30 Mile Brewing Company

When we went: November 12th, 2021

Where: 39 Ragged Rock Rd, Old Saybrook, CT 06475

30 Mile Brewing Company opened in Old Saybrook in 2015, and sadly it will permanently shut down on January 16th. Many small businesses, breweries especially, have been hit hard by the pandemic. 30 Mile Brewing is not the first or last brewery to shut down. Please support your local restaurants and breweries. 30 Mile Brewing doesn’t close for another week, so there’s still time to get some of their great beer.

30 Mile Brewing is a garage style brewery located in an industrial area. They have a decent amount of indoor and outdoor seating space. While they don’t have a huge number of beers on tap, they have a mix of styles so there is something for everyone.

Chris: 30 Mile Brewing is located about half way between my brother’s place and mine so we ended up going there a few times. My favorite beer was their Don’t Be A Karl, a Imperial Marshmallow Stout that clocked in at a whopping 12.5%. Don’t Be A Karl had a nice marshmallow taste that made this beer dangerously good. Have a DD if you are having more than one of these. They have an old style oil popcorn maker, and it was the great snack to go along with their beer. I will miss 30 Mile Brewing, their convenient location, delicious popcorn, and very alcoholic beer. I doubt anyone there is completely done with craft beer and hope they try some new ventures soon.

Nick: 30 Mile Brewing was definitely not afraid to try different things. Their Rymley’s Winter-Warmer Barleywine and the aptly-named Golden Something both stand out in that regard. My favorite beer was the I Got My Peaches Out in Georgia, a sour. As Chris mentioned, we’d meet at 30 Mile as it was a good half way point for us. Also, the brewery is pet friendly, so we were able to bring the dogs. Minerva hung out under one of the picnic tables and Jax enjoyed sneaking our popcorn. The last time I went with my wife, and we saw the infamous Karl, namesake of the “Don’t Be a Karl” and a regular of the brewery, enjoying a brew at the bar. He had great banter with the staff and other patrons, and brought smiles to many faces. The staff was helpful and knowledgeable about their beers and everyone seemed to be having a great time. I am disappointed to see 30 Mile go. I always hope that every small business and every brewery will be successful.

Our Favorite beer:

Chris: Don’t Be a Karl (Imperial Stout) 12.5% – 4 out of 5

Nick: I Got My Peaches Out in Georgia (Sour) 5% – 4 out of 5

Bank and Bridge Brewing

When we went: July 16th, 2021

Where: 54 W Main Street, Mystic, CT 06355

Bank and Bridge Brewing is the newest brewery in downtown Mystic. Their grand opening was last week, but they’ve been opened since June. The brewery’s building stands out as it was built in 1831 as a bank, and the inside keeps that classic fancy bank feeling. They kept the old vault in the building and display it for visitors. There is plenty of seating both indoors and outdoors, with the former teller area being the natural location for the bar. Outside food is not allowed as we found out, but they do offer food made in-house. Being in downtown Mystic is both a hit and a miss. Downtown is a great place to visit with tons of restaurants, and now two breweries, ice cream shops, and all the great summer spots, but parking can be tricky. Street parking is limited, and the Mystic Museum of Art parking lot is expensive.

Chris: I always love buildings that keep the original look around, like Willy brew, and I am very happy that Bank and Bridge did the same. But when it comes to their beer, I think they have a long way to go. When we went in July, they only had 4 of their own beers, and only two of them were on tap with the others being canned. Their website shows they currently have 2 beers on tap and 3 canned. They supplement these with 3 guest taps, but of the 8 different beers, 5 are IPAs, leaving almost no variety. I recommend you check their menu before making the trip. This limited brewing capacity also meant that they did not do cans to go. I had their Manatee Porter, which was pretty good, it was really smooth and had a nice hint of coffee.

Nick: Bank and Bridge is definitely a cool location for tourists, but as Chris said, the lack of parking means you are likely going to have to pay for parking. The building is unique, but when I went back recently with my wife, we found that it was difficult to get seated inside as the table arrangement was quite congested. But sitting outside is definitely nice, although you can’t see the water from the brewery. The owner is apparently a huge Arsenal fan, that’s English soccer for those who haven’t at least seen Ted Lasso, and the trappings of the team are located all over the bar. They feature the TV schedule on their website, and they open for all their games, even the morning mid week ones. There’s also a special room for games, and they have custom jerseys that say Bank & Bridge Gooners. That being said, I kind of expected them to at least subtly lean into the soccer vibe with their Beer, like 2nd Bridge in Manchester does, but seemingly nothing yet. I had The Joker (a Pilsner) and Celestial Navigation (DIPA), neither of which were very interesting to me. However I would love to go back if and when they get some more beers on tap.

Other Cool Things:

  • Lots of wine available
  • Hard liquor available
  • Decent size food menu
  • Open 7 days a week
  • Show Arsenal FC games

What we drank:

Chris: Manatee (Porter) 6.5% – 4 out of 5

Nick: The Joker (Pilsner) 4.5% – 3 out of 5

Nick: Celestial Navigation (DIPA) 8% – 2.5 out of 5

Brewing Persuasion: 3 out of 5

Feeling persuaded yet?

Denver Beer Company/Cerveceria Colorado

When we went: October 5th, 2021

Where: 1695 Platte Street, Denver, Colorado 80202

You might be wondering why we are reviewing two breweries in the same post, but it is because the Denver Beer Company owns and operates Cerveceria Colorado. The Platte Street location of DBC and Cerveceria are in the same building, so it seemed natural to put the two breweries together. My brother, Nick, and I were in Colorado for a family wedding and decided to hit up a few breweries. Lucky for us, very few cities have more breweries then Denver.

DBC was one of the last breweries we went to, but it was definitely the most impressive. There was a good amount of space both indoors and outdoors at DBC, so even though it was pretty busy, we were able to get a table. The walls of DBC were chalkboard with lots of chalk art depicting different beers which gave the vibe of a fancy garage brewery.

Even though Cerveceria is connected to DBC, a hallway separates the two breweries, and the inside of Cerveceria has a completely different look. Cerveceria had less indoor and outdoor seating than DBC, but you can take your beers to either side. You may have guessed by the name, but Cerveceria is a Mexican beer themed brewery. The décor begins outside, with the building painted bright red and blue. The inside has wood plank walls with painted symbols and a light up sign saying “Bridges not walls.”

Denver Beer Company taproom

Chris: DBC had quite a large selection and variety of beers with a slight concentration on sours. They had so many to offer, we of course had to do flights. My favorite beer from DBC was the Hubbabubbalicious Watermelon Sour which tasted like a watermelon starburst. My next favorite was their Graham Cracker Porter which tasted exactly like it sounds, and I liked it so much I still have some in my fridge.

Cerveceria is pretty unique in both décor and beers they offered. The brewery had all Mexican style beers and collaborated with a few Mexican breweries to produce their brews. They had a good selection and variety with a concentration on stouts, which of course made me very happy. All the beers I had were pretty good, but my favorite was their Café De Olla Stout which was flavored with with a traditional spiced Mexican coffee with a nice caramel flavor and was a collab with San Pascual Babylon in Cholula, Mexico. I have been to plenty of themed breweries, but Cerveceria Colorado was completely unique for me.

Cerveceria Colorado tap room

Nick: DBC was definitely my favorite brewery of the trip in terms of actual beers. I like sours, and while it seemed like every place in Colorado had a sour, not many stood out. DBC had my two favorite sours of the trip, the Tart Delight and the Hubbabubbalicious Watermelon Sour. The Tart Delight had an interesting flavor, somewhat salty but not overpowering. As Chris said the Hubbabubbalicious was amazing, it did taste like starbursts and is now in my top five beers.

I liked everything that I had at Cerveceria, and the woman who served us over at DBC actually ended her shift there and had started at Cerveceria when we came over to try it. She told us a little about how DBC started Cerveceria to be able to try some styles that they wouldn’t normally make at DBC and how they collaborate with breweries in different parts of Mexico. The Sangre De Gusano was my favorite beer. Its a blood orange sour that really stood out to me. The Churro Stout was also very good, and I am not much of a stout fan.

Other Cool Things:

  • Dog friendly
  • Food trucks
  • Cerveceria shows Mexican league soccer games
  • Only about a 15 minute walk from Coors Field or Ball Arena

What we drank:

Chris: Graham Cracker (Porter) 5.6%- 4.5 out of 5

Chris: Hubbabubbalicious Watermelon (Sour) 5% – 5 out of 5

Chris: Café De Olla (Stout) 6.6%- 4 out of 5

Nick: Sangre De Gusano (Sour) 6.6% – 4 out of 5

Nick: Hubbabubbalicious Watermelon (Sour) 5% – 5 out of 5

Nick: Tart Delight (Sour) 5% – 4 out of 5

Brewing Persuasion: 4.5 out of 5

Feeling Persuaded Yet?