WESTFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS
Down an alley path from Westfield’s gigantic beer-centric Super Phipps Liquors lies the rustic professional gray-blue building housing TIN BRIDGE BREWING COMPANY. Opened November 2017 and operated by homebrewing Westfield-bred brothers, Joe and Nick Cocchi, the inconspicuous pub crafts a diverse range of sassy suds such as the creative fruit ales and specialty stouts on hand for my Saturday noon time March ’25 Saturday trip. The expansive recipes are more hit than miss and usually somewhat opulent flavor-wise.
Tin Bridge’s tucked-away, concrete-floored tavern features a tan concrete-topped, 20-seat bar with 12-plus draught handles and slat wood paneled back wall. There are four hardwood community benches across the bar plus several TV’s, arcade games and a shuffleboard table providing a sporty atmosphere. Tin-covered lamps, exposed pipes and electrical wiring hang from the black aluminum ceiling.
Murky dry-bodied lager, Towny, let desiccated lemon, mild floral herbage and slight vegetal whim reach dank raw-grained maize astringency.
A dryer hefeweizen, Stairway To Hefen placed lemony herbal musk above stylish banana-clove sweetness while its cracked wheat spine laid barren.
Mellow hazy New England-styled Session IPA utilized 100% Galaxy hops to let brisk citrus-spiced passionfruit tropicalia to spread above mildly creamed oats base. A the finish, delicate yellow grapefruit and orange rind bittering bubbles up.
Another Galaxy-hopped moderation, spritzy mauve-hazed NEIPA, Blood Orange, regaled sweet orange-peeled tangerine tang and light herbage over dry pale malts.
Hazy fruited pale ale, Peach Jalapeno, soaked peach pureed tartness in mild roasted jalapeno heat, picking up sweet green peppering.
Another ‘fruited tart’ ale, Imperial Peach Cobbler, sprinkled rummy brown-sugared cinnamon atop marshmallow-fluffed peach pureed pie crusting.
Yet another hazy ale, Pineapple Cinnamon Cheesecake, a confectionery liquid dessert, stuffed pineapple pureed cheesecake with sweet cinnamon spicing and lightly perfumed vanilla bean musk.
Tangy raspberry puree gained sour-candied jellybean tartness and lemon verbena herbage for Raspberries n’ Cream, a marshmallow-fluffed, vanilla-beaned fruited sour.
Heady (8.5% ABV) Imperial Stout, Toasted Coconut, draped toasted coconut shavings with bourbon vanilla sweetness.
Just as intoxicating, confectionery pastry stout, Cookies ‘n Cream, invited fudgy Oreo cookie creaming to bittersweet vanilla beaning and unexpected black cherry swipe.