Category Archives: United States Brewpubs

3 STARS BREWING COMPANY

United States Brewpubs,

Seeking out 3 Stars Brewing Company – Julia Eats

WASHINGTON, D.C.

Inside a large red brick warehouse at Washington DC’s northeast corridor, 3 STARS BREWING COMPANY began setting up shop at this former auto body shop, August 2012. Two miles south of Silver Springs’ popular Denizens Brewing, 3 Stars has crafted over 200 beers since inception, “pushing the envelope” stylistically while featuring four durable flagships conceived by entrepreneurial pals Mike Mc Garvey and Dave Coleman.

A bulb-lit 3 Stars insignia above the blackboard beer list captures patrons’ attention nearly as much as the onsite brews. Antique chandeliers and exposed pipes hang from the wood ceiling and a large red and white stars and stripes banner occupies a side wall. A kiosk-like country-styled Urban Farmhouse gets utilized mainly for private parties.

At the rustic cement-floored pub, a compact wood-topped serving station supplies twelve colorfully tap-handled draughts. The right side large-barreled brewroom nears a technicolor walled lantern display while barreled tables and plastic furnishings fill out the room. A community-tabled covered deck with barrel barriers offers outdoor picnic space.

3 STARS BREWING - 3877

I downed the four flagships before delving further into 3 Star’s likable lineup. Check the Beer Index for reviews on canned Low Hanging Fruit: Cherry & Lime, Birds Of A Feather Fruited Sour, Velvet Zombie Imperial Porter and Zombie Date Night (2022)

Piquantly soft-toned farmhouse offshoot, Peppercorn Saison, let mild currant-dried white and pink peppercorn rusticity influence its wispy limey sage herbage contrasted by delicate candi-sugared lemon meringue, orange marmalade and fried plantain sweetness.

Zesty grapefruit-peeled orange rind bittering (from Citra hops) and dry Amarillo-Simcoe hop pining stayed mild against the gentle pale malt-spiced peach, tangerine and mango tanginess of Ghost IPA (not to be confused with witbier-influenced Ghost White IPA).

Briskly clean double dry-hopped hazy pale ale, Diamonds Are Forever, brought lemony grapefruit-peeled orange juicing and limey guava, passionfruit and gooseberry souring (of a tropical NEIPA) to mild resinous floral herbage above thin saltine cracker base.

Toasted pecans subtly sway Southern Belle Imperial Brown Ale, leaving sweet chestnut and hazelnut snips to contrast the ashen walnut bittering atop its brown breaded molasses base.

OTHER HALF BREWING

United States Brewpubs,

Image result for OTHER HALF BREWERY DC

WASHINGTON DC

In a modern Industrial red brick building at DC’s Ivy City neighborhood, OTHER HALF BREWING opened September 2020, six years after its original Brooklyn, New York business commenced. A 22,000 square foot brewing facility and taproom (formerly a tomato can factory), Other Half’s multifaceted facility includes an outdoor deck, covered pavilion and roof deck.

Inside, the immaculate pub features an elongated tile-sided 12-plus draught bar servicing the cement floored benches and barrel top tables. A rooftop deck (with full bar) allows for more seating.

The first-floored overhead doors lead to the outside deck where my wife and I (with dog, Roscoe) down eight enjoyable tapped offerings (including three lagers, three Imperial IPA’s, an oated cream IPA and a barrel-aged stout) on a rainy Friday evening, May ’22.

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Easygoing helles lager, Box Car, plied mild herbal hop astringency to light lemon spicing over white-breaded pilsner malts.

Spritzy lemon musk and herbal hop astringency paced Ivy City Lager, a dry Eastern European-styled moderation with biscuity toasted grain bottom.

Musty perfumed ricing saddled Japanese-styled rice lager, Poetry Snaps, a pilsner-malted light body with floral-herbed Saaz hops scouring spicily sour lemon musk.

Zesty floral-spiced grapefruit and pineapple brining led golden-hazed Imperial IPA, Blue Crab, picking up Chardonnay-buttered guava, mango and passionfruit snips.

Salty lemon-limed grapefruit bittering, mellow orange peel sweetness and mild pineapple-guava souring guided fellow Imperial IPA, Quonset Hut, to its pine lacquered grassy hop stead.

