Filtering by Tag: Beer

4B Festival: Beer, Bourbon, BBQ, & Bacon Converge in New Haven

Restaurant BBQ Cocktails Events Beer

CTbites Team

The 4B Festival announced the area’s first of its kind festival of specially curated beer, bourbon, barbecue and bacon is coming to New England. Happy Holidays to me!

4B concepted this indulgent experience in honor of two cornerstones of American heritage – fermented grains and salted meats – and to help drive local businesses and tourism. A portion of proceeds from ticket sales and sponsorships will go to the CT Craft Brewers Guild to help support local businesses.

From microbrews to pork belly, the 4B Festival will bring together national and local purveyors all in one place to offer the most delicious and creative samplings to “4B” aficionados, all highlighted with musical performances, interactive art displays and live competitions among home brewers, BBQ taste tests and a bacon eating contest for the real meat eaters. From food samplings from pit masters, chefs and restaurants to bacon-infused treats to tastings at beer and bourbon stations with a souvenir shot glass.

“After family there are very few important things in life, and we’ve narrowed them down to these four - Beer, Bourbon, Barbecue & Bacon,” said David Salinas


Friday Froth: Two For Two

Beer Dinner CT Beer Beer

James Gribbon


There is a road, no simple highway,
Between the dawn and the dark of night

The wind outdoors stings in little nips - a puppy with needle-like teeth. The light is ruddy and beautiful in the early afternoon, but it arrives flat, and it provides meager heat. Nature, having provided, is exhausted. We'll have to see ourselves through this night.


Did grim darkness inspire the brewers up the highway at Two Roads Brewing Co. to create an inky ale and name it Route Of All Evil? Who is this hellish clown, and why am I suddenly afraid of tricycles? Time for a stiff drink.

"Ales From The Crypt" says the label, and this beer pours almost dead black. The barest hints of red appear at the edges where the bubbling solution allows weak trickles of light to pass through. Fear of the dark begins to fade, though, as you notice a thick, tawny head bubbling up from within this Evil, and there's not much - cold, dark, or otherwise - that can't be overcome through the application of seven-point-five percent alcohol.

The head leaves a sticky, bubbly lacing on the glass, and there's a clean and malty smell with just a suggestion of hops. The first swig is sharp with slightly acerbic, darkly toasty grain. The eyes can play tricks in the dark and tell the mouth to expect a heavy weight, but this beer's surprise is its light mouthfeel. There's no viscosity here, and large spherules of carbonation burst on the tongue. Route Of All Evil is a counterpoint to silken nitro stouts or the caloric feast of many winter ales currently hitting the market.


10 Questions with Captain Lawrence Brewing Company Scott Vaccaro

Interview Chef Talk Beer

Amy Kundrat

Barcelona Wine Bar in SoNo recently hosted a beer dinner with Captain Lawrence Brewing Company founder and brewmaster Scott Vaccaro. The four course dinner paired a spanish inspired menu designed by Chef Freddy Chimborazo, with four of the brewery's beers (and at $45 per person, this felt like a dine and dash). The meal went from light to heavy, beginning with a first course paired a grilled shrimp with lemon aoili paired with Liquid Gold, a Belgian Style ale, to a fourth course pairing smoked short ribs with a smoked porter. In addition to the four well-matched courses, the highlight of the evening was getting to know Vacarro, Captain Lawrence's amiable founder and brewmaster himself. 

1. How did you go from drinking Schaefer to brewing your own beer at the age of 17?

I stumbled upon home brewing at a friends house my junior year in high school. I was amazed that you could actually brew beer at home. I was given the green light by my parents and with the help of my friends father I brewed my first batch in November of 1995.

2. You studied brewing at UC Davis, and worked at a few breweries including Sierra Nevada. Are you inspired by a particular style or brewery when brewing your beers?


Friday Froth: A Pale Wolf Approaches

Friday Froth Beer

James Gribbon

I do a lot of talking about Brooklyn beers in this space, between the eponymous Brooklyn Brewery, Sixpoint, He'brew/Coney Island etc. - and more on that later - but today we're going to start by kicking it up to the Boogie Down. The Bronx gets a lot of respect as the birthplace of hip hop and the home of Bullwackie's distinctly NYC dub, but if you know anything about the foodie scene outside of Arthur Avenue in the borough, you know more than me. I like to keep my eyes and ears open, though, and my mind well lubricated, so it wasn't too long before I was on the scent of a new brewer out of Port Morris. 

The Bronx Brewery's flagship beer is called Bronx Pale Ale, and was slapped down on the bar top before me in an industrial looking one-pint can. I personally like the stripped down appearance of the silver and black can, and immediately noticed the brewery had followed the trend of printing the beer's ABV, SRM and IBUs right on there, but they had taken it a few steps further and included the Pale Ale's Original and Final Gravities. 


Prime 16 Tap House & Burgers Hosts Connecticut Tap Takeover Oct. 23

CT Beer Beer

CTbites Team

Prime 16 Tap House & Burgers, located at 464 Boston Post Road in Orange, Connecticut, will be hosting a Connecticut Tap Takeover on Wednesday, October 23 at 5pm.

Twenty of Prime 16's thirty taps will be pouring all local, all Connecticut beers the night of October 23rd. Come meet over a dozen brewery reps and brewmasters from some of Connecticut's best breweries. Scheduled to attend are reps and brewmasters from Beaver, Cavalry, Charter Oak, City Steam, George Washington, Half Full, New England, Olde Burnside, Stony Creek, Two Roads and Weed (and more!)

This event featuring Connecticut beers is especially one to attend as many of these brewers don't have their own tasting rooms. It's an ideal opportunity to taste local beers and speak to the brewers who've created the brews on a one to one level.


Come On Down to Westport’s Oktoberfest Biergarten on the Green Oct.19th

Restaurant Beer Dinner Events Holiday Oktoberfest Beer

CTbites Team

A chill in the air…days getting shorter…colorful leaves swirling….Welcome to October and the Westport Downtown Merchants Association’s 2nd annual Biergarten on the Green on Saturday October 19th 1:00-5:00 pm. Meet under the big tent on historic Veteran's Green right in downtown Westport, CT and sample some of the finest, award-winning local, national and international craft and micro brews.

A mini tasting mug will be provided for samples from breweries such as Blue Point on Long Island, Goose Island from Chicago, East Coast Brewing from New Jersey, and Beaver Beer from right here in Westport.  The Shock Top beer car will be back with the tap in the trunk and the Mohawk of wheat on the roof.   New breweries are added every day. 

Seasonal food such as knockwurst, bratwurst, pulled pork and chili will be available for purchase. The food experts from CTBites will present chefs from Tavern on Main, and The Spreaddemonstrating ways to pair the beverage of the day with delicious food; and the Zany Oompah Band will be back performing all the classics: waltzes, polkas and drinking songs for sing-a-long and dancing! 


Little Barn in Westport: Local Pub Gets Ready for Fall Opening

Restaurant Westport Beer Bar Comfort Food Kid Friendly

CTbites Team

“Things are starting to move really quickly now” said Scott Beck the co-owner of the soon to open Little Barn in Westport. He and his partner Kevin McHugh are working to get the new Pub opened before the holiday season starts. “We’re building a barn, and putting a pub inside” 

‘Since Kevin sold his shares in The Little Pub in Ridgefield we have been looking for a great spot to put a new pub concept. When we found out that the Swanky Frank’s space could be had we moved quickly. I loved the idea of redoing such an iconic building in Westport particularly since we both grew up in Westport and spent lots of time in the Dairy Queen back in the days before it was Swanky Franks.” While the shape of the building harkens back to its Swanky days, the interior has been completely reconceived. Beck says “I want people to be surprised when they walk in.” 

“The plan is to keep the original lines of the building intact but basically rebuild the entire place as a barn with a pub inside it. The gambrel shaped roof will be kept but the bright red roof will be replaced with a galvanized steel one. The building, inside and out, will feature lots of reclaimed red barn siding, the 2 spectacular reclaimed roof vents just went up, the 2 sided stone fireplace is being built now which will be perfect for the cooler nights. It will cozy up the inside and also warm up the outside when eating or drinking on the outside stone patio. In the summer the bar and dining room have sliding doors that open onto the patio as well which will give it a nice open air feel.   

The menu and ambiance will be casual and fun, with no dish priced over $20.


Upcoming Beer Dinners: Relic Brewing, Stone Brewing, Cask Republic

Restaurant Beer Dinner CT Beer Beer

James Gribbon

Relic Brewing has been producing small batches of beer from their location in Plainville for well over a year, and they’ve been at the top of my mental checklist of Connecticut brews to try for some time. They’ve recently given all of us two more reasons/excuses/opportunities to satiate both our curiosity and thirst, starting with their Autumnal Celebration on September 20th. This will be a free event on Relic’s grounds at 95 B Whiting St. in Plainville, and feature local purveyors of wood fired pizza, paella, bratwurst, fries, porchetta and, of course, locally brewed beer. 

The second, possibly more noteworthy, event involves Relic pairing with restaurant 50 West, also of Plainville, for a Belgian beer dinner on October 2. Relic produces several Belgian-style ales, one of which will be paired with five of the six courses at the meal, including some highlights like:


GIVEAWAY!!! Win Tix to Sun BrewFest @ Mohegan Sun Oct. 4-6

Restaurant Beer Dinner Events Beer

CTbites Team

CTbites is GIVING AWAY 2 PASSES TO SUN BREWFEST FOR EITHER DAY...WINNERS CHOICE!!! 

TO ENTER GIVEAWAY: Post a Comment anywhere on CTbites and Mention "Sun BrewFest @ Mohegan Sun." We will announce the winner on September 30th. 

Sun BrewFest returns to Mohegan Sun this October for a celebration of one of the oldest, most finely crafted beverages of them all: Beer. Sun BrewFest offers evening tasting sessions on Friday, October 4th and Saturday, October 5th in the Uncas Ballroom. New this year will be a Sunday morning BrewBrunch on October 6th in the Sunburst Buffet.

The second annual Sun BrewFest kicks off with two separate tasting sessions featuring more than 100 varieties of Craft and Microbrews to Imports & Domestics and limited editions. Some of the beers on tap will include Goose Island, Newcastle, Dogfish Head, Long Trail, Tenth & Blake’s Batch 19 and more. Samples will be available for all guests during each tasting session, where they will receive a souvenir mini-pilsner glass to be used as their tasting glass for 2 ounce pours from the various breweries. Food tickets will also be sold for $1.00 each, allowing guests to purchase food items from a variety of their favorite Mohegan Sun restaurants.         


Friday Froth: Age Of Exploration

Ingredients Brewery Beer

James Gribbon

Due to the relativistic effects of recent travel Friday Froth only APPEARS to have posted on Saturday. Adjust your perceptions accordingly.

We are explorers in this place. Early people trudged or sailed the natural world to see what had never been seen before, as far as they knew - to discover just what was out there. Incredibly daunting missions had deceivingly simple directions: Sail to India. Find the north pole. Go get spices. Head west. When the pilot on the conquistador Francisco Pizarro's ship was asked by another navigator how to find Peru when sailing from Mexico's Pacific coast he answered "Sail south along the coast until you no longer see trees. Then you are in Peru."

Like most people from the 19th century on, it's easy to think we've seen everything. There is only so much to the surface of the Earth, and the natural world often changes too slowly for us to see. Go to Hawaii or Iceland and you can see new Earth being made, but it seems we've already mapped out or looked down on the rest of it, right? The Earth may remake itself slowly, but its people gush creativity. We produce what is new under the Sun. The world of craft beer is a particularly fertile valley.

Evil Twin is the label created by one Jeppe Jarnit-Bjergsø, of Denmark.


Friday Froth: Beer...Served Fresh

Ingredients Friday Froth Beer

James Gribbon

Welcome back to another edition of CTBites’ own beer column, this time with a subtle aroma of pigskin. Tastes start to turn a little bit more to brown liquor as we transition from summer to fall but, back yard table or car bumper at a tailgate, it’s a sad hand that can’t reach for a beer.  We have stone, metal and a miracle down below as we match the days and keep it crisp. 

So fresh and so green, green: Stone Brewing in California brewed up a double IPA just for us this August and shipped it over for those who were paying attention. The brew is called Enjoy By 9-13-13 – (I gave a heads up in the last Froth here, and originally mentioned the series the first time we got a batch back in April) – and I finally got a chance to have some. Let me tell you: it was worth the wait. 

Enjoy By pours a clear gold with a thick head and tons of sweet citrus on the nose. Tip up the glass and there is so much floral, citrusy hop taste you could almost chew it. It is immediately and strikingly apparent why the brewers at Stone made such a point of the degree of freshness. There is no small amount of bitterness, but it’s held in check by a sturdy malt base. At 9.4%, the alcohol may be cutting through the other ingredients to some degree, but it’s not noticeable in the flavor. The flavor, though, is delicious. It somehow gets better as the level of beer goes down and the number of sticky rings it has left on your glass goes up. Rare is the beer that can pull off that feat. If you love hops, you need to go out and find this beer.


