BRANFORD, CONNECTICUT
Inside a 30,000 square-foot white aluminum-paneled, aquamarine blue-topped boat house along the industrialized Indian Neck riverway in Branford, STONY CREEK BREWING COMPANY began operations in 2010.
An enormous microbrewery with large production facility, expansive front deck, capacious plastic-furnished back patio and huge windowed brew tanks, Stony Creek’s cement-floored, black ceilinged pub features a corrugated aluminum-sided wood-top bar (with two tap stations holding eight draught handles each), several stooled and chaired tables, tin-covered Edison lights, a loft area and a kitchen.
My wife and I grab seats at the bar to eat Mashed Potato Bacon wood-fired pizza alongside nine rangy elixirs.
Pedestrian light-bodied golden lager, Bobcat, at least bested Budweiser with its musty maize dried herbage and fizzy yellow fruited spicing in a lightly smoked beechwood-like setting.
‘Laidback’ Vienna lager, Dock Time, stayed crisp as dewy peat grazed fig-spiced cocoa malting and wispy floral perfuming.
Tart raspberry entry gained oaken vanilla tannins and rigid lemon acidity for Berried Alive Vanilla Raspberry Sour, a sour-candied Fruit Roll-Up.
Brown-sugared pumpkin spicing of Gourd Fellas Pumpkin Ale gained subtle fig sugaring and slight Red Hot cinnamon heat.
Briskly easygoing India Pale Ale, Mountain Brew, allowed creamy vanilla foam to engage sunshiny yellow grapefruit and sweet orange peel zesting, spritzy lemon-liming and tangy pineapple salting.
Dry yellow grapefruit rind and orange pith bittering embedded Savage Stride IPA, a slightly skewed New England-styled medium body with ancillary raw-honeyed herbage and dank pine lacquer contrasting sugary pale malting.
One more dry stylish goodie, Just Another IPA, placed pine needled lemony grapefruit bittering and bark-dried musk across candied orange tartness.
Christmastime-seasoned Frosty Spice Winter Ale shook cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger above mild vanilla sugaring.
Wonderful winter warmer, Noel’s Nightcap, regaled brown-sugared cinnamon spicing and marshmallow vanilla creaming, picking up ginger, nutmeg and cumin seasoning atop milk chocolate richness.