I haven’t written a post in a while, but trust me – I’ve still been doing my brewery reconnaissance. Since November, I’ve added a few new names to my brewery map. Below are five heart-warming, make-me-thankful beer memories.

Broad Brook Brewery (East Windsor, CT)

800We’re there just about every Wednesday, and I love the place! BBB has recently rolled out their holiday Homewrecker (6.7%). It’s a little strong on the finish – I think last year’s batch was better, but Homewrecker is still pretty good. It is sort of like a milder, less sweet version of Troeg’s Mad Elf.

It’s hard to choose Homewrecker over some of the other great offerings. 6 Balls Alt is still one of my favorites, and since it’s a limited batch, I have to sneak those here and there. For a change, I have been adding Darkstar IPA to the mix. It looks almost black. If it weren’t for the head, you’d think it was a stout. This year’s Darkstar is phenomenal. If you are looking for a good IPA, I’d recommend this one. BBB did do their Porter’s Porter on cask the other day, but they added vanilla bean. I think if it had been a little colder and if it had a little more vanilla flavor, it would have been a hit. All-in-all, it was a nice treat!

Back East Brewery (Bloomfield, CT)

back east gamesI went there most recently to sample their new Winterfest, which was pretty tasty! It is a holiday beer without going too far overboard on the spice. It’s not the most stand-out holiday beer, but it’s not bad. I like their golden ale, and my husband loves their porter.

In addition to their new beer, BE has expanded their tasting room, doubling its size and adding more seating! They’ve also added Wikipedia trivia cards, which are pretty fun. They’ve really worked to make the atmosphere cozier, and the employees are always great!

Iron Duke Brewery (Ludlow, MA)

Iron Duke recently celebrated their one year anniversary – congrats to them! Finally, after a long time of planning and procrastinating, I met up with some buddies up at Iron Duke on a Friday. The place was packed! They have a lot of seating, though we had to stand the whole time. They have some pretty good beers, and they had a food truck. I found myself going back to their Kentucky Common after a couple rounds of samples.

City Steam Brewery (Hartford, CT)

city steam samplerCity Steam was another place we brought my dad and brother while they were on their trip from Virginia. Although a hop-friendly, IPA loving friend of mine said Naughty Nurse IPA was better than Naughty Nurse, I tried it and disagree; however, for those of you who like IPAs, I know at least three people personally who rave about it. From the ones I tried, Czars & Girls and O’Fest 2015 were my two favorites.

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