Transcend Beer Crafters

When: December 17th, 2025

Where: 45 Northwest Drive, Unit A, Plainville, CT 06062

Transcend Beer Crafters is Plainville’s newest brewery, opened in 2025. While the outside of the taproom makes it look like another garage style brewery, the inside shows how modern it actually is. The taproom is open and spacious with an event space attached next door. Visitors can enjoy games like shuffleboard and classic arcade machines, a wide selection of beer and merchandise, and a full kitchen. Its interesting to see how breweries have come full circle in the last decade, from restaurant breweries, to hole-in-the-wall garages with exclusive beers, and now to full destination stops for games, food, and beer. Transcend is the model of the new/old style brewery that needs to bring people in with more than just what’s on tap.

Chris: Speaking of the beer at Transcend, its been a long time since I went to a brewery and was blown away by the variety, quality, and uniqueness of their brews. Its hard for me to tell you what was the best because there were so many great beers and more than I could drink in one visit, so I’ve already planned my return. My favorite so far was their Blackout, a smoothie sour with a strong berry flavor and lactose to make it nice and creamy. A close second was their Trouble Stuff milk stout that tasted exactly like Oreos and came in at a whopping 10%. There were plenty of hopping and light beers to go along with their sweet sours and stouts, but with so many selections, I kept to my favorites.

Nick: Chris and I both loved the sours, and they were fantastic. My favorite was the Cranberry Creamlada, which was the first one I tried and really set a high bar for everything else. I love sours, and I can’t remember ever going to a place that had so many sours that I could not try all of them in one sitting. The Legnog and Blackout were also delicious sours and such unique and rich flavors that a palate cleanser in between them was a must, which is about the only thing I can compliment the Kolsch on. The only real negative for me was that all of the sours and, in fact, the majority of their beers were lactose-based; me being lactose intolerant did not stop me from enjoying them, as I always travel with Lactaid, but it definitely prevented me from taking any cans home, as I do not trust myself to remember to take it beforehand. I definitely plan to come back, especially with its flexible hours and a kitchen that’s always open.

Other cool things:

  • Multi leveled membership (kind of like a mug club)
  • Event space
  • Lots of merch
  • To-go beer

What we drank:

Chris: Trouble stuff (Stout) 10% – 4.25 out of 5

Chris: Blackout (Sour) 6% – 4.5 out of 5

Chris: Get cozy (Winter Warmer) 4.8% – 3.5 out of 5

Nick: Cranberry Pina Creamlada (Sour) 6% –4.5 out of 5

Nick: Legnog (Sour) 6% –4 out of 5

Nick: Blackout (Sour) 6% – 4 out of 5

Brewing Persuasion:

Beer: 4.5 out of 5

Location: 3 out of 5

Atmosphere: 4 out of 5

Longview Ciderhouse

When: September 19th, 2025

Where: 36 Long Bottom Rd, Southington, CT 06489

Longview Ciderhouse is owned and operated by Rogers Orchards and is an outdoor only facility. The name comes from the long view visitors get from their hilltop porch, where people can see the Hartford skyline all the way from Southington. Rogers Orchards sets up a seasonal truck that serves their homemade cider and brandy at their scenic farm. They also operate a small grocery store at the bottom of the hill where they sell food, drinks, and their alcohol all year round. There are a lot of advantages of being outdoors, and Longview makes the most of it with popular firepits that you need to reserve, you covered tent, and lots of food truck options. One downside is that you cannot bring your dog onto the property.

Chris: I’ve been to Longview a few times now, including at their cider festival earlier this year. I am a huge cider fan and have been for many years, so I had to do the flight. The best of the bunch was their Honey cider, which was deliciously sweet. So it’s no surprise that my second favorite was their Sweet Farm, which had a nice hint of tartness.

Nick: My favorites from the tasting were the Spruce Tips and the Hibiscus Rose. The Spruce Tips had a piney, earthy flavor that Chris didn’t care for, but I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it. Normally, I lean toward sweeter ciders, so discovering that I liked this dry option was unexpected. The Hibiscus Rose was another dry cider, with a delicate floral note that I really appreciated, though Chris wasn’t a fan.

On the other hand, I also enjoyed Chris’s favorites: the Sweet Farm and the Honey. Both were classic sweet ciders—smooth, flavorful, and very well done.

Beyond the drinks, Longview itself is a gem. The view is unbeatable, making it the perfect spot to share a cider with friends and family while soaking in the beautiful outdoors.

Other cool things:

  • Brandy and wine available
  • Farm products for sale
  • Outdoor events

What we drank:

Chris: Honey (Sweet) 5% – 4.5 out of 5

Chris: Sweet Farm (Sweet) 5.4% – 3.75 out of 5

Nick: Spruce Tips (Dry) 5%- 4 out of 5

Nick: Hibiscus Rose (Dry) 7.9%- 4 out of 5

Brewing Persuasion

Cider: 4 out of 5

Location: 3.5 out of 5

Atmosphere: 4 out of 5

Counterweight Brewing Company

When: June 18th, 2025

Where: 7 Diana Court, Cheshire, CT

Counterweight Brewing Company was founded in Hamden in 2017 but they outgrew their original location pretty quickly. In 2022, they relocated to their current and much larger facility in Cheshire. The taproom at Counterweight Brewing was one of the largest I had seen with a large outdoor space and two entire floors and bars on the inside. Like many breweries, they seem to focus on IPAs but do have a splattering of other styles like wheats, sours, and an occasional dark beer. The main advantage of this space is how much they can do with it, they have enough space to host multiple events and have food services like Ritual Pizza (previously located inside Labyrinth brewing). This means that if you don’t want to do trivia or get too close to the live music, there are still plenty of places for you to sit inside and out.

Chris: With how large of a facility Counterweight had, I was expecting a wider variety in their styles. I understand that most people are going to want IPAs and light beers, but their other options were more limited than I expected. That being said, there were multiple styles available to us when we visited. I chose to get a wheat ale, Farmhouse ale, and a sour. Of course my favorite was the sour, Crimson Briar with a nice raspberry taste to it with some tart. Other than that, I wasn’t really a fan of the other beers I had but I think that had more to do with the limited variety in styles I like.

Nick: I really liked the Sour Crimson Briar, I think it was both Chris’s and mine favorite. It had a really nice Raspberry and Cherry flavor. I really wanted to like some of their other beers, but the Daybloom and CW Saison were alright, but didn’t stand out to me much. I loved a lot of the guest taps, but I do wish that I liked more of what they had. The location was really nice, though, and I can see why it’s so popular, great downstairs, outside, and upstairs.

Other cool things:

  • Merch
  • Cans to go
  • Lots of events
  • Pizza, burgers, and hot dogs available
  • Lots of guest taps

What we drank:

Chris: Daybloom (Wheat) 5%- 3 out of 5

Chris: Crimson Briar (Sour) 4.8% – 3.75 out of 5

Nick: Crimson Briar (Sour) 4.8% – 4 out of 5

Nick: CW Saison (Farmhouse Ale) 6.6% – 3 out of 5

Brewing Persuasion

Beer: 3 out of 5

Location: 4 out of 5

Atmosphere: 4 out of 5