from the…read moreoutside, just like the rest of the business in the area. But inside you'll be greeted with the most pleasant bartender and a nice variety of beers. Still Hill is a smaller brewery. It's got a variety of seating available inside as well as a few outside. When I went there was a band playing some 60s music. They were very good! Some people were dancing. I had the Fruitatious Sourpuss Blood Orange Pomegranate. This was refreshing and tart, a good sour. My friend had the HoneyCrisp cider, this one is very light and crisp, I didn't try this one, but the name and very light nature of this one, seem like that's the perfect name for it. They have a variety of games to play, we played Uno cards while the band played and we drank our beers. They don't offer any food at Still Hill, but you are welcome to bring your own.

In the middle of an industrial park so it feels like you are driving into an uninhabited place if…read moreyou are going at night! Small brewery, was kind of nicely quaint and lo-fi on a weekend night, a good place to be able to talk with friends and have beers without too much noise. I had a beer flight to try several beers and the beer was better than most local small breweries I have tried.

Friendly staff, excellent brews, and pizza and pretzels made in a brick oven that are amazing…read more Great flavor combinations. They work very well with the local community and host the local community foundation's Giving Brewsday every year on Giving Tuesday right after Thanksgiving.

5 Churches is a brewery in the downtown New Britain area. It's located in an industrial looking…read morebrick building, but when you climb the stairs to the main tap room, you'll see high ceilings and lots of cool wood. A gorgeous space. 5 Churches also has a pizza oven, although I haven't tried their food. When I visited, I ordered a 4 beer flight with an American style IPA, an Imperial IPA, a Das Froot Blueberry Pancake Sour, and a Mashacre Imperial Stout. The Blieberry Pancake as a sour was well executed and tasty. Great color, density and mouthfeel too. The other beers were accurately described and pretty good. Would definitely return to check out more beer. 4 Stars

The place is clean, the owners are AMAZING!!! The beer selection is well rounded, so everyone will…read morefind something they like. The outdoor patio overlooks Main Street. It's such a good vibe, very relaxing yet trendy and oh so cool. The food trucks are also great! I highly recommend this place!!! Super glad they are here!

Coles Road Brewing is based in Berlin. I have been there each of the last 3 Novembers for a…read moreWingsgiving my friend plans. The space is perfect for small, medium or large get togethers. I know they are very flexible with my friend. The beer is good. They make a mix of things. Recently, I had an IPA and a slightly spicy Mexican lager. I wouldn't put their beer in the top tier, but it's good. They also sometimes have food trucks. 4 Stars

This was one of my first stops with the 2025 CT Beer passport and I am so glad for the…read moreintroduction! Great venue on a back road where there is plenty of open space. They had a food truck with delicious food, music and great beer. Plus the owners were on site serving and greeting customers. They were very personable taking time to talk and share their experience with their dream project. I am looking forward to returning to this brewery for the beer and the enjoyment of a day in the country.

Great place to meet up with coworkers and for Happy Hour. It's a smaller brewery and great location…read morein Glastonbury. They have nice grounds to chill and also they have a food truck so you can grab a bite to eat. its a cute place that has a good amount of beers to chose from. They make the beer on the premises They change the flavors of the ales seasonally. We had a flight to try 4 different flavors. I tried the blueberry cider beer and pumpkin which I preferred the blueberry. You should give it a try and check out the location.

Great dog friendly brewery attached to a coffee shop, what more could you want?! The beer goes…read moregreat with the rotating food trucks. Plenty of seating with a water fill up station for the pups There are TVs and board games to play as well, local merch and snacks to purchase

This is a brewery in the middle of an industrial park with HORRIBLE ROADS. PLEASE REPAVE THEM. The…read morebeer is great though and very affordable! I ended up getting a coffee beer and it was smooth! This was during the time the Yankees were still in the running to potentially head to the World Series, so we sat right by the tvs and they even put on the yankees game for us, even though they weren't a fan! Ambiance is chill, they close early on Sundays though! I will be back! Very chill vibe.