BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT
Grabbing local headlines as the first brewery in Bridgeport since 1940, ASPETUCK BREW LABS take a scientific journey thru zymurgy. Just a few minutes off Route 95 in the southwestern Black Rock district, the spotless white-roomed ‘lab’ creates some distinct beverages.
Borrowing its Aspetuck moniker from ‘a river originating at the high place,’ the 2017-established pub resides inside a gray-bricked warehouse.
Upon entering the orange door, its plastic-furnished setting featured a ten-stool serving table with eight taps and plain pendant lighting. An acrylic black-lettered brewery insignia stationed atop the draught handles adds tasteful simplicity.
Brew tanks in the rear served seven well-designed and delightfully quaffable brews this Sunday afternoon in April ’18.
Smoothly sessionable lightweight, Pt. 78 Blonde Ale, draped mild lemony orange spicing over minor wood tones and bready pilsner malts.
Gentle Belgian-styled farmhouse ale, Gray Matter Grisette, laced mildly spiced lemon-seeded juniper bittering with herbal black-peppered rosemary, thyme and jasmine whims above dry wheat backbone.
Yellow grapefruit pith, rind and peel dominated 06605 Pale Ale, a salty-bottomed moderation with lightly spiced mandarin orange, tangelo and tangerine tanginess.
Indelibly mainstream Cosmic Siesta IPA let grassy-hopped tropical fruiting graze lightly pine-sapped Mosaic lupulin powder with a breezy sway as candied orange, pineapple, peach and mango tanginess usurps tart lemon notions.
Just as easygoing, lupulin-powdered Turbidity Lucidity IPA (double dry-hopped) seeped honeyed fruits into syrupy sugared malts as tropical pineapple-grapefruit-orange briskness and fig-dried licks contrasted grassy hop astringency.
Arguably Aspetuck’s finest: halfway aggressive Empirical Evidence Imperial IPA doused juicy lemony orange spicing with perfumed dry hops over buttered biscuit malting in a splendid manner.
For dessert, cautiously rich Chocolate Stout brought dry cocoa-powdered dark chocolate malting to cedar-burnt coffee roasting, picking up toffee sweetness at the finish for contrast.
www.aspetuckbrewlab.com