Filtering by Tag: Beer

OEC Brewery Opens In Oxford

Ingredients Brewery CT Beer Oxford Beer

James Gribbon

Ben Neidhart of Beverage United International, importer of vanishingly rare and obscenely delicious beers from Europe, Africa and Asia, has announced the finalization of his brand new brewery, OEC Brewing, which will open its doors alongside B.United's headquarters facility in Oxford.  A public grand opening party will take place on Saturday, June 7th, at noon.

B.United imports have appeared numerous times in Friday Froth, and I had a chance to tour the facility last year as part of their Nepenthia event. BU has consistently been years ahead of the curve in barrel aging beers in creative and exotic ways as part of the ongoing experiment they call Zymatore, and OEC, while a separate entity, will be able to benefit from the other facilities on site. 

The new brewery, called OEC, for Ordinem Ecentrici Coctores or "Order of Eccentric Boilers" (they know their Latin is less than perfect), gives the mad scientist Neidhart family a chance to bring creations wholly their own to the market, along with a tasting room which will feature six taps of OEC beers, B.United imports, and at least one of the ultra-rare Zymatore barrel aged special brews. 


Friday Froth: Seasonal Spring Beer...A New Crop

Ingredients CT Beer Friday Froth Beer

James Gribbon

Dark beers and dark nights are falling away. Fresh life is shouldering its way through the crusty ground, and new batches of lively, energetic spring seasonals are seeing the light of day for the first time in brewery tasting rooms across the country. Spring time is for beer lovers. 

The season lends itself to saisons, the ancient staple of farmers and field hands in need of relief during the planting and cultivation of new life. Stillwater Artisinal Ales is celebrating the arrival of fresh, new life with the release of its Debutante American Farmhouse Ale. This saison, brewed with a combination of spelt and rye, and accented with a blend of heather, honeysuckle, and hyssop, is actually a collaboration between Stillwater and Belgian beer specialists The Brewer's Art, of Baltimore. 


Cask Republic Stamford Hosts "5C" Bluepoint Beer Dinner w/ 5 Chefs

Restaurant Beer Dinner Beer

CTbites Team

The new Cask Republic in Stamford is hosting their first ever beer dinner on May 6th, and we hear it's going to be pretty epic. Cask has invited all 5 of their head chef's from Cask Republic and Ginger Man to lead the evening's culinary journey. Each will throw down a dish of their choice to be paired with a hand picked Cask Ale from Blue Point Brewery. Casks in contention will be selected at this weekend's Blue Point Brewery Cask Festival.

Welcome to the neighborhood Cask. We're glad you're here. Details are below:


The 4B Festival Recap: Didn't Score Tix? Here's What Went Down in New Haven

Restaurant Cocktails Beer

James Gribbon

The first ever 4b Festival had several teething problems, but attendees having fun didn't seem to be one. Well, let me back up a step...

The 4b Festival was a celebration of the bacon, BBQ, beer and bourbon available in Connecticut. Do you like these things? Yes? Then 4b was for you... and you, and you and you, and a lot of other people. Many Americans, let's say most of us, love these alliterative drinks and foodstuffs, and are all about an event which puts them in the same place at the same time. I personally had several B's for the first time at the festival, both food and drink, learned quite a bit, and met some great new people. I also left hungry, and not in a figurative sense.

The inaugural 4b Festival was held at the Old Trolley Barn, a warehouse just off the State Street exit on I-91 in New Haven. Most of the event's parking was several blocks off site (and an extra $5), but it was a sunny day and walking off a few calories before an event like this is for the best, anyway. I walked through the gates just before the fest's second session began at 5:30, and was met with a line of people which would have done the TSA proud. Like I said: people like bacon.  


Little Pub New England Brewery Dinner

Restaurant Beer Dinner Pub Beer

CTbites Team

Join us on April 1st @ Little Pub Ridgefield for a New England Brewing Company beer dinner hosted by New England Brewing Company’s partner/head brewer Matt Westfall. The evening will boast a five course beer pairing menu (view full menu below with pairings), a little education, and some general merry making. 

Matt Westfall will discuss the flavor profile, ingredients, and brewing process for each beer while also sharing stories about New England Brewing Company’s journey to becoming one of the region’s most respected and beloved craft brewers.

Our own beer expert, James Gribbon will be on hand to answer any questions about his Friday Froth column or beer in general.  


Friday Froth: Take The Black

Ingredients Restaurant CT Beer Beer

James Gribbon

Springing forward is an effective way to A) add more light to the day, and B) feed the wailing vacuum where Morning People's souls would otherwise reside. Morning people are real-life Dementors who funnel away our sleep, and schedule 8a.m. meetings in their quest to rob us of the precious joy of living, but I say no. No cheap bagels can replace my repose, no tray of institutional eggs, and no bacon cooked under a clothes iron is worth my limited hours on this Earth. So I turn my back on the light, and embrace the dark. Tell 'em, Ray

As you have no doubt already read here on CTBites, The Ginger Man in South Norwalk revived their Great Wall of Stouts last week, allocating fifteen taps to the blackest of beers, and even going so far as to darken their trademark copper tap wall.  

Highlights of the event included a 2011 vintage of the impeccable Imperial Stout Trooper from New England Brewing, the deservedly popular Founder's Breakfast Stout (made with coffee, naturally), boozy, heavy offerings which drink like a meal,


Friday Froth: The Good Earth

Ingredients Beer

James Gribbon

Someone - I don't recall who, and I'm forced to paraphrase here - once said the amazing thing about books is that a writer who may be hundreds of miles away or hundreds of years dead can speak directly from their mind into that of the reader. A recipes is the same, because what is a recipe but another cook speaking into your head and guiding your hands? A recipe is thus a combination of people and ingredients -  ideas of taste and texture made physical manifest. In this way a chef is the same as a brewer, and a dish is like a beer. 

Artisinal foods and beers are the result of obsessive dedication to recipes using prime ingredients to produce an idealized flavor. How much closer can you get to your ingredients than visting the actual dirt from which they spring? That's the idea behind Victory Brewing Company's Ranch series of double IPAs. 

The name comes from Victory working with family owned hop farms, which are sometimes called hop ranches, as if the hops detach themselves and wander the moonlit world when the humans aren't watching. Victory worked with growers from Roy Farms, Carpenter and Seagal Ranches, and and Perrault Farms, among others, to create this series. 


The Ginger Man Hosts 2nd Annual Great Wall of Stouts

Ingredients CT Beer Beer

CTbites Team

The Gingerman in South Norwalk is hosting their second annual Wall of Stouts running from March 10th - March 16th. They will be taking over 26 of their lines just like last year's event to pull some amazing beer from their private vintage collection.  Vintage bottles will also come out of the back room this year. If you're serious about your Stout, here's where you'll want to be. 


Friday Froth: Steam Heat

Ingredients Features CT Beer Friday Froth Beer

James Gribbon

The business of craft beer is expanding rapidly. Every Friday Froth column I've ever published on this site has been a celebration of that fact. I - and I'd guess you, if you're reading this - revel in the vast landscape of offerings which slake our thirst, delight our palette, and expand our notions of what beer can be. An article in the March issue of Forbes stated there are over 2,700 craft breweries in the U.S. right now, and the industry is currently worth roughly $100 billion per year. Unfortunately, that's money worth fighting for. 

Lawyers in the employ of San Francisco-based Anchor Brewing Company have taken legal action against Hartford craft beer touchstone City Steam Brewery over the use of the word "steam." As of this week, I am officially boycotting Anchor beers until they drop this petty lawsuit, and I encourage anyone who cares about the craft beer landscape of Connecticut to do the same. Here's why...


Friday Froth: BigBrew NYC News and Alex Le Rouge

Ingredients CT Beer Events Beer

James Gribbon

Every once in a while I like to spike the gruel of my disjointed ramblings in this column with some actual news, which is why I'm going to lead off by telling you all about a beer festival that is about to happen a short drive/train ride away pretty soon. The Big Brew NY Beer Festival will have its inaugural event on Saturday, February 8th, at the Westchester County Center in White Plains.The organizers expect 1,500 to 2,500 people, which is positively tiny by beer fest standards, so there should be plenty of access to over 300 beers. General admission tickets are $50, designated drivers get in for $10 (in advance) and VIP tickets, which allow access to more beers, an extra hour of tasting time, and a buffet designed by Chef Anthony Goncalves of 42 The Restaurant, go for $80 in advance, or $90 at the door

All attendees will have the opportunity to discuss beer and food pairing with John Holl, author of The American Craft Beer Cookbook, and are invited to 42 The Restaurant for an after party and a 10% discount on their bill.

I discussed the impending launch of this year's batch of Igor's Dream Russian Imperial Stout in the last edition of Friday Froth,


Friday Froth: CT Pour Tour At Two Roads, Plus Reviews And Assorted Nonsense

Ingredients Restaurant CT Beer Friday Froth Beer

James Gribbon

Mark Twain once said the best thing about writing was having written. I tend to enjoy drinking more than having drunken (which is to say, I like drankin'), but it's especially nice to have a built-in justification. Todd Ruggere has given all of us in the Constitution State just such an excuse with the CT Pour Tour, in which he will drink at least one beer this year in all 169 towns in Connecticut, and raise money at every stop for Yale Children's Hospital. Todd has published a list of when and where he'll be over the course of 2014, and I caught up with him at the CT Pour Tour launch party at Two Roads in Stratford this past Saturday. 

Todd spent 2013 completing his first pour tour, traveling through all 351 towns in his home state of Massachusetts.


The Weekly Nibble: Upcoming Food News & Events

Restaurant Cooking Classes Wine Tasting Beer Lunch

Emma Jane-Doody Stetson

The Whelk in Westport will start serving LUNCH on January 15th! Lunch will be served Wednesday, Thursdays, and Fridays 12pm-2:30.

Saturday January 11 is Step Out at Stepping Stones Museum.  The wine and food tasting supports the museum’s educational initiatives. It includes the Melting Pot, Nicholas Roberts Fine Wines, The Brewhouse, and more.  7-9:30pm.  $40 and up per person. More info here. 

Mohegan Sun’s Restaurant Week begins Sunday January 12th and goes through the 17thVisit the website to see what the casino’s renowned eateries are offering.

Sundays are ½ off bottles of select wines at many local restaurants, including The Spread, Bar Sugo, and Bistro Latino.

On Tuesday January 14, learn how to braise at Barcelona Fairfield.  Join Chef Helton and learn the art of braising and complementing it with a few vegetable side dishes. 4-7pm. $35pp plus tax and gratuity. http://www.barcelonawinebar.com/calendar.htm 

Also on Tuesday, Caseus Fromagerie in New Haven is offering a class called “Relishing the Rind.”  The class will explore categorizing cheese by types of rind. You will get to taste bloomy, ash, wash-rind cheeses ...and more! 6-7:30pm. Approx $37pp. Buy Tix Here.


First Look: The Cask Republic Opens In Stamford

Restaurant CT Beer Cocktails Pub Stamford Beer Bar

James Gribbon

Fans of craft beer and elevated pub grub have a home in Stamford at the new Cask Republic on Summer Street. Lines of draft beer stretch down the bar in the dozens, awaiting pairing with menu items created and overseen by executive chef Carl Carrion. 

The Cask Republic's first, and only other, location is in New Haven, so there shouldn't be too much competition for customers with its second pied-à-terre next to The Fez and across from Buffalo Wild Wings in Stamford. Walk into the new Cask and you'll see a large front room in which a good many tables and chairs are ringed by cushioned booths and myriad framed photographs, with a long black bar dominating the right hand wall. 

The bar, one of two in The Cask Republic, is clearly meant to be the center of both attention and action in this future hub of Stamford nightlife, and features 51 taps poking their way through sheets of copper. Illuminated liquor bottles flank the taps, with gas lamps and Edison bulbs lighting the entire expanse. 


Friday Froth: Out Of The Black

Ingredients CT Beer Friday Froth Beer

James Gribbon

I watched the International Space Station arc overhead last night at about half past five. Six crewmen from the U.S., Russia and Japan traced a fast arc overhead - a bright golden light from the hidden Sun, long since fallen below the horizon, reflected off their solar arrays and into my retinas, hundreds of miles below. I wondered if anyone was looking back, right at that moment. The station, five and half thousand days in Earth orbit at the time, faded away, long since over the north Atlantic, and I was left looking at stars like scattered grains of salt on a black sky. My throat burned from breathing the cold air. I headed inside, into light and warmth. 

Winter beers are a different breed. That's what they're meant to do - bring you in out of the cold, if only figuratively, and supply a bit of metaphorical light in this darkest of months. Cold isn't an object - it can't be added to something the way we add a layer of clothing or a memory. Cold is the lack of energy, of heat. It's like when we say we want to make a room darker, but that's impossible, too. What we're really doing is taking away the light.


The Weekly Nibble: Upcoming Food News & Events

Ingredients Features Restaurant CT Beer Wine Dinners Wine Tasting Beer

Emma Jane-Doody Stetson

Thursday December 12 at 7:30, Ancona’s in Ridgefield will host a high end wine tasting.  Cost is $30/person. To RSVP please call (203)544-8958 or e-mail monica@anconaswines.com

On Friday December 13 from 7:30-10pm, try out a class at Muse Paintbar, a combination between a painting studio and beer & wine bar in downtown Manchester, CT.  10 beers & 12 wines will help bring out the artist in you… and you’ll go home with a painting.  $39pp. View more info here. 

Every other Friday, Half Full Brewery holds an “Open House.”  From 5:30-8:30pm, the taps are open and guests can try their hand at bags, life-size jenga, draw on the chalkboard wall, and hang out. $15pp. Details here.

Lidia Bastianich will be spending some time in Stamford on Saturday, 12/14 at Fairway Market.  From 1-3 pm you can meet her at the store and she’ll sign your copies of her brand new book, Lidia’s Commonsense Italian Cooking:  150 Delicious and Simple Recipes Anyone Can Master.  While there, you’ll be able to try out and buy some of Lidia’s pastas and sauces, too, with demos and tastings.


Little Barn Opens Thursday December 5th in Westport

Restaurant Westport Beer Bar Comfort Food Kid Friendly

Stephanie Webster

Scott Beck (Match, The Chelsea) and his partner Kevin McHugh (Spotted Horse, The Chelsea), alongside Chef Jeff Spence (The Chelsea) have announced that their new project, Little Barn at 1050 Post Road in Westport, will open this Thursday, December 5th. They will be open for lunch and dinner, and will accept reservations for lunch only. 

Scott Beck was quoted in a recent pre-opening interview as saying,“We’re building a barn, and putting a pub inside," and so they did.

The building, inside and out, features lots of reclaimed red barn siding, 2 spectacular reclaimed roof vents, and a 2 sided stone fireplace in the main dining space. 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 Weekly Nibble: Upcoming Food News & Events

Ingredients Restaurant Beer Dinner Events Wine Shop Wine Tasting Beer

Emma Jane-Doody Stetson

Celebrate Black Friday with Val’s of Greenwich! Barhill Gin will be hosting a tasting to get us geared-up for the holiday season.  This complimentary event will take place from 3-7pm on Friday November 29.

On Monday December 2, Buon Appetito Restaurant will partner with Super Cellar Liquors for a 4 course wine dinner.  It begins at 6:30 at the restaurant in Canton, CT.  $75 pp. For the menu and reservation information, see https://origin.ih.constantcontact.com/fs126/1102509927877/img/1248.jpg

Get an introduction to homebrewing beer on Tuesday December 3.  The free event takes place from  6:30-8:30pm at Yale University’s International Center. Learn more and claim a seat at  http://eventful.com/newhaven/events/introduction-homebrewing-beer-/E0-001-063499321-0 

On Tuesday December 3, Luca Wine Bar and Visco Wines will partner with Harry’s Wine & Liquor to present a wine dinner called “The 4 Big B’s of Italy.”  It will feature four of Italy’s coveted wines: Barbera, Barbaresco, Brunello di Montalcino, and Barolo.  They will be paired with 4 courses including homemade crepes, ravioli, veal shank, and poached pear for dessert.  $98 pp, all inclusive.  Please call Luca Wine Bar for reservations: (203) 286-5617.


Friday Froth: The Little Pub Chooses Wisely

Ingredients Restaurant Beer Dinner CT Beer Beer

James Gribbon

A quick bit of news to start this week's Froth: it turns out The Little Pub in Branchville has been aging kegs of a select few high gravity beers for the past year, and has started tapping one per Monday night. Issuing forth from the specialty tap on Monday, Nov. 25 will be Dogfish Head Olde School - a 16% ABV barleywine fermented with dates and figs. High alcohol, minimally hopped beers make the best candidates for aging, and tend to relax as they undergo further conditioning over time, so these beers will taste different from when they were first bottled in 2012. 

The robust duo of Green Flash Double Stout and New England Brewing Imperial Stout Trooper are scheduled for the first two Mondays in December (be absolutely sure to try that second one, on Dec. 9, if you're at all able), followed by Ovila Abbey Quad, Sierra Nevada Narwhal, Dogfish Head 120 Minute, and the second generation of the Dogfish Head/Sierra Nevada collaboration ale, Life&Limb. 


Little Pub's "The Order of Ancient & Auld Ales" Beer Events

Restaurant CT Beer Beer

CTbites Team

The order of ancient and auld ales is called to order. By and large it’s been found that aging hi octane beers made them better because after a few years the alcohol mellows out and the nuances and flavors really begin to shine through. (sorry to get all wine enthusiast on you, just channeling our inner Robert Parker here.)

Armed with that knowledge, Little Pub in Ridgefield started stockpiling high octane beers whenever we could get our hands on them. “Dogfish 120? Sure send us 6 logs”, “Sierra Bigfoot? Sure send over 4 of those”, and we kept stashing and stashing like mad squirrels until we ran out of space.

Now that they're out of room it’s time to start pouring some of these beasties turned beauties.

Little Pub is going to launch a different aged beer every monday* night through the rest of the 2013 and into 2014 as well (like we said, we stashed  a lot of stuff away).  *fine print: except for Monday Dec 2 which will be moved to Tuesday Dec 3.


The Weekly Nibble: Upcoming Food News & Events

Ingredients Restaurant Beer Dinner Wine Tasting Beer

Emma Jane-Doody Stetson

Mama’s Boy Southern Table & Refuge in Sono hosts a blues brunch on Sundays from 1-4pm.  On November 24 and December 1 you can enjoy the Walter & David Blues Duo. More information here.

On Monday November 25, Barcelona in West Hartford will offer a Thanksgiving Prep cooking class.  Guests can learn to make chorizo stuffing, red chimchurri for the turkey, and more. The class starts at 7pm and costs $35pp, plus tax and gratuity. 

The Spread in Sono will have a pre-Thanksgiving Party on Wednesday November 27. Get the details here. 

Tuesday, November 26 Fairway Market will partner with Fox Radio to hold a food drive to benefit the Food Bank of Lower Fairfield County. 8am-7pm. 

On November 30, Breckenridge Beer Company is partnering with the Craft Beer Guild of CT for a wine and cheese class.  The class is $20/person, limited to 12 people due to size.  Class begins at 4PM at Grand Vin Fine Wines of New Haven 28 E. Grand Ave.  More information here.

Red Stone Pub in Simsbury, CT will host a Beer Festival on November 30th from 1-9pm.  There will be live music and a wide selection of craft beers. http://www.redstonepubs.com/1/post/2013/11/beer-festival.html