In the can, creamily smooth cask conditioning serenades sweet molasses maple-dipped nuttiness and mild cocoa powdering plus tart raisin, cherry and purple grape notions to dry dark chocolate malting in pleasantly understated fashion.
All posts by John Fortunato
WITCHDOCTOR BREWING COMPANY
SOUTHINGTON, CONNECTICUT
During Italian Festival in the southern Hartford County town of Southington, my wife and I visited WITCHDOCTOR BREWING COMPANY early Saturday evening, July ’24. We grabbed seats at the lacquered wood bar to enjoy nine stylistically diverse concoctions while a band at the outdoor stage played Italian love songs for the minions out on the streets and sidewalks of the friendly fest.
Taking up a part of a mammoth red brick warehouse, Witchdoctor’s old plank wood floors and ceiling, low-lying exposed pipes, large-bulbed Edison lights and metal chairs provided a proper Industrial feel.
There were 20-plus draught handles and sidling TV’s at the bar and a small stage to the side while a billiards table adds elegance.
Soft-toned bohemian pilsner, Mustache Queen, brought fizzy lemon seltzer to musty mineral graining and slight vegetal herbage.
Sweet corn-sugared lemon spritzing picked up mild spicing for Mic Czech Pilsner, inviting floral herbal mustiness.
Easygoing dry-hopped golden ale, Love Is Blonde, let sugary lemon spicing and spry redcurrant-gooseberry tartness reach crystal pilsner malting.
Enchanting Monk’s Hood Saison spread Chardonnay buttering across lemon meringue, orange marmalade and floral rosebud daubs above salty barnyard graining.
Brisk dry-hopped NEIPA, Space Sheep, merged sharp grapefruit-peeled orange rind bittering with sweetly soured guava-gooseberry swipes in lacquered pine surroundings.
Puckered lemon souring exceeded vanilla-creamed orange tang of Dreamsicle Orange Creamsicle Sour, spreading moderate lime rind acidity on the backend.
Slightly divergent oatmeal amber ale, Paupers Porridge, coalesced maple molasses sugaring with glazed hazelnut, roasted chestnut and dried cocoa subtleties plus a sweet cigar ash remnant.
Luscious chocolate coconut stout, Kick In The Coconuts, draped bourbon-spiced brown chocolate syrup over toasted coconut sweetness, picking up lovely creme brulee, coconut caramel butter cake and marzipan illusions.
Creamy oatmeal stout, Oat To Joy, led dark chocolate bittering thru sweet maple oats, subtle hazelnut-walnut snips and crisp tobacco roast.
NEWSYLUM BREWING
NEWTOWN, CONNECTICUT
Amidst the ruins of a multi-acre insane asylum, Connecticut’s historic Fairfield Hills Mental Hospital has housed NEWSYLUM BREWING since March 2020. In a rustic 9,000 square-foot red brick building formerly used as a dining hall, Newsylum’s exquisite high-ceilinged pub and its stone-grounded black metal-furnished pavilion make a strong impression.
Newtown’s second brewpub (Reverie Brewing opened in 2019), is guided by head brewer John Watson, a highly experienced ex-homebrewer crafting a colorful array of beers emulating from the sterling silver barback brewtanks. Wood-fired pizzas, charcuterie boards, hot dogs and pretzels head the light pub menu. Local wines are also available.
The cavernous vaulted ceiling, stark Gothic windows, stately wood columns, antique door frames and white marble-topped bar (with pipe-handled draughts and gray metal chairs) provide a Classic Cathedral architectural vibe.
My wife and I stopped by at noon on a Sunday in July ’24 to down eight fine elixirs – three of which were nifty India Pale Ales.
Flagship New England IPA, Counting The Days, merged dry-hopped Citra/Mosaic/Columbus varietals as juicy orange-peeled grapefruit and pineapple tang joined floral-spiced pine lacquering atop crystal malt sugaring.
Brisk Citra-hopped Imperial IPA, Beautiful Consequences, stayed silken as gentle orange-peeled grapefruit bittering and salty guava-gooseberry souring picked up creamy vanilla-daubed oats sugaring.
Dry-hopped Vic Secret tropicalia embraced West Coast IPA, Coping Mechanism, plying lemony grapefruit-peeled orange, pineapple and tangerine tanginess to resinous pine needling and musky pale malts.
Dry aluminum yellowed pale ale, Therapy Session, put floral perfumed lemon zest across woody hop resin.
Sour blackberry seltzer fizz pepped up fruited Berliner Weiss, Boom-Bang!, a salty acidulated wheat-backed summertime quencher.
Stylishly bolder, Keating Farms Kolsch bolstered its lemon-dried spicing with lemongrass herbage and sparkling champagne spritz atop pilsner malt crisping.
Candi sugared Belgian yeast draped sweet banana pie, tart orange marmalade and pineapple cake illusions for Paging Dr. Strong, a bold tripel.
Lactose milk stout, Cattle Call, let milk-sugared coffee and oats-flaked burnt caramel lead the way with a molasses hint.
SOUL BREWING COMPANY
PLEASANTVILLE, NEW YORK
Inside a window-fronted cornershop in the Westchester village of Pleasantville, SOUL BREWING COMPANY opened March 2020. Founding brewmaster, Allen Wallace, traveled to Belgium and Germany, getting so inspired by small town Euro breweries he started his own local brewpub downtown near the train station.
Wallace’s admiration for soul music gets intertwined with his love of beer and the back wall pix salute the famous Wattstax R&B concert and Otis Redding. The light Industrial cement-floored pub features a bronze-topped bar (with nine tap handles and large bronzed menu) plus ten metal-tabled two-seaters. The mezzanine area stores the stainless steel brew tanks.
My wife and I hit Soul Brewing on the way back from Connecticut to down proprietary nine suds, mid-July ’24.
Upfront glutenous sourdough yeast guarded the banana-clove-sugared Freya Weizen, relegating its fizzy lemon spritz.
Lemon curd tartness seeped into white peppered herbage and for Summer Soulstice Saison, a silken Belgian styled farmhouse ale.
Polite orange-tangerine tanginess emerged with barnyard-dried herbal musk for sweet breaded moderation, Pollinator Maibock.
Dry cucumbered watermelon rind and briny lime combined for lightly coriander-salted Watermelon-Lime Pop Gose, picking up vinous green grape esters at the tartly puckered finish.
Zesty orange-peeled grapefruit bittering, peachy melon sweetness and salty pineapple-guava tropicalia lifted Rise Above Double IPA, contrasting subsidiary floral herbage with resinous pine atop light oated creaming.
Sunshiny El Tropical NEIPA stayed brightly brisk as yellow grapefruit-peeled pineapple tanginess gleamed alongside evergreen pine.
Dried orange musk, dewy moss and dark floral whims surfaced for Sly West Coast IPA.
Candi-syruped plum spicing gathered alongside chocolate-covered raisin, black cherry puree and sugared date illusions to lightly sweeten Monk’s Dream Dubbel, leaving molasses cookie remnants.
Fudgy chocolate, milk-sugared coffee and creamy vanilla merged for 2-Tone Milk Porter, regaling mild toffee and dark cocoa whims.
HOP & VINE TAPROOM
STAMFORD, CONNECTICUT
Just past the center of town in Stamford, HOP & VINE TAPROOM began its journey in springtime 2024. A revolutionary self pour taproom featuring over 50 automatic draught taps on two floors, the roomy dark windowed gastropub also includes a couched front patio with firepit and benches.
At the marble-floored main space, there are cafe-styled four-seat tables and right side wall handles featuring draught beer as well as local wines and seltzers. The porcelain-tiled upstairs back bar offers liquor and to the right are more wall handles. Front windowed couches with pale blue hanging lights offer city views, a few community tables fill the middle and a beautiful green and blue hop vine mural lines the left side wall.
During my midday July ’24 perusal, discovered a few good local craft brews such as East Rock Rocaveza Mexican Lager, Jack’s Abby Banner City Light Lager, Back East Czech Mix Pilsner, Berlinetta Pilsner Velvet, Whalers Rise Pale Ale, Captain Zig’s Sound Summer Pale Ale, Captain Zig’s Goosecake IPA and Hanging Hills Open Container Irish Stout (all reviewed in Beer Index).
hopandvinect.com
GUINNESS FOREIGN EXTRA STOUT
In the bottle, this Foreign Extra Stout competes favorably with Guinness Extra Stout and the nuttier dark-roasted Draught version. As of 2024, 50% of Guinness brews sold worldwide were FES. Creamier and sweeter than porter-inspired GES or nitrogenated Draught, its dark chocolate syruping, maple molasses sugaring and burnt toast remnant reach a less nutty mocha finish than the aforementioned variants (though the dark-roast hop char remains elevated in comparison).
BOLERO SNORT ARCOBALENO RAINBOW COOKIE STOUT
Richly creamed Italian cookie-inspired pastry stout perfectly combines pureed raspberry, honeyed almond, cocoa and vanilla adjuncts as ancillary red grape, black cherry and blackberry illusions heighten lively dried fruitiness draping vanilla-frosted chocolate caking.
EREDITA HUMBLE OATMEAL STOUT
“Classic unassuming” traditional oatmeal stout lets wood-charred hop roast penetrate dark chocolate fudging that contrasts raw molasses bittering and dark-roast coffee swipe ultimately sweetened by sugared maple oats at the blackened mocha finish.
HANGING HILLS OPEN CONTAINER IRISH STOUT
On tap at Hop & Vine Taproom, silken dark chocolate creaminess leaves nutty coffee residue as tertiary smoked molasses, chalky cocoa, dark-roast hop char and seared rauchbier-like beechwood merge comfortably.
FAT ORANGE CAT ALL CATS ARE GRAY IN THE DARK WHITE STOUT
Mildly creamed vanilla spicing hits milk chocolatey coffee midst and delicate oats-sugared base as vapid vodka-nipped hop astringency drags down initial vanilla-chocolate dessert appeal.
CAPTAIN ZIG GOOSEBERRY IPA
On tap at Hop & Vine Taproom, inaugural Captain Zig recipe is easygoing summertime IPA. Sweet orange peel zesting and dusty floral spicing contrast sour gooseberry-guava salting and lightly embittered grapefruit swipe of briskly tropical Amarillo-Citra-Mosaic-hopped moderation.
CAPTAIN ZIG SOUND SUMMER
On tap at Hop & Vine Taproom, dry summertime pale ale lets spritzy grapefruit, orange and pineapple tropicalia pickup skunked cannabis waft settle above mild sourdough breading.
