Taylor Brooke Brewing

When we went: September 9th, 2022

Where: 818 CT-171, Woodstock, CT 06281

Taylor Brooke Brewery opened its taproom in 2019 right next door to its already operating winery. A lot of breweries can be found in urban or downtown areas, but Taylor Brooke is one of a few breweries that have a much more rural setting. They are a part of pollinator pathways, which means that in addition to their honey bees, they also have a setup for native pollinating insects. This rural setting allows them to grow their own grapes and hops and to produce their own honey. The facility is basically a large warehouse, with the brewing taking place right behind the bar. There is plenty of parking, as well as indoor and outdoor seating.

Chris: It’s always seems like a challenge for me to venture out to the quiet corner of CT, and before Taylor Brooke, the only brewery I had been to in the area was Willy Brew. Taylor Brooke has a decent variety of beers, including IPAs, lagers, sours and stouts. With so much variety, Nick and I chose to do flights. I didn’t hate any of the beers I had, but I wasn’t in love with any of them either. That isn’t to say I didn’t like any of their beer – I enjoyed their Shantay You Stay, a Peach sour, and their Harvest Berliner Weisse Corot Noir which had a wine-like taste.

Nick: With the winery next door, Taylor Brooke brewery is definitely aiming for a certain clientele. I imagine they offer a diverse choice of beer in order to appeal to some of their wine crowd. Chris and I stopped in at Taylor Brooke on our way up to see Rammstein at Gillette Stadium, and the place was pretty empty as it was a weekday afternoon. I really appreciate that Taylor Brooke is trying to make an impression. It would be really easy for them to just put out generic beer as they would still get some traffic because of the winery. But they use the winery setting to enhance their beer offerings and elevate the feel of the brewery. I love sour beer, and the Harvest Berliner Weisse Corot Noir was my favorite of the beer that we tried at Taylor Brooke. As Chris said, it definitely has a red wine feel to it. The Woodstock Veraison was my other favorite, and it is a farmhouse ale that also had a wine feel to it.

Other Cool Stuff:

  • Live music
  • Food trucks
  • Host private events
  • Beer and wine to-go

What we drank:

Chris: Shantay You Stay (Sour) 5.9% – 4 out of 5

Chris: Rip Rap (Stout) 8% – 3.5 out of 5

Nick: Harvest Berliner Weisse Corot Noir (Sour) 4.7% – 4 out of 5

Nick: Woodstock Veraison (Farmhouse Ale) 8% – 4 out of 5

Brewing Persuasion: 3.5

WeHa Brewing & Roasting Company

When we went: August 24th, 2022

Where: 141 Shield St, West Hartford, CT 06110

WeHa Brewing & Roasting Company is located in the Elmwood neighborhood of West Hartford and opened in October 2021. The name of WeHa brewery comes from the nickname of West Hartford. Walking into the brewery you will immediately notice that it is half brewery half coffee shop. I’ve seen breweries that offer coffee but WeHa is just as dedicated to coffee as they are to beer. The space gives off a college hipster vibe with a decent amount of indoor and outdoor seating. They had a decent variety with sours, lagers, IPAs, and a stouts on tap. WeHa brewery also offers food through Lucky 13 Kitchen which just opened up so we unfortunately didn’t get to try it out. The Brewery had a lot of natural light with nice large windows, it had a very college hipster vibe which seemed to fit the neighborhood that it was in.

Chris: Anytime I try a new place out I want to get a flight so I can get a feel of their overall beer quality. My favorite beer was The Breakup, a mango and blood orange sour with vanilla and lactose. This was a great beer if you like the fruity sours like me. Of course I had to try the stout, First Crack #1, especially since it was a coffee stout and WeHa is half coffee roaster. It had a really nice coffee taste and it didn’t let the 10.3% ABV overpower that flavor.

Nick: I also liked the Breakup the best, its the beer that we started with and unfortunately nothing else quite measured up. The Breakup had a nice strong mango flavor, a good sweet but sour flavor, and it was really refreshing. For a brewery with a relatively small selection I was happy with the fact that it wasn’t just a wall of IPA’s. The Freudian Sip was pretty good, but I had it right after the Breakup and that was a difficult beer to follow. I thought I would like the Resting Beach Face but the lime flavor was overpowering which is probably great for some people but I didn’t care for it.

Other cool stuff:

  • Cans to go
  • Merch available
  • Trivia nights
  • Coffee beans for purchase

What we drank:

Chris: The Breakup (Sour) 5.9% – 4.5 out of 5

Chris: First Crack #1 (Stout) 10.3% – 4 out of 5

Chris: Resting Beach Face (Sour) 6.5% – 3.5 out of 5

Nick: Freudian Sip (Lager) 5.4%- 3.5 out of 5

Nick: Brevity (Wheat Beer) 5.2%- 3 out of 5

Nick: Resting Beach Face (Sour) 6.5% – 3 out of 5

Brewing persuasion: 3.5 out of 5

Feeling persuaded yet?

Surfridge Brewing Company

When we went: April 22nd, 2022

Where: 6 Main St, Centerbrook, CT 06409

Surfridge Brewing Company opened its first location in California in 2019, and followed that with a Connecticut location in 2021. The name of the company comes from a former seaside community that is now a blue butterfly preserve. When Nick and I went in April, they had not been open for that long but were already quite popular. I will say that Surfridge is not a typical east coast brewery, as soon as we walked in I got a lot of California vibes. The décor has a large butterfly mural, and food and drink menu reflected west coast styles. Back in April, 7 of the 8 beers were IPAs which I was not a fan of. I will say that I checked their website and they seem to have really branched out from that so I will have to go back to try their sours and stouts. The brewery has plenty of seating both inside and out, a good thing considering how busy they were when we went. Surfridge also offers pizza, oysters, and appetizers, as well as cocktails for non-beer drinkers.

Chris: As I mentioned before, I was not a fan that Surfridge was clearly an IPA brewery, but I am happy to see that they have a much bigger offering presently. Considering the brewery offers oysters on the menu, I am glad to see they have an oyster stout on the menu. Back in April, I ordered the Brewing Owl Milkshake IPA, and typically I like milkshake IPAs, but this beer was overly hoppy and it overpowered the vanilla taste. I also ordered the Gimme One Kolsch, but as most Kolschs, it was pretty bland. If it wasn’t for the increase in variety in the menu, I would not be going back.

Nick: I rather liked the Gimmie One Kolsch, but I feel like I enjoy them more than Chris does. Overall I had a similar view as Chris, this is clearly a place with a lot of IPA’s and I am not an IPA fan. I had hoped to like their TriCove Cuddler Pale Ale but that was my least favorite of the five beers that we tried. I always like a dog friendly brewery and with the new menu options I would like to go again.

Other cool stuff:

  • Merch available
  • Can get a reservation
  • Dog friendly patio
  • Cocktails

What we drank:

Chris: Brewing Owl (Milkshake IPA) 7% – 3 out of 5

Chris: Gimme One Kolsch (Kolsch) 5% – 3 out of 5

Nick: The Tricove Cuddler Pale Ale (Pale Ale) 5%- 2 out of 5

Nick: Gimme One Kolsch (Kolsch) 5% – 4 out of 5

Brewing persuasion: 3 out of 5

Feeling persuaded yet?