By Susan Talpey
Benjamin Franklin said it best: “There can’t be good living where there is not good drinking.” And the Connecticut shoreline certainly offers both in abundance. A national resurgence in flavorful, finely crafted beers has not escaped the discerning palates of local connoisseurs, with shoreline brewpubs, microbreweries, and festivals dedicated to sharing the amber life force. With the fireplace lit, the leaves turning, and the advent of Oktoberfest, fall is the best time of year to discover the shoreline’s tastiest brews.
A Match Made in Heaven
Connecticut’s brewpubs offer fresh, interesting brews made on location and ready to be paired with the dining menu. And they’re seeing crowds of adventurous drinkers flock to the bar. In just 11 years, the Southport Brewing Company (SBC) has taken its range of fresh brews from its namesake town to Stamford, Milford, Hamden, and, in 2004, its shoreline operation opened in Branford. SBC prides itself on brewing a wide range of beers for every palate–from the lightest blonde to Indian and English pale ales to the deepest, darkest stouts and ambers.
“If you start the novice beer drinker on the right microbeer, they’ll enjoy the taste and then they’re more willing to try new flavors, and over time move toward our fuller, flavorful beers with more hops and grains,” says owner Phil Segneri. “Once you move away from the Bud Lights and the Millers of the world, you discover that there’s an exciting world of flavor out there. Once our beer drinkers find that out, they don’t go back.”
In four years, SBC has fast become a fixture of the shoreline dining and drinking community and that’s no accident. At the Branford location drinkers can sample the Blackstone Stout, in honor of the local library, or taste the Saltonstall Lake EPA, named for the local fishing spot.
“We brew our beer on each location and that’s as fresh as you can get. Brewers talk about the ‘born-on date,’ referring to the time the beer first touches the air. At SBC, that happens right here, when it’s poured from the tap into your glass,” Segneri says. “Our brewpub experience is kind of like a wine experience—we design our menu to have beer and food that accompany each other and bring out the best flavors in both.”
A Real Ale
Simply named yet home to many intricate beers, BAR has become a New Haven icon in just 13 years of brewing.
“Finely crafted beers attract new drinkers every year. As beer lovers grow older and they’re less concerned about drinking huge quantities, they turn to fuller flavor…better tasting beers,” says BAR brewmaster of nine years, Jeff Browning.
Five BAR beers are on tap year-round, and Browning also crafts 10 to 12 specialty brews annually.
“We brew very traditional English ales, in the historical style of 200 or 300 years ago. While this style’s not the norm anymore, we wanted to go back to the roots of the original microbrews,” he says. “Our most popular specialty brew is our summertime Watermelon Ale, which contains the juice of 35 watermelons. Our Espresso Stout, brewed in December, with eight pounds of Starbucks espresso coffee, is also a big hit.”
What began in the 1970s as a home-brewing hobby in high school became a life-long passion for Browning. A self-proclaimed beer historian, Browning’s inspiration for new flavors is often centuries old.
“I’ve kept a record of every recipe I’ve ever made,” he says. “I read a lot about the history of beer and old breweries, and talk with other brewers and beer lovers about what we’ve heard and tasted. Sometimes I’ll brew a recipe dating back 200 years, other times I’ll just take the flavor and make the recipe up off the top of my head.”
Every winter, BAR holds the Connecticut Real Ale Festival, a charity event, that’s typically sold out in two weeks. This fall, in the interest of sharing fine, flavorful beers, BAR held an all-day, open-door tasting of 25 real ales on Sept. 28.
“Real ale is run into a wooden cask, as opposed to a keg, and is poured through a gravity pump or hand tap, rather than the CO2-powered draft tap used today,” Browning says. “More discerning beer drinkers respect the historical significance and flavor of real ale. It has less carbonation, a richer taste, and is unfiltered so it contains yeast and has Vitamin B.”
The festival is a rare chance for shoreline beer lovers to sample a different brewing style, says BAR manager Frank Patrick.
“The festival is an opportunity to try beers that you’ll never find in a package store or on tap at your local pub,” he says. “We’ll have tours of our brewery and it’s a chance to talk to brewmasters about how their beer is made.”
For information about BAR and the Real Ale Festival, call 203-495-8924 or visit www.barnightclub.com.
A Homebrewer’s Dream
To all those passionate homebrewers mixing their experimental concoctions in the garage, Charlie Buffum is an inspiration. After 12 years of perfecting his homebrew and visiting other people’s breweries, Buffum cashed in his career as a management consultant, carved out 10,000 square feet in the Pawcatuck factory where his great-great-grandfather began a printing operation in 1854, and went to work. In 1997, the first keg of Cottrell Brewery’s Old Yankee Ale rolled out.
“It all happened in a moment of insanity,” Buffum says. “Now, 11 years later, we make Old Yankee Ale, a medium-bodied, medium-hopped American amber ale, in draft and bottles.”
In addition to its flagship product, Buffum and his staff also brew and bottle beer for a number of Rhode Island operations. And the public can see it all on a Cottrell Brewery tour.
“This summer, we’ve had calls every day from people interested in seeing the brewery,” he says. “Everybody learns something, from the locals who want to see what we do to the experienced homebrewer or beer drinker.”
The cohesive relationship between breweries and retailers in New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine has led to thriving sales of locally brewed beer. While Buffum says there are undoubtedly more local drinkers sampling microbeers, Connecticut beer makers would benefit from more awareness of their product.
“We’re all very popular in our own backyard, but we need to create more awareness of the fine beer we brew here in Connecticut and really get it out there,” he says.
Though his current operation is certainly larger and more sophisticated, Buffum hasn’t forgotten his homebrewing roots.
“Homebrewing is a mixture of art and science. Seeing it ferment in your closet and the different variables that control the brew are a lot of fun,” he says. “Here at Cottrell Brewery, we make beer on a commercial scale, but the process is basically the same–and it’s still a lot of fun.”
To learn more about Cottrell Brewing Company, call 860-599-8213 or visit www.cottrellbrewing.com.