Tag Archives: WALLINGFORD CT

CLIFFSIDE BREWING

United States Brewpubs,

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WALLINGFORD, CONNECTICUT

Founding brewer, David Durant, opened his friendly neighborhood nano operation October 2017. Since then, his small brewery has successfully dabbled with many well-known styles.

Inside a beautiful marble-stoned cornershop, the small open space features six front-roomed wooden tables and an eight-stooled serving table towards the rear (with ten-plus draughts and free popcorn).

My wife and I visit on a drizzling Friday eve in April ’18, trying all eight brews on tap while losing at trivia.

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First up, Mesmerized Witbier layered raw-honeyed sap atop mild orange-bruised banana, clove and bubblegum sugaring as well as sweet Cahllah breading and wispy tobacco crisping.

Next, clover-honeyed(?) Soft Landing gained orange-dried tartness to contrast mild caramel malts.

Soft-toned Enlightenment Fruit Ale brought tangy apricot juicing and mild peach-tangerine tartness to sugar-wafered pale malts and subtle hop astringency.

Tidy moderate-to-medium body, Stonewall Red, offered toasted amber graining to orange-dried apple souring, mild tobacco roast and timidly musky hop astringency.

Springtime comforter, Graceful Shutdown Maibock, upended lemony mandarin orange, clementine and tangerine modesty with soapy pale-malted hop acridity.

Maybe the finest choice on this seasonally cold night, hazily chartreuse-hued Synaptic Misfire Northeast IPA, a creamily malted medium body, gained juicy orange-peeled grapefruit, tangerine and pomelo tanginess.

Sedate Rockslide Brown Ale coalesced caramelized chocolate malting with earthen nuttiness.

For dessert, dry Pinky Out Stout embellished its crisp barley-roasted Bakers chocolate entry and cocoa-powdered tartness with bitter charred hop restraint.

cliffsidebrewing.com

FRONT PORCH BREWING

United States Brewpubs,

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WALLINGFORD, CONNECTICUT

Residing at an inconspicuous aluminum-sided industrial mall, FRONT PORCH BREWING opened a month after Wallingford’s first brewery, Cliffside, during November 2017.

As usual with the Constitution State’s current brewing climate, this independent nano occupies rustic warehouse space. Co-owning home brewer, Jay Flynn, crafts interestingly experimental concoctions ranging from several sour ales to a pale ale, IPA and English dark mild on this Friday eve, April ’18.

Going through the side door, Front Porch’s small white-walled, cement-floored, overhead-doored, community-tabled area features a serving station with eight draught lines, a colorful black-boarded beer list and several outside spirits (whiskey, tequila, cider, wine).  There’s also a tiny porch area with video games.

During my hour-long perusal, quaffed six satisfyingly soft-toned suds.

Approachable moderation, Hand Cannons Imperial Sour Ale, let grapefruit-soured lemon tartness gain light woody hop astringency. Equally affable, Try All & Error American Pale Ale, contrasted dried orange tartness against mild wood-toned Chinook hops, briskly zestful Citra hops and lightly sugared pale malts.

Murkily chartreuse-hued Berliner Weiss, Parti Gal #3, brought salty lemon-limed cantaloupe rind, honeydew-pureed tartness, vinous green grape tannins and mandarin orange subtleties to its delicate white wheat spine.

Durably pleasurable Reverse Mermaid IPA surrounded moderate grapefruit-peeled orange rind bittering with grassy hop astringency and pale malt sugaring.

Mildly bittersweet English dark ale, Albedo Mild, winningly combined dark chocolate roast with dewy peat earthiness, black grape tartness and dried nuttiness.

Interesting night cap, I’m Too Cold To Care Imperial Sour Stout saddled Black patent malt bittering with sour coffee-chocolate tones and mildly acidic grape tannins above sourdough rye dryness.

frontporchbrewing.co