When Chris went: January 25th, 2020
Where: 485 New Park Ave, West Hartford, CT 06110
New Park Brewing opened their taproom in West Hartford in 2017 and has been a popular spot since. Located in an old industrial building that has been “upcycled,” New Park fits the bill as a stylish brewery. Walking in you immediately feel transported to a Van’s shoe store located in some cool southern California town. The taproom is on the smaller side, but they decorated the space with tons of plants, local art, and skateboards. The boards give it the ultimate skater, hipster vibe. If there isn’t room in the taproom, during the warmer months, New Park has a nice outdoor seating area. They do a really good job of filling the space with greenery to help you forget you are basically in the parking lot near the road.
Chris: I’ve been to New Park a few times, mainly because people won’t stop saying good things about it. Last time I went they had a Grateful Dead tribute band playing and the place was packed! I very much enjoyed my Schwarzbier, which had a nice clean, light, refreshing feel. Unfortunately both times I have gone, their selection has been very limited. Schwarzbier was their only dark available, which I found strange since it was January and that’s prime Stout/Porter season. Every other draft selection was an IPA with the exception of one sour option. They seem to focus in on their IPAs (and I have heard they are amazing) but as someone who only cares for milkshake IPAs, I was clearly out of my element. That is not to say this isn’t a great place, and if you love IPAs definitely head over there. But if you don’t, maybe check their tap-list before you go to see if there is something there for you.
Shannon: I’ve only been to New Park once and it was at least a year ago so bear with me while I try to muster up some sort of contextual review here. I can’t speak much on the interior of the brewery simply because I don’t remember what it looks like, but what I can speak of is their beer thanks to my Untapped beer app! I have apparently only had one of their beers (which was in 2019 so I guess I should really go back to this place sometime). Untapped tells me that I had an IPA called Cloudscape, formerly known as Cloudbreak. Its a 6.5% ABV that I rated a 3.5 out of 5 on the app. Thank god for Untapped, am I right?
Other cool things:
- Food trucks
- Live music performances
- Merchandise available
- Beer-to-go during COVID-19 and beer delivery to select towns weekly!
What Chris drank:
Chris: Schwarzbier 6% – 4 out of 5
Chris: Blender: Boysenberry (Fruited Berliner Weisse) 5% – 3 out of 5
Brewing Persuasion: 2.5 out of 5
Feeling persuaded yet?
Brewing Persuasions 