Hops On The Hill Brewery

When we went: February 23, 2020

Location: 275 Dug Road, South Glastonbury, CT 06073

Hops On The Hill Brewery is the definition of farm to glass. All of their beers are made with hops and grains grown on their family farm which they have been running since the 1950s! What’s even cooler – the brewery itself is in an old tobacco drying barn and surrounded by operating farm land. During the summer months the brewery even operates as a farmers market, selling fresh cut flowers, hops, pumpkins, and other fresh produce! The moment you drive onto the farm property towards the brewery, you’re guaranteed to feel more connected to the authentic farm environment. You can even see the hops they grow to use in their beer. Grab a beer, sit back, and pause to enjoy what’s around you.

Shannon: The moment I wandered onto Hops On The Hills farm property I felt at home. Maybe that’s just the Pennsylvanian in me though. The land is seriously beautiful – I can’t wait to go back and see what it’s like when winter is over. What I really like about Hops On The Hills beer is that it’s all made with ingredients grown on their farm. How they have the time to work a farm AND brew beer is beyond me, but more power to them! I’ve been on a Hefeweizen kick lately so of course I had to have theirs. It was light, hazy, and had a subtle banana smell and taste – I enjoyed it so much I had to have it twice.

Chris: What I find so great about the Connecticut craft brewery scene is the wide range of vastly different brewery types. You have the cool hip city brewery, the brewpub, the hole in the wall with great beer, and stuff like Hops on the Hill. This is a very rural location for the taproom, you literally go down a dirt road through the woods. If this place came around before google maps I doubt anyone that didn’t live in South Glastonbury would know how to get there. That is part of this place’s appeal, its not near anything else. There is tons of outdoor room, which is great if you have kids, let them run around and tire themselves out. The inside reminds me of an old saloon in a good way. Get as many small individual tasters you want so that you can try all their different beers. I of course had to get their porter which was pretty good, but I also got their apple ale which I would recommend. Everything I had was good, and hopefully next time I go they will have a few more options. I definitely want to go back in the warmer months to enjoy the outdoors with some of their beer.

Other cool stuff:

  • During the summer you can bring your own lawn chairs or picnic blankets and drink on the farm!
  • Occasional food trucks during the summer
  • Farm to glass brewery
  • Doubles as a farmers market during the summer
  • Hops On The Hill merchandise for sale
  • Hiking, walking, and biking trails start and end at the brewery!!
  • On Thursdays in March, get a free slice of pizza with your beer

Our Persuasion

What we drank:

Shannon: Hefeweizen 4 out of 5

Chris: Coffee Porter 3.5 out of 5

Chris: Apple ale (Powder Hollow collab) 4 out of 5

Brewing Persuasion: 3.5 out of 5

Stony Creek Brewery

When we went: January 30th, 2020

Location A: 5 Indian Neck Avenue, Branford, CT 06405

Location B: Foxwoods Casino

Stony Creek Brewery opened in Branford in 2015 and is located right on the Branford River. This huge facility boasts a large parking lot and tons of both indoor and outdoor seating. The indoor taproom gives a tiki-bar-like vibe (or maybe that’s just what we think) but they definitely play up the coastline location with the décor and logo. The taproom also has a second floor for events too! In addition, they have a patio and outdoor bar with multiple fire pits and spaces to play corn hole or bocce ball. Overall, their Branford location is massive and beautiful, especially during the summer. They opened a location at Foxwoods Casino too, so if you suddenly become thirsty from all that gambling, you can stop by and have a drink.

Chris- Stony Creek is one of my favorite breweries and this not the first time I have gone. I love the atmosphere of the place, and because of how massive their place is, you don’t have to worry about the crowd on a busy day. I really feel like I’m in a stylish beachfront tiki bar when I am there. They usually do a food truck, especially during warmer months so you can really stay all day, enjoy the sun, drink some beer, and grab something to eat while playing plenty of outdoor games. Stony Creek is open seven days a week which I am a fan of because few breweries are open in the early week. When it comes to their beer, it’s quite good. They have a large selection and many different types of beer, including one of my all-time favorites, their Nitro Chocolate Porter with Peanut Butter. The last time I went though I got the “Mango Zinger,” a Sour which had a nice fruity flavor with just the right amount of sour, and “Woodsy Breakfast Porter” which was perfect for the cold day it was.