The Beer Garden at Harbor Point Hosts 2 Weeks of Oktoberfest

Restaurant Beer Dinner Holiday Stamford Beer

CTbites Team

As the hazy summer days drift away and the cool, crisp fall air sets in on the South End, so begins one of the biggest seasons for beer lovers. The Beer Garden at Harbor Point is set to launch an Oktoberfest created to mirror that in Munich. Oktoberfest, widely known as The World’s Greatest Beer Festival, is a sixteen-day annual celebration.

The Beer Garden’s inaugural Oktoberfest will run from September 21st through October 6th and will bring authentic German festivities to Stamford. The celebration promises fun for all including live music, colorful costumes and plenty of German grub. Many of the fan favorite food trucks have joined in on the party as well. Vanchetta, a new addition to the world of food trucks, will feature an authentic German menu including schnitzel and bratwurst. Pretzel fans? Do not fear: Maddy’s Food Truck promises to deliver hot, fresh and delicious soft pretzels to the masses.


Two Roads Brewing Hosts Oktoberfest Celebration

Restaurant Brewery Events Holiday Beer

CTbites Team

Two Roads Brewing Company announces its first annual “Ok2berfest” celebration to be held on the grounds of their brewery in Stratford, CT on September 21 and 22.  “Rain or Shine, this will be an absolute blast” said Brad Hittle, Two Roads’ CEO.

Influenced by Two Roads own name, Ok2berfest plans on being “twice” the fun of a traditional US Oktoberfest event. “We are doubling down on everything, introducing 2 different Oktoberfest beers and hosting 2 bands each day, for 2 days.”

Even Head Brewer Phil Markowski will be getting into the Ok2berfest spirit, delivering 2 unique renditions of classic Oktoberfest beers, one named “Eine” and the other named “Zwei.” 


Friday Froth: Summer Morning Coming Down

Beer Dinner Events Friday Froth Beer

James Gribbon

Who's ready for summer to be over? You are? Well go stand in the corner with your dunce parka on, because NO. Don't listen to the dermatologists, with their "rules" and "facts": long days are our friends and we all have to get out and show some appreciation or the great dragon will return and swallow the Sun. That's the way it works and LALALALA I CAN'T HEAR YOU telling me there are only two weeks left in the season. No. 

There is an absolute pile of beer and event news I want to tell you about this week, but I think this first one belongs above the jump, with beer reviews to follow: 

SoNo Marketplace will present Barks&Beer this Saturday, a $5 event to benefit Bully Breed Rescue, a New Canaan organization that helps save pit bulls, Staffordshire terriers and bulldogs. I have personal experience with pit bulls who have been rescued from abusive, neglectful owners, and seeing their transformation into happy, loving dogs just because someone cared about them for the first time in their lives is tangible proof there is good in the world. See the proof for yourself, and maybe let it lick your face, Aug. 24 from  1 to 6p.m., 314 Wilson Avenue, Norwalk. (bullybreedrescueinc.org)

B. United will be running another beer academy at Coalhouse Pizza in Stamford on Aug. 27 on the subject of bottom fermented beers.


ShakesBeer Festival Raises Pints & Funds for Stratford Theater Aug 17

Events Beer

James Gribbon

ShakesBeer Festival Raises Pints, Funds for Stratford Theater on Aug. 17

Shakespeare wrote the line "a quart of ale is a dish fit for a king" in A Winter's Tale, so down two pints and get to feeling regal as the first ever ShakesBeer festival comes to the grounds of the American Shakespeare Festival Theater in Stratford on Saturday, August 17. Music, food, local craft beers and, naturally, some live theater, are all planned. 

The American Shakespeare Festival Theater overlooks the mouth of the Housatonic River at 1850 Elm Street in Stratford, and has hosted show business names like Christopher Walken, Katherine Hepburn, Christopher Plummer, Jack Palance, Roy Scheider and Kelsey Grammer from its construction in 1954 until finances caused the last curtain to fall in the late 80s.* The building still stands, the location is still prime, and efforts to restore the theater have been ongoing in fits and starts since various developers and the town of Stratford itself wrested control of the property from the state. 


Friday Froth: GermaNY

Beer

James Gribbon

NPR recently had a piece by Joel Rose about the booming booze business in New York, focusing partially on one of my favorite distillers, Tuthilltown Spirits. Their rye (as experienced in Manhattan form) has gotten me through the darker portions of several recent winters. The gist of the piece is the birth of craft distillation after the industry's wrongful execution by the dullard proponents of the Volstead Act. The second coming of legal hooch in America, post-Prohibition, had a tremendous amount to do with first generation immigrants, especially Germans, who brought old-world recipes to a thirsty nation. The foundations they laid have paired beautifully with the American penchant for ignoring inconvenient rules, and the two together have produced our current boom in craft distillation and craft beer, which has begun (somewhat ironically) to echo in Europe. 

Let's take a look at some of the excellent brews, New Yorker, German, or otherwise, with which we may satiate our parched palettes this summer. 


Walrus and Carpenter Opens in Bridgeport w/ Killer BBQ & Elegant Sides

Restaurant BBQ Bridgeport Beer Comfort Food Kid Friendly Dessert

Sarah Green

Certainly, the food scene in Bridgeport is getting "curiouser and curiouser." And that's a very good thing. No need for a trip down the rabbit hole, however, to experience the marvelous and weirdly wonderful creations at the new Walrus and Carpenter at 2895 Fairfield Ave. The concept (brain child of proprietor Joe Farrell) is this - a slow cook BBQ house that offers haute cuisine sides and a first class beer menu where everything (except for the tequila and the pit master) is made in America.

Usually, American BBQ restaurants offer excellent meats but boring, less than note-worthy accompaniments. Here, the offerings are mostly Texas style -where the meat is slow cooked and fall-off-the-bone tender -and the main courses are paired with elegant slaws, exquisite collards and house made pickle platters. Food is plated, not just put on the plate, and that adds to the special experience. And to elevate your dining further, a fabulous selection of Craft beers by the glass or by the growler.  (Some choices include Green Flash Imperial IPA and Brooklyn Brewery Sorachi Ace.)  The kitchen is led by Executive Chef Paul DiMaria formerly of Community Table in Washington, CT and the food is first class yet at the same time finger-licking delicious. Simply put - it works. 


Friday Froth: Keep It Smooth...Beer News & Tasting Notes

Ingredients Friday Froth Beer

James Gribbon

Rolling with the windows down, warm night air blowing through, music playing, fireflies sparking at the corners of your vision... in the wintertime cars are about utility, but they seem to contain multitudes in the summer. This is especially true when you have a paper bag full of cold brews belted tightly as a child into the passenger seat. This week we'll take a short trip on the 'bahn to Stratford, try out something German, and bring it all home to Connecticut before a quick jaunt to the left coast and completely voiding the warranty somewhere in the south  Pacific. Buckle up, and snorkel gear is not included.

Closest to home, Two Roads Brewing Co. introduced No Limits Hefeweizen for this summer. The can (yep) design features the symbol for Germany's autobahn front and center with the slashed grey of the 'bahn's dreamy unlimited sections incorporated in there between two stalks of wheat. It's summer blockbuster season, so allow me to put on my announcer voice (ahem):


Friday Froth: Sunshower

Ingredients Friday Froth Beer

James Gribbon

I have met a lot of great people at beer bars. Whether the conversation starts with an apology for bumping elbows or parachuting into someone's conversation, there's a good chance they won't act like you've tried to cut them off in traffic. Plus, there's always beer to talk about if the conversation stalls out - most people are there for the same reason, after all. I like beer bars, but June is hardly a time for working on your hunchback impression over rings stained into a wooden bar, is it? No, ma'am. The recent spate of thunderstorms have currently left my basement in good condition to solve the drought problems of the entire American southwest, but it's still outdoor drinking season, dammit. 

Outdoor drinking, especially outdoor day drinking, is the best drinking. Park, yard, beach, rocky outcrop in the Dolomites, it doesn't matter: you've already escaped the four walls which house most of life's tedium. Simply getting outside at all apparently makes us happier all on its own, but a drink in the hand does tend to add a certain air of possibility. 


Friday Froth: A Tour Through The Exotic Beer @ Nepenthia, Part 2

Ingredients Oxford Beer

James Gribbon

Streamlined now, I returned to action. My kit included nothing but a camera, a notepad, a pen, the tasting glass they loaned me, and the clothes I hoped to still be wearing by the time I reemerged. I made my way confidently back into Nepenthia

Exotic, hand selected beers waited to be found all throughout the facilities at B. United International in Oxford, Conn. - spread across tables staffed by the men and women who made them. If Steve Inskeep's voice woke me from this dream I was going on a three state rampage. 

I crossed the threshold into BU's loading bay and saw lines of colorful bottles adorned with the owl of Hitachino. Toshiyuki Kiuchi, owner and brewmaster of Kiuchi Brewery (makers of Hitachno beers) was gesticulating madly with a broad smile on his face, making himself clear, or at least somewhat understood, to a group of bottle shop reps.