Continuing the Tradition: Local Breweries
As shown in the Connecticut River Museum exhibit The Thirsty River: 400 Years of Drink, Life, and Reform in the Connecticut River Valley, the shoreline has a long history of brewing that in recent years has seen a major commercial resurgence. Here’s a quick listing of local beermakers
Overshores Brewing Company
250 Bradley Street, East Haven
203-909-6224
Overshores Brewing Company in East Haven is a Belgian style brewery with its own bar and tasting room that offers its own products and products made by its breweries-in-residence, including Armada, Steady Habit Charter Oak, Hulls, New Haven Nighthawk, Soundview, Metronome, Hoax, Sepiatone, and others.
Little House Brewing Company
16 Main Street, Chester
A brewery and taproom coming to an almost 200-year-old building historic downtown Chester in early 2018.
Thimble Island Brewery
16 Business Park Drive, Branford
203-208-2827
Founded in 2010 by two guys with no brew training, Thimble Island Brewing Company has grown from one account (KC’s in Guilford) to more than 1,400 accounts throughout Connecticut and Rhode Island.
Stony Creek Brewery
5 Indian Neck Avenue, Branford
203-433-4545
Stony Creek Brewery is the largest brewery in the area, with an indoor/outdoor taproom, a game pit, dock access, and also offers visitors a look at the canning and bottling lines right from the taproom.
DuVig Brewing Company
59 School Ground Road, Branford
203-208-2213
Conceived during the Blizzard of 2013 when the Dugas and Vigliotti families were “trapped in their neighborhood with nothing to drink but their own homebrew,” Duvig Brewing Company brews pale ale, brown ale, cream ale, and a variety of other craft ales, lagers, and stouts.
30 Mile Brewing Co.
39 Ragged Rock Road, Old Saybrook
Established in 2015 as a family-friendly micro-brewery, 30 Mile Brewing Co. crafts its beers in a five-barrel system to produce double IPAs, saisons, sours, and more. It also serves Drunk Alpaca snacks and The Drunken Baker treats.