Stewards of the Land Brewery

When We Went: January 30th, 2020

Where: 418 Forest Rd, Northford, CT 06472

We have to be honest – we had never heard of Stewards of the Land Brewery until we physically drove past it one day and Shannon screamed out “THAT’S A BREWERY!” Needless to say, we made sure to stop in and check the place out. Opened in 2019, Stewards of the Land is a farm brewery that brews all their beer with self-grown hops and other locally sourced ingredients. The ultimate farm to glass brewery! In 2017, way before they were even open for business, the brewery spearheaded the Farm Brewery Bill, which allows farm brewery’s to manufacture, bottle, and sell beer. Pretty awesome if you ask us!

Shannon: Stewards of the Land is a homely brewery located in a 19th century farmhouse, which I totally love. I felt like I was walking into a family kitchen, ready to have a beer and tasty snacks made by my mom. They had a good amount of beers on tap, but none of them really screamed out to me. I decided to have a single pour of their Red Rump Swallow Kolsch. This beer (which wasn’t my favorite) was light and crisp. Next time I’m there I’d like to try some of their other beer – there’s bound to be one I love.

Chris: Stewards of the Land prides itself on being as Connecticut as possible. They grow a good amount of their ingredients from their farm and try to get everything else from the state; they claim “each batch is 95% to 100% CT ingredients by volume.” Their farm is just down the street from the taproom, and during the growing season they do a farmers market full of miniature goats and chickens for the kids! (I would assume the goats and chickens are to feed and/or pet, not eat). The taproom really does give that cozy house feeling, with the bar covered in marble and family room style seating. I tried their Chocolate Swallow Stout and Cinn-a-bird Brown Ale, and as you can tell with the beer names and logo, they are going for a bird theme.

Other Cool Stuff:

  • Food trucks and snacks available in the taproom
  • They offer interactive hop classes for homebrewers looking to learn more about planting and cultivating home-grown hops!
  • There’s even a home brew store in the taproom where you can buy different hops and malts grown on the farm!!
  • They’re the only brewery in the state that sells hemp flower and CBD oils and creams
  • Thursday nights are First Responders Night – get a discount with your badge!
  • Friday nights are Teachers Night- get a discount with you teachers ID!

Our Persuasion

What we drank:

Shannon: Red Rump Swallow (Kolsch) 3 out of 5

Chris: Chocolate Swallow (Stout) 3.5 out of 5

Chris: Cinn-a-bird (Brown Ale) 3.5 out of 5

Brewing Persuasion: 3 out of 5

Urban Lodge Brewing Co.

When we went: January 2nd, 2020

Location: 47 Purnell Plaza, Manchester, CT 06040

Photo by @craftreppin on Instagram.

Urban Lodge opened in August of 2019, so they are pretty new to the craft-brewery scene. As soon as you walk in you are transported to a ski lodge in Colorado. How did they develop teleportation technology like in Star Trek? Not sure, but by looking at the decor you can clearly see you are in Aspen.They committed to the ski lodge aesthetic 100%, even their logo is a mountain range. The inside is split between the lounge side and the play side. The lounge side is pretty self explanatory with several comfy sitting areas. On the play side you will find tons of games like corn hole, tiki toss, and giant Jenga. Outside you still get that same ski resort feel with a giant beautiful mural and fire pits. Despite cultivating this Colorado inspired brewery, the owners all grew up in Manchester. And they chose the perfect place to put a brewery, downtown Manchester, right behind the restaurant Lucky Taco Cantina & Tap Room.

The only picture Shannon remembered to take during our visit – oops!

Chris: I am a big fan of Urban Lodge’s location and décor; it really does feel like a beautiful ski resort with plenty of beer. I have been here a few times now and really enjoyed myself every time. This is a place I could spend all day drinking beer and playing games. Just never play corn hole with Shannon, you will beat her and then she will pretend that she won. Even though they don’t serve food, they are in downtown Manchester so all you have to do is walk a few feet and you will be next to like four different restaurants. We stopped in for some tacos and then went for some beer at Urban Lodge. Speaking of beer, last time Shannon and I went they only had six or so beers, but according to their website, they have twelve on tap currently. Its exciting to see how quickly they are expanding. I would recommend their Pop’s Stout, which is a 5% milk stout that goes down real smooth. There are plenty of breweries in Manchester, but make sure this your first stop.

Shannon: First off, I would like to formally state that I am an EXCELLENT cornhole player (Chris is a sore loser because he always loses to me.) If you would like to test this statement, I will happily crush you in a one-on-one game. Second, Urban Lodge is an awesome little brewery! Out of all the taprooms in Manchester, this is probably my favorite one. They often have some really good IPA’s on tap, but my favorite brew of theirs is a Kolsch called Sunrise Run. The beer is light and dry with subtle tastes of citrus and lemon. It’s the perfect springtime beer (currently on tap too!) And for my third and final statement, another really nice thing about Urban Lodge is that they have wine and cider available. One of the best ciders I’ve had while in the taproom is Stafford Cidery’s sweet vanilla cider. Try it. You can thank me later.

Other cool stuff:

  • Dog friendly patio
  • Tons of music and trivia events
  • Kid friendly
  • Plenty of merch both at the taproom and online

Shannon: Morning Mist (Golden Ale) 3 out of 5

Chris: Pop’s Stout (Milk Stout) 4.25 out of 5

Brewing Persuasion: 4 out of 5

Iron Brewing Company

When I went: January 4th, 2020

Location: 136 Washington Street, Norwalk, CT 06854

Iron Brewing Company opened in 2017 by three chemists in Norwalk, hence their motto, “Better Beer Through Chemistry.” The brewery is located right next to the Norwalk river in the downtown part of South Norwalk. Iron Brewing is a brewpub style and very much gives the impression of being a bar, one of those new fancy New York gastro-pub like bars that all the cool young people go to. I am surprised they let my brother in. While not huge, they can fit a decent amount of people into their space with plenty of bar seats and tables. Being a pub they also have an extensive menu and craft food to go with their craft beer.

Chris: So I went to this one with my brother instead of Shannon; sorry Shannon. We stopped here on our way to a hockey game and had never been before. Although they don’t have a large selection of house beers (six when we went) the ones available were high quality. I had both the Raspberry Sour and the Strigo Nitro Coffee Porter and would definitely recommend both. Being a Brewpub they also have plenty of other drinks including craft beers from other local breweries as well as a full bar. So this is a place you can go even with some lame non-beer drinking friends. It’s also a nice one stop for lunch/diner because of how much food they have available AND they have desserts (always a plus for me). If you are in the area I would definitely give this place a try, and if you live near them, I would join their beer club; on Wednesdays you get a free beer!

Other cool stuff:

  • Brunch on Sundays!!!!!!!!
  • Beer club deals
  • Hoppy Hour (I like the pun)

My persuasions

Raspberry Sour 4 out of 5

Strigo Nitro Coffee Porter 5 out of 5 (Nitro makes everything better)

Brewing Persuasion: 4 out of 5