Meanwhile, New Zealand-styled double dry-hopped Imperial IPA, Riwaka + Motueka, brought limey yogurt-soured guava, gooseberry and pineapple fruiting to soft herbal pungency contrasting mild vanilla creaming of unassumingly 8% ABV medium body.

Lactose-aided Imperial Oat Cream India Pale Ale, Tremendous Cream (a ‘bigger’ 10% ABV version of Dollar And A Dream) tucked away its zestful lemon-limed grapefruit and orange tanginess plus tertiary pineapple, guava and mango onrush for mild grassy hop musk, light herbal snips and dank earthen grains.

Peanut butter-candied chocolate caramel nougat creaminess deepened the bourbon vanilla sweetness of barrel-aged Deep Orbit Cygnus, a decadent Imperial Stout with mild espresso, cappuccino and caffe mocha illusions topping a honeyed Graham Cracker base.

ATLAS BREW WORKS

United States Brewpubs,

Atlas Brew Works | Washington, DC | Beers | BeerAdvocate Atlas Brew Works Virtual Tasting - 5/14/2021 | Brewbound.com

WASHINGTON, D.C.

Just up the street from the Washington Nationals baseball stadium in the industrial Ivy City section, ATLAS BREW WORKS had the unfortunate problem of dealing with Covid lockdowns during its March 2020 opening. But entrepreneurial guiding light, Justin Cox, a Vanderbilt grad with a serious jones for brewing, navigated thru the restrictive guidelines and Atlas quickly became a local staple in the Capitol’s Navy Yard.

Glass-windowed overhead doors and an Anthem banner greet patrons to the first 100% solar powered craft brewery in District of Columbia. Set up like a sportsbar, its mid-sized U-shaped central bar sits between three ceiling-to-floor baseball card-laden columns and multiple TV’s are strewn across the bar, plastic-furnished and right side dining area. An open kitchen serves and the brew tanks are stage left.

We sat on the outdoor deck in the light rain sampling a few Atlas suds while the bustling street fair took place, May ’22.

Atlas Brew Works | Venue, Washington | Get your price estimate

One of two light-bodied year-round ‘core’ beers, brisk lemon fizzing picked up floral earthen grassiness atop delicate pilsner malt graining for popular Bohemian-styled Bullpen Pilsner.

The other easygoing flagship, District Common Draught, placed sharply zestful lemon licks across Saaz hop herbage and vegetal corn astringency over salty pretzel-like doughing.

Sweet Vienna-malted toffee nuttiness secured French bread-crusted Opening Day Vienna Lager, placing herbal hops towards the back end with navel orange snips.

Kulmbacher-styled Czech dark ale, Tmave, plied peaty dark roast grain musk to cocoa-dried date, fig and fennel above mild pumpernickel breading.

Pink Himalayan salting sprinkled the tart blood orange adjunct and mildly acidic lemon limey trail of Blood Orange Gose, a white wheat-based moderation.

Dry white wine esters and mild lemon limed salinity provided light acidity for sour saison, Existential Dread, leaving hay-like barnyard leathering in its wake.

Muddily black malted dark ale, Silent Neighbor Stout, combined dark chocolate, black coffee, espresso, Blackstrap molasses and ashen walnut bittering with wood-seared hop charring.

RIGHT PROPER BREWING COMPANY

United States Brewpubs,

Right Proper Shaw Brewpub & Kitchen - Event Venue Rental - Washington - Tagvenue.com

WASHINGTON, D.C.

At the trendy Shaw quadrant of Northwest DC, RIGHT PROPER BREWING COMPANY (with a second location, Brookland Production House & Tasting Room, in the nearby Northeast corridor), began as a small neighborhood brewpub during 2013. Known also as the Shaw Brewpub & Kitchen, Right Proper is situated right next to the historic Howard Theatre.

Colorful abstract chalked paintings cover the lacquered cement interior of this rustic wood and metal furnished art deco Industrial site. One abstract mural painting adorns the semi-private red brick right walled Duke Ellington Room.

Classic American pub fare leads the food menu and a gourmet cheese counter located ahead of the two separate 10-seat bars down the narrow hall serves the finest charcuterie delights. Complex, sometimes offbeat, brews, crowd the draught menu. During a rainy Saturday evening, May ’22, discovered six rangy elixirs with son, Christopher (who downed a previously tried Haxan Porter).

