Breweries, Brewpubs & Cideries

Beer. And Lots Of It

I began this particular page in 2008 when there were four breweries in Connecticut: Cottrell, Hooker, New England, and Olde Burnside. Only one had a tasting room (Hooker) and each was pumping out only a handful of beers. There were a few brewpubs operating as well.

And we only had five breweries in 2011. Then there were thirty in 2015. 45 in 2016. Nearly 60 at the end of 2017. Nearly 100 at the end of 2019. You get the point… the industry exploded here and I enjoyed watching it happen and writing about it. The pandemic coupled with consumer fatigue/saturation slowed growth around 2021 and the state has been “stuck” at just over 100 for a few years.

Although the lists below are constantly in flux, I am confident that my list is consistently the best and most accurate one that exists. If you know of anything missing or outdated, let me know.

Jump to Breweries in planning
Jump to Closed breweries since 2010
Jump to Cideries & Kombucheries
(Meaderies are over here along with non-carbonated wine-like hard cider.)

Operational Breweries & Brewpubs

106 Independent Operational Breweries as of 1/29/2023 according to my (correct) counting system. Everyone views different set-up scenarios differently. On my main list, I don’t count second locations or distribution-only breweries, and “collectives” are counted as 1.

Links go to my visit reports, many of which are quite old, but that’s okay

Hopmeadow Brewing Company, Avon
Coles Road Brewing Company, Berlin
Broken Symmetry Gastro Brewpub, Bethel
Back East Brewing Company, Bloomfield
Thomas Hooker Brewery, Bloomfield
DuVig Brewing Company, Branford
Stony Creek Brewery, Branford
Thimble Island Brewing Company, Branford
Aspetuck Brew Lab, Bridgeport
Berlinetta Brewing Company, Bridgeport
Brewport Brewing Company, Bridgeport
Firefly Hollow Brewing Company, Bristol
Evening Sky Brewing Company, Burlington
Cheshire Craft Brewing Company, Cheshire
Counter Weight Brewing Company, Cheshire
Little House Brewing Company, Chester
Hop Culture Farms, Colchester
Norbrook Farm Brewery, Colebrook
Charter Oak Brewing Company, Danbury
Quirk Works Brewery and Blendery, Danbury
High Nine Brewing, Deep River
BAD SONS Beer Company, Derby
Almost Famous Brewing Company, East Granby
Rule of 3 Brewing, East Hampton
East Hartford Brewing Group, East Hartford
Paddle Creek Beer Company, East Hartford
The Beeracks (Armada, Overshores, Hoax, Erector, etc.), East Haven
Niantic Public House, East Lyme
Problem Solved Brewing, East Windsor
Powder Hollow Brewing, Enfield
Surfridge Brewing Company East, Essex
Hops on the Hill Brewery, Glastonbury
The Brewery at Maple View Farm, Granby
Cambridge House Brew Pub, Granby
Bank & Bridge Brewing Company, Groton
Barley Head Brewery, Groton
Outer Light Brewing Company, Groton
No Worries Brewing Company, Hamden
City Steam Brewery Cafe, Hartford
Hog River Brewing, Hartford
Phantom Brewing Company, Hartford
Kent Falls Brewing Company, Kent
The Boroughs Brewing Company, Killingly
Black Pond Brews, Killingly
2nd Bridge Brewing Company, Manchester
Ericit Brewing Company, Manchester
Labyrinth Brewing Company, Manchester
Urban Lodge Brewing, Manchester
Brewbury, Middlebury
Forest City Brewing, Middletown
Stubborn Beauty Brewing Company, Middletown
Dockside Brewery, Milford
Milford Point Brewing, Milford
Tribus Beer Company, Milford
5 Churches Brewing, New Britain
Alvarium Beer Company, New Britain
Brewery Legitimus, New Hartford
BruRm @ BAR, New Haven
East Rock Brewing Company, New Haven
Tox Brewing Company, New London
Housatonic River Brewing, New Milford
NewSylum Brewing Company, Newtown
Reverie Brewing Company, Newtown
Stewards of the Land Brewery, North Branford
Great Falls Brewing Company, North Canaan
Twelve Percent Beer Project, North Haven
Shunock River Brewery and Village Cafe, North Stonington
Spacecat Brewing Company, Norwalk
Epicure Brewing, Norwich
These Guys Brewing Company, Norwich
Myrcene Ale Company, Old Saybrook
Black Hog Brewing, Oxford
OEC Brewing, Oxford
Relic Brewing Company, Plainville
Concentric Brewing Company, Portland
Bear Hands Brewing, Putnam
The Crossings Restaurant & Brewpub, Putnam
Redding Beer Company, Redding
Nod Hill Brewery, Ridgefield
Still Hill Brewery, Rocky Hill
Fox Farm Brewery, Salem
CT Valley Brewing Company, South Windsor
Kinsmen Brewing, Southington
Transcend Beer Crafters (née Skygazer Brewing), Southington
Witchdoctor Brewing, Southington
Half Full Brewery, Stamford
Beer’d Brewing, Stonington
Athletic Brewing Company, Stratford (Non-alcoholic)
Two Roads Brewing, Stratford
Broad Brook Brewing, Suffield
Clocktown Brewing Company, Thomaston
Bad Dog Brewing Company, Torrington
Center Street Brewing Co., Wallingford
Cliffside Brewery, Wallingford
Front Porch Brewing, Wallingford
Brass Works Brewing Company, Waterbury
Lasting Brass Brewing, Watertown
New Park Brewing Company, West Hartford
WeHa Brewing & Roasting Company, West Hartford
Coastline Brewing Company, Westbrook
Willimantic Brewing Company, Windham (Willimantic)
Little Red Barn Brewers, Winchester (Winsted)
Luppoleto Brewing Company, Windsor Locks
New England Brewing Company, Woodbridge
Woodbury Brewing Company, Woodbury
Taylor Brooke Brewery, Woodstock

Second Locations

*No onsite brewing (real or planned)

Kinsmen @ The Station, Clinton (Not yet open)
Five Churches by the Bay*, East Lyme
Beer’d Brewing @ the Silo, Groton
Dockside/Whitney Brewing, Hamden (Not yet open)
Thomas Hooker Brewery at Colt, Hartford
Urban Lodge Brewing Company*, Hartford (Not yet open)
Powder Hollow Middletown, Middletown
Armada Brewing River Street, New Haven
The Stack/Bear’s Smokehouse, New Haven
Third Place by Half Full, Stamford
Area Two Experimental Brewing, Stratford

Distribution Only Breweries

Lost Tourist Brewing, Meriden
Ms. Beer Haven, North Stonington
Watson Farmhouse Brewery, Southbury

Breweries & Brewpubs in Planning

Skulls Brew House, Berlin
Caius Farm Brewery, Branford
Black Horse Garage Brewing Company, Bridgeport
Malpractice Brewing Company, Cheshire
Red Brewster, Enfield
Unnamed Parkville Market brewery, Hartford
Bak Brewing, Milford
Tate’s Restaurant/Eli Cannon’s Brewing Collective, Middletown
Loaded Dragon Brewing Company, North Branford
Trillium Farm & Brewery, North Stonington
SoNo Brewing Company, Norwalk
Direct Proof Brewing, Simsbury
Off the Rails Brewing Company, Stafford
New England Motorcycle Museum Brewpub, Vernon
Unnamed VFW Building Brewery, West Hartford
Boondoggle Brewing, Wethersfield
Dudleytown Brewing Company, Windsor

Closed Breweries & