www.newenglandbrewing.com
It’s a rainy Saturday, what do you do? No, it’s not a trick question or a riddle – go drink some beer! In fact, step up your game a little bit - go drink one from the source. This simple thought process brought Food Plus Beer to our closest commercial brewery, New England Brewing Company in Woodbridge, CT (just outside New Haven).
New England Brewing Company
Now, we knew that New England Brewing is a Microbrewery, but we didn’t fully understand how micro it is until we pulled up. It’s a small, unbecoming box of a brick building that produces a mere 2,000 barrels of beer annually. That’s just over 660 thousand beers – Ryan and I can down that in a night! (If you don’t believe us, buy us the beers and we’ll show you). Popularity of NEBCO’s brews along with limited supply has forced them distribute only to local areas; they even had to stop distributing in New York. Rarity is reason #2 to jump on any opportunity to try their beers.
This is the entire brewery.
The first reason is because the beer is incredible! While at the brewery we were fortunate enough to sample “Gandhi Bot” and “668: Neighbor of the Beast”. "Gandhi Bot" Double India Pale Ale is amazing. It’s 8.8% and LOADED with hops. It’s piney and citrusy with a resinous feel that sticks to your mouth and begs another sip. All the while you can let your imagination run wild as to why there’s a robotic Gandhi on the can.
“668 Neighbor of the Beast”, a Belgian Strong Pale ale with a light body and both a spicy and fruity character, ranks in at over 9% and is almost equally delicious (I'm a hophead so in my eyes you can't beat the robotic rebel!). The can features a regular ol’ guy in a wife-beater fetching the mail while a red glow emanates from his neighbor’s house. We love the can and the beer inside it.
At least we know the Neighbor approves...
And just to clarify things, yes they do can their beer (with the exception of Imperial Stout Trooper). In fact, they actually still can everything by hand. New England Brewing Company is another fine example that great beer doesn’t have to come in glass bottles. Go to there for the growler fills, stay a while for the free samples.
These cans will all be filled by hand, one by one.
-Kyle
Hey Kyle! So weird...we were just there on Thursday! It's really an awesome little brewery, huh? We got a growler of Neighbor of the Beast and got some Sea Hag cans. :) I loved the letter from George Lucas about the Stout Trooper :)
ReplyDeleteExcellent blog! The NEBCO guys are awesome. My silly little blog is just a ticker for what beers I have had at home. Some suggestions for you (a close trip from Stamford) DeCicco's in Ardsley-NY and Defiant Brewery in Pearl River, NY. I am assuming you have already been to Captain Lawrence!
ReplyDeleteMay I humbly suggest that the words "It’s a small, unbecoming box of a brick building..." do not match up well with "...that produces a mere 2,000 barrels of beer annually. That’s just over 660 thousand beers..."
ReplyDeleteThat sounds effing beautiful when that second part is understood.
Thanks Jimmy! I haven't been to Capt Lawrence yet but it's on my list. I'll definitely look into the others!
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