Image result for SHAW BREWPUB AND KITCHEN

The three mainstays for Right Proper include a light lager, souped-up pale ale and kindly witbier.

Classic pre-prohibition styled light lager, Senate Beer, placed buttery corn flaked cereal graining across lemon-licked Fuggle hop earthiness updating an old Heurich Brewing recipe.

Spirited dry-hopped pale ale, Raised By Wolves, brought floral IPA-like grapefruit-peeled navel orange Citra hop effervescence to piney Simcoe hop astringency and mild grassiness above spicy pale malting.

Stylish coriander-spiced orange peel sweetness picked up slight juniper bite and Tettnang/Perle hop herbage over oats-dried torrified wheat for Lil Wit, a well-balanced moderation.

Mimosa-like orange champagne entry guided eccentric blonde ale, Magic Of Music, pushing cara cara orange tanginess thru lemony grapefruit, pineapple and gooseberry fruiting.

Sharp orange-peeled grapefruit bittering and sour white grape esters paced mixed cultured New England IPA, Fear No Art, utilizing leathery brettanomyces yeast to funk up the mildly acidic citric-dried finish.

Lovely Scottish wee heavy nightcap, Go On Wee Man!, coalesced bourbon vanilla spicing, toffee-candied chocolate sweetness, caramelized dried fruiting, milk-sugared coffee tones and cherry cordial snips atop maple molasses-sapped flaked oats.

RED BEAR BREWING CO.

United States Brewpubs,

Image result for RED BEAR BREWEING

WASHINGTON, D.C.

As the story goes, three pioneering Seattle natives headed east to the nation’s Capitol looking for a cool spot for their dream endeavor. By March ’19, the entrepreneurial trio of Bryan Van Den Oever, Simon Bee and Cameron Raspet found the culturally diverse nightlife of Washington D.C.’s newly renovated NoMa district the perfect spot for an “East Coast meets open casual West Coast style” brewery.

At this bustling industrial office hub (north of Massachusetts Avenue), RED BEAR BREWING CO. began operations. Inside a red brick neighborhood mall near Union Station and close to the elevated trains, Red Bear takes up a medium-sized corner spot down the street-level stairs.

Inside, the rustic cement-floored pub features 20-plus taps (proprietary beers plus seltzers and ciders) at the centrally located bar while the surrounding area offers wood and metal four-seaters and community tables plus board games for the kids. Kettled brew tanks are at the far right. The superb pub food menu and a host of upscale liquors back up the wholly reliable brew selections (of which, I will discover five well rounded and widely differentiated elixirs reviewed below).

At the partially covered outside patio, my wife and I (with dog Roscoe) consume five diverse homemade creations on a rainy Saturday in May ’22.

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Floral-daubed ginger cologne, mild carrot-pureed spicing and yellow grapefruit zesting coalesced for briskly clean cucumber-watered saison, 24 Karat, an effervescently offbeat springtime moderation.

Another Maytime endeavor, soft-toned pinkish amber Peak Bloom Cherry Wit, let subtle Pez-candied cherry tartness fade into soap-stoned guava and gooseberry brining over a delicate white wheat bed.

Sweet ‘n sour oated ‘cream pale ale,’ Floof, a glowing sunshine hued New England IPA knockoff, readied salty guava-passionfruit tartness for lemon meringue and peach cobbler confections above lactic acidulated malts.

Dry opaque salmon-tinted fruited gose, The Floor Is Guava, regaled lively guava brining and tart coriander-seeded raspberry sedation as well as white peach, cranberry and crabapple snips over feathery sourdough wheated pilsner malting.

Black malted dark chocolate and mild espresso tones reached the soily earthen bottom of DC Dirt Porter, leaving chalky dried fruiting on the tail end.

Lactose peanut buttered dark chocolate roast deepened by coffee-stained hop char of rich milk stout, Tall Dark & Nutty, picking up latent bourbon vanilla spicing to contrast oily dark-roast mocha nuttiness.

DENIZENS BREWING COMPANY

United States Brewpubs,

Image result for denizens brewing company

SILVER SPRINGS, MD.

Off the northern tip of D.C. in the heart of Silver Springs lies one of the more intriguing, multifaceted and sizable microbreweries. DENIZENS BREWING COMPANY, run by wives, Julie Verratti and Emily Bruno, plus co-founder Jeff Ramirez, was a venture taken on in 2013 seeking to galvanize those ‘unified by beer.’ Incorporating an enormous turf-floored, 200-seat, wicker-lounged, mezzanine-level beergarden to enhance the adjoining cement-floored interior bar (an Industrial wood, metal and aluminum-studded space with leather tap handles) and lower level taproom, this rust orange-hued gastropub has become a local staple.

With a second location at nearby Riverdale Park starting production brewing in 2019, Denizens has grown by leaps and bounds since its 2014 Silver Springs inception, crafting over 150 different beers by my May ’22 quest. The varied flavor profiles and boundless stylization explored onsite at the first floor brewtanks match the diversity of Silver Spring’s urbanized civilians.

Image result for denizens brewing company

At the beer garden at noon, my wife and I tried all four core beers (listed below first) plus four more during our rainy one-hour visitation.

Sturdy Czech-styled pilsner, Born Bohemian, combined musky wet graining, floral-spiced Saaz hop herbage, mild grassy astringency and light lemon licks.

Smooth as glass double dry-hopped IPA, Animal, plied zesty orange-peeled yellow grapefruit bittering and lemon-candied pineapple, mango and peach tanginess to pine-sapped herbal spicing.

Dry caraway-seeded rye breading consumed earthier IPA, Southside Rye, retaining moderate grapefruit-orange bittering, resinous pine tones and tingled spicing.

Lovely rounded tripel, Third Party, let coriander-spiced orange peel sweetness, lemon meringue tartness, candied apple sugaring and wispy banana pureeing contrast white-peppered tealeaf herbage.

After these year-round faves, we consumed Hike The Alps, a simple helles lager with lemon-honeyed herbage set atop its doughy barley cracker base.

Flaked rice, grassy hop herbage and lemony orange acridity consumed premium lager, PGC, leaving a mellow honeysuckle-dried respite.

Dewy peat moss and mild herbage draped misty orange oiling for Lowest Lord ESB, a biscuit-based moderation.

Huell Melon hops redirected Macadocious Maibock, trading stylish red-orange fruit spicing for slightly soured floral-backed passionfruit, guava and gooseberry tropicalia.

SHEPHERD’S EYE BREWING COMPANY

United States Brewpubs,

Shepherds Eye Brewing Company - Absolute Beer

FLORIDA, NEW YORK

Inside a gray aluminum warehouse with green awning, veteran-owned SHEPHERD’S EYE BREWING COMPANY opened for biz October 2, 2021. Specializing in German beer but unafraid to dabble into American IPA’s and dark ales, the farmland-situated pub has loads of room for expansion into its adjoining buildings.

A plastic-furnished wood planked porch deck leads to the epoxied cement-floored brewroom where a large capital-lettered Shepherd’s Eye signpost spreads across the top of the 7-seat bronze-sided serving station (with ten copper-piped draught taps and five turbine ventilator lights). Several wood seats fill out the interior and an electronic beer menu shows today’s offerings. Overhead doors to the right of the bar lead to the concrete-floored beer garden corridor. A canning line has recently been installed.

My dog Roscoe and I grab seats in the beergarden to sample today’s generally easygoing fare.

Gallery | Shepherd's Eye Brewing Company

Muskily raw-grained, aluminum straw-hued German pilsner, Prost, let herbal Noble-hopped barnyard astringency and polite lemon licks merge in an easygoing straightforward manner.

Dry grassy-hopped lemon musk and mild herbage welcomed Day Brake, a light-bodied kolsch.

Daintily lemon-candied banana and clove tartly sweetened the front end while wispy white peppered herbage hit the salty wheat bottom of Shep’s Hef.

Dewy Deutscher Hund Dunkelweizen segued mild dried fruiting to lightly floured chocolate breading.

Getting away from the German styles…

Roughhewn toasted grains saddled the dewy mossing and red-orange fruiting of rugged English-styled amber ale, George, leaving caramelized barley sweetness in its wake.

Utilizing a rotating hop bill, April ’22-brewed NEIPA, Mystery Machine hurled floral-perfumed grapefruit peel, orange rind and pineapple bittering plus lemon-limed gooseberry sourness at its pine lacquered grassy knoll.

Flagship Imperial IPA, Shepherd’s Bite, gathered subtle grapefruit, orange, tangerine and peach tanginess as well as sweet floral spicing to contrast dry piney hop bittering.

Nitrogenated chocolate stout, Kariin, plied cocoa nibs creaming to black coffee, espresso and cola nut reminders.

 

SHREWD FOX BREWERY

United States Brewpubs,

shrewd fox brewery - Brewery

ELDRED, NEW YORK

Skirting stylistic conventionality by assimilating and acclimating locally sourced ingredients with European-grown grains and hops, Jersey-raised Ukrainian husband-wife team, Bill and Cindy Lenczuk, began their beer journey while sampling local Uke suds overseas. Initially, Bill worked as a nuclear engineer at Chernobyl during a 2000-2002 Eastern Euro stint, gaining insight to brewing along the way until opening his own nanobrewery, SHREWD FOX BREWERY, in 2015.

Balancing quirky flavor profiles to remit a certain earthen rusticity native to the hilly rural Catskill village of Eldred, Shrewd Fox utilizes its unique regional water source. A proud New York State sustenance farm brewer, Lenczuk’s spent grain goes to local farmers, eliminating organic waste.

Sitting alongside the vast countryside, Shrewd Fox resides at a red brick-fronted former post office with baby blue siding. Its agrarian exterior includes a makeshift barrel-staged metal-furnished side patio and grassy wooden-benched backyard space.

Inside, the cozy pub features a small stainless steel seven-barrel system (upped from its commencing one barrel setup) behind a two-stooled plywood-stained service station with ten intricately wood-carved draught handles.

My wife and I tried all seven in-house brews, April 2022. There were also two ciders available.

Home - Shrewd Fox Brewery

Dewy wheat-honeyed earthen truffle mossing, casual brown-sugared dried fruiting and teasing walnut breading gathered for Highland Lager, a waywardly skewed traditional German moderation.

Another dewy grained easygoer, Loch Ada Amber Ale, fortified its dry yuzu-limed green grape esters with barley-sugared Irish amber yeast.

Ukranian Zalatos Roussa hops redirected stylistically dryer Yulan Hefeweizen, leaving banana-clove expectancy in the dust for sour Orange Blossom-honeyed lemon oiling and distant plantain, pear and white grape illusions.

Not even experienced beer tasters could clearly define Kutya Buckwheat Farmhouse Ale, a buckwheat-honeyed saison yeast-based specialty grain beer with mild cocoa powdered date-fig rig, tart rhubarb shard and oily nuttiness.

Peat mossy 3 Dog IPA, recalled a dry English style IPA with its dank hop-grained soiling, musky dark floral herbage and mild orange oiling.

On the dark side, stylishly out of bounds Baba Yaga Brown Ale brought pumpkin pureed autumn spicing to mild molasses, chocolate, raisin and hazelnut riffs as well as pine nut, fern and bark nuances.

Coffee-burnt sour nuttiness consumed Kozak Porter, leaving green grape tannins in its wake.

LOG TAVERN BREWING COMPANY

United States Brewpubs,

Log Tavern Brewing - PoconoGo

MILFORD, PENNSYLVANIA

Alongside the Sawkill creek waterfall near the Delaware River in a gray aluminum-sided log cabin, LOG TAVERN BREWING COMPANY, began its journey on this Milford, Pennsylvania crossroad during 2018. Taking ‘pride’ crafting a diverse range of traditional styles, former home brewer, Ryan Scott, makes some of the area’s most enjoyable tonics.

Log Tavern’s charmingly rustic warmth and earthy downhome conviviality fits the outdoorsman atmosphere local natives and visiting ‘brewpies’ adore. A slate-top serving station with twelve draught lines (and two blackboard beer menus) sling suds for the Yeti-logoed pub. A floor-to-ceiling earth-stoned hearth, round bark-based wood tables and multiple framed pix fill out the cozy lodge-like interior.

A wood-benched side deck with small fire pit plus a separate covered side deck offer plenty of outside seating.

My wife and I share a personal pizza while downing all ten available brews this briskly cool April ’22 afternoon.

Log Tavern Brewing Co. | Milford | DiscoverNEPA

Dry aluminum-cleared light cream ale, Tavern’s Gold, maintained soft grassy-hopped lemon oiling for its corn-husked white bread bottom.

Mild helles lager, Helles Fire, retained a dainty herbal lemon spritz over wispy sourdough breading.

Spritzy lemony orange and tangerine zesting picked up grassy hop astringency for off-dry 570 Pale Ale, pacifying its baked French breading.

Lemony orange-dried herbage awakened Lit Wit, leaving soap-stoned chamomile, sage and ginger all over its perfumed cannabis resin.

Enchanting tropical fruited New England IPA, The Revival, dripped mild lactose upon lemony yellow grapefruit zesting and grassy piney hop bittering as limey guava, mango and melon subtleties enjoin peachy mandarin orange tanginess in the distance.

Another vibrant NEIPA, Milford Mosaic, allowed orange-peeled grapefruit tanginess and ancillary spicy mango-peach sweetness to absorb mild piney hop bittering.

Coniferous hazy IPA, Beyond The Pines, coalesced sunshiny yellow-orange fruiting with lacquered pine tones, sprucy juniper licks, herbal rosemary-thyme minting and floral-daubed cologne wafts.

‘Heavily dank-hopped’ Imperial IPA, Timber Beast, regaled floral-perfumed lemony orange-grapefruit zesting and musky juniper berry bittering for recessive peaty fungi mossing.

Cold-brewed coffee greeted semi-sweet dark chocolate for Pike County Breakfast Stout, leaving black-peppered Brazil nuttiness on its molasses oatmeal spine.

Creamily lactic sweet stout, Peanut Butter Sawkill, spread peanut butter across coffee-stained dark-roast hop bittering with fine results.

 

SLOOP BREWING COMPANY – THE FACTORY

United States Brewpubs,

SLOOP BREWING @ THE FACTORY, Hopewell Junction - Menu, Prices & Restaurant Reviews - Tripadvisor

EAST FISHKILL, NEW YORK

Founded in 2011 by local college pals, Adam Watson and Justin Taylor, SLOOP BREWING COMPANY soon became one of the fastest growing regional breweries, tendering a deal with New Hampshire-based Smuttynose in 2021 to expand distribution even further.

Operating out of a garage before moving to a hilly 19th Century Elizaville barnhouse, Sloop began occupying a 25,000 square foot Industrial warehouse at the cavernous East Fishkill IBM facility by 2018. Encompassing a tan-bricked modern Industrial manufacturing building bordering the mountainous Appalachian Trail, Sloop’s aquamarine sailing compass logo (with golden outlay) imbues the two grain silos welcoming beer hounds to its hallway-bound interior.

Known as “The Factory at Sloop,” this spacious, high-ceilinged, pipe-exposed, sportsbar-like pub features lacquered cement floors, sundry four-seat wood tables and a few community tables. Resembling an ice cream parlor, perhaps, a large marquee sign (with black lettering listing available proprietary beer and local wines) and overhead bulb lights shine brightly at the 10-seat bar.

The wood-lacquered bar top regales embossed circuit boards, microchips and other IBM ephemera in a corky display and strategically placed TV’s show sports while kids play arcade games.

I stopped in for a few pints on a breezy afternoon, March 2022.

Sloop Brewing Co. @ the Factory - East Fishkill, NY | USA TODAY Support Local Businesses

Traditional gold cleared light body, Classic Pils, placed corn flaked cereal graining next to musky Noble-hopped herbage and sour yellow-orange fruit spicing.

Soft-toned hazy IPA, Grounded Roots, let subtle mandarin orange, yellow grapefruit and peach tanginess and distant passionfruit-gooseberry snips crawl above its mild grassy-hopped oated wheat base.

Tropical-fruited New England-styled IPA, Gentle Whispers, retained a fuzzy vanilla creamed head for the clean Cryo Citra-hopped orange pith, grapefruit, guava, passionfruit and papaya onrush picking up slight pine resin to its grassy hop stead.

Dry West Coast-styled IPA, Low Turbidity, saddled its orange-oiled lemon lollipop tartness and peachy plum whim with dewy clover-honeyed herbal fungi, resembling a muskier English IPA perhaps.

TWELVE PERCENT BEER PROJECT

United States Brewpubs,

Twelve Percent Beer Project - North Haven, CT - Untappd   Twelve Percent Beer Project | North Haven, CT | Beers | BeerAdvocate

NORTH HAVEN, CONNECTICUT

Home of Quinnipiac University, North Haven’s TWELVE PERCENT BEER PROJECT came to fruition February 2020. Inside a pristine beige-walled manufacturing warehouse, Twelve Percent does a great job of source brewing for new businesses as well as supplementing established brewers’ canned and draught product thru quality distribution.

A palate-enclosed patio with plastic furnishings guides patrons to the entrance door. Inside, the cement-floored pub features a few four-seat formica tables, two community tables, a loungey couch area, pillowed banquet wall unit and two overhead doors.

The left side formica-topped bar offered ten seats and twenty white tiled draught lines. An enormous high ceilinged brewing operation occupies the rear glass-encased section.

A bunch of families with young children seize upon Twelve Percent on a cold Saturday at noon, March ’22.

Twelve Percent Beer Project begins brewing in North Haven

During initial stopover, quaffed Twelve Percent’s proprietary Snappy! American Lager and Connecticut Witbier while purchasing fab brews from Abomination, Skygazer, Fat Orange Cat, Marlowe, Barclay and Timber Ales to go (all reviewed in Beer index).

The sky’s the limit for this ample distribution center with on-site draughts for sale.

NIANTIC PUBLIC HOUSE – 2022

United States Brewpubs,

Niantic Public House  Niantic Public House

NIANTIC, CONNECTICUT

After perusing this Long Island Sound-bound watering hole during 2019, NIANTIC PUBLIC HOUSE grew in brewing capacity if not size. But during my March ’22 revisit, Niantic was filled to capacity on Saturday evening so I only grabbed one excellent stout, but returned for more brews at its 1 PM opening on Sunday.

Inside a shared grey brick building across from the boardwalk, this friendly neighborhood tavern has increased their stylish recipes from a mere two (pale ale and Imperial IPA) just three years hence to a full dozen (including seltzers). There were benches set up outside in the parking lot and the 30-seat wood lacquered right side bar (currently with two draught boards) served the front-windowed community tables and a few left side tables.

Also, the owners have done a helluva job with Niantic’s colorful walled artwork. The backbar’s aqua-geared underwater monkey’s a hoot, the orange octopus-occupied front wall’s a gas and the left side’s large whale mural’s simply marvelous.

After consuming the bold stout Saturday eve, I delved into five delightfully divergent IPA’s, a delicate weizenbock, a Belgian blonde and a Czech pils.

Mild golden-cleared Czech pilsner, Conplan – 8888 Motueka, utilized lemon-limed Motueka hops to enliven its peppery herbal tinge above bread crusted graining (and leaving wispy passionfruit-guava snips).

Lemony banana clove sweetness and navel orange tanginess embraced spritzy candi-sugared Belgian blonde moderation, Dog Pile, picking up ancillary lemon meringue, orange marmalade and orange banana cake illusions.

Soft-toned weizenbock, Brian’s Hops For Hope, let mossy dew drip into sweetly soured dried plum, stewed prune and date above subtle caramel malt sugaring.

Evenly spread grapefruit, orange and lemon spicing perked up Imperial IPA, It Takes A Village, putting a lacquered pine veneer on its pale malt sugaring.

Softer and sweeter on the tongue than Villian, polite NEIPA, Honu Sky, spread vanilla cream across orange-peeled grapefruit tanginess and candied lemon licks.

A spicier orange-peeled grapefruit tang occupied wonderful Imperial IPA, Knapp Time, a lightly pined medium body with peachy pineapple dalliances.

Candied mango soaked into mossy fungi gunk for NEIPA, MIPA, plying lemony grapefruit souring to its wet hop stead.

The cleanest, brightest, juiciest NEIPA may’ve been Mosaic-Citra-hopped Mystery Of Juiceboxin’, regaling zesty lemon, tangerine, navel orange and clementine briskness as well as mild pine resin and quirky passionfruit-guava tropicalia.

As for the robustly rich 6th Dimension Milk Stout, its coffee-stained dark chocolate syruping seeped into wood-burnt dark roast hop bittering and tarry charred nuttiness.