Shannon- This place really does have some great drafts. I always enjoy starting off my visit here with a flight. I don’t get to come often, so when I do, there’s always a handful of beers I’m dying to try. So much beer, so little time. Our last visit I got a flight with: “La Garza Laid Back Lager” (a lager), “Stony Boogaloo” ( a lager), “Winter Weight” (a porter), and “Montoweiss” (a hefewizen). I liked the Montoweiss so much that I got a full pour after finishing up my flight! I would 10 out of 10 recommend this brewery to anyone looking to enjoy a nice day with some family or friends.

Other cool stuff:

  • Open 7 days a week!!
  • Food trucks during the warmer months/ in-house pizza during the winter
  • Outdoor spaces for games like cornhole and bocce ball
  • On the water with dock access
  • Cool people join the mug club
  • They do brewery tours on Saturdays and Sundays for just $5! (includes sampling)
  • Mini merch store
  • You can see right into where they do all their canning

Our Persuasion

What we drank:

Chris: Mango Zinger (Sour) 4 out of 5

Chris: Woodsy Breakfast Porter 4.5 out of 5

Shannon: Montoweiss (Hefewizen) 4 out of 5

Brewing Persuasion: 5 out of 5

Tox Brewing Company

When we went: January 23th, 2020

Location: 635 Broad St, New London, CT 06320

What does toxicology and beer have in common? If you ask the three co-founders of Tox Brewing Company, they’ll say they’re the perfect theme combination for New London’s first brewery and taproom, which they opened in 2019. Tox gets its name from one of the owners interest in poisonous mushrooms, poisonous plants, and poisonous drugs. I mean, come on, how cool is that? These guys name all their beers after poisonous plants and animals, like “Belladonna,” a chocolate coconut stout, “Deadly Nightshade,” a coffee milk stout, and “Placebo Effect,” a cream ale. They’ve leaned so far into the toxicology theme that their tap handles look like mushrooms, the bathroom walls have sketches of molecular poisons, and their logo is a poison dart frog.

Disclaimer: If you’re reading this and starting to worry that you might get poisoned by Tox beer, don’t worry! They don’t actually brew with any poisonous plants or fungus. There are no actual toxins in their beer…..ya know, besides the alcohol.

Shannon- Tox is a suave little spot with friendly and helpful staff. I love the branded beaker-style tasters glasses they use for flights (which you get to keep!) and I love their dedication to the toxicology theme. These guys are brewing a good variety of popular styles and doing some pretty intriguing things with each of them. I’ve been impressed with almost every beer I’ve tried. I’m a big fan of their IPA’s and DIPA’s, but even their stouts are stupid good. The only beer I can think of that didn’t do it for me (but was still good but only in small amounts) was the “Wisteria,” a maple coffee stout. I love sweet things as much as the next person, but this one was H.E.A.V.Y sweet.

Chris- Tox had a small but cozy taproom and I like the theme of the place. As Shannon said, their place is covered in mushrooms and frogs; just how Alvarium is covered in bees. For such a small place they had a pretty good selection and variety of beers. I had a few beers but my favorite was Buckeye which was sweet but light and milky, with hints of chocolate and peanut butter. They do flights here but with a token system, they give you one glass and four tokens and once you finish one of the tasters you trade in another token for another sample. On the plus side you get to keep the glass, on the downside it makes it awkward to share if you are a germophobe and you only get to try one at a time. Overall its a nice cozy place with decent craft beer, if you are in the area, give it a try.

Other cool stuff:

  • Food trucks during the warmer months
  • Dog friendly outdoor patio
  • Get four 5 oz pours of your choice and keep the beaker-style taster glass when you’re all done!
  • Toxicology themed-merchandise
  • For their checkout system, they stuck an iPad into the frame of an early-1990s Macintosh Classic II computer!
  • Survived the 1781 burning of New London by Benedict Arnold

Our Persuasion:

What we drank:

Shannon: Placebo Effect (Cream Ale) 3.5 out of 5

Shannon: Animalcule (New England Pale Ale) 3.5 out of 5

Chris: Buckeye (Milk Stout) 4 out of 5

Chris: Wisteria (Maple Stout) 2.5 out of 5

Brewing Persuasion: 3.5 out of 5