Tag Archives: EAST HAMPTON CT

RULE OF 3 BREWING

United States Brewpubs,

EAST HAMPTON, CONNECTICUT

Inside a yellowed corrugated aluminum overhead-doored shop at the lower Connecticut River Valley, RULE OF 3 BREWING opened for biz August ’22. Manned by astute local brewers Scott Cross and John Vitale, Rule of 3 hopes to bring “innovative spins on classic styles to activate taste buds.”

Inside, the high ceilinged cement-floored pub relies on the simple splendor of a lacquer wood top 14-seat bar (with 12 draughts), a few wood community tables and two TV’s.

My wife and I visited mid-afternoon, March ’25, trying all eight highly approachable brews before landing at Casius Farm’s 2nd annual fest.

Brisk lemon-spiced golden lager, Patio Party, received celery-watered crisping and slight hay-dried leathering for its pale malt base.

Reliable Twisted Trickster Pale Ale let spiced red and yellow fruiting and mild herbage reach lightly charred hop bittering.

Sessionable IPA, Kidder, shone zesty lemony yellow grapefruit bittering and sweet orange peel tanginess upon light hop pining.

Just as easygoing, tropical New England IPA, Goon City, sprinkled lemon zest upon salty guava tartness, grassy hop astringency and distant herbage.

Offbeat copper-bronzed Ol’ Einstein Brown Ale guided mild chestnut sweetness into bland orange oiling.

Steadfast vanilla porter, Mage, secured rich dark chocolate malting to mild vanilla creaming over sugary maple oats.

Cinnamon and nutmeg spicing given light powder sugaring for wondrously confectionery winter warmer, Saint Krampus, leaving dry tobacco roast on its back end.

Mighty molasses-sapped maple stout, Heckyl & Clyde, draped syrupy maple upon milk-sugared coffee, caramelized chocolate and honeyed oatmeal.

FAT ORANGE CAT BREWING COMPANY

United States Brewpubs,

Image result for FAT ORANGE CAT BREWING

EAST HAMPTON, CONNECTICUT

In the rustic backwoods of East Hampton, small homestead nanobrewery, FAT ORANGE CAT, opened for biz August 2016. Along the Salmon River watershed, this agrarian wood-paneled farmhouse (with forest green aluminum top) relies mostly on locally grown ingredients to craft its delightful small-batch brews.

Brewmaster Mike Klucznik received local awards as a home brewer before embarking on his ambitious zymurgistic journey. And the everchanging lineup of homespun beers he serves (approximately 100 one-offs since the outset) gets dominated by pleasant hazy New England-styled India Pale Ales, earthy farmhouse ales and approachable sour ales.

The serenely sylvan environment surrounding Fat Orange Cat includes canvassed hillside furnishings, picnic tables, a goat farm and loose chickens sprawled across the unexcavated backyard countryside.

Fat Orange Cat’s simple raw wood interior includes a central serving station, small black insulated stainless steel brew tanks, Industrial metal-wood table and several walled beer cans.

My wife and I grab a picnic table to begin consuming six fine offerings this warm September ’19 afternoon.

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First up, soft-toned flagship, Jalapeno Cream Ale, brought mild jalapeno heat to maize-dried pale malting and spritzy lemon-limed bittering, leaving green pepper sweetness upon the back end.

Another spritzy dry-bodied moderation, Take Me Down Jimmy (a farmhouse ale named after an emphatic yelp from Paul Mc Cartney’s “Junior’s Farm”), crisply combined zesty lemon tartness with sour white grape esters and phenol hop astringency.

Next came three neatly disparate New England IPA’s.

Easygoing Vote For Pedro maintained a laidback Citra-Galaxy-Amarillo hop groove as tangy grapefruit, sweet orange peel and sour lemon juicing gained candied citric tartness, light wood tones and pale malt dryness.

Juicily tropical I Am The Walrus retained a dryly salted pineapple-passionfruit-guava sedation for its relegated floral pine setting.

Better still, tart Lemondrop-hopped refresher, Ask Forgiveness Not Permission, let zesty lemon peel bittering, subtle grapefruit-orange tang and herbal lemongrass minting receive piney resilience.

But the biggest cheers came for mildly acidic fruit juiced Walkabout Peach Raspberry Sour Ale, a terrific Sweet-Tart candied knockoff with Peach Melba and Raspberry Tart suppleness afforded salty mango, tangy orange and sweet red grape illusions atop dry pale malt rusticity.

fatorangecatbrewco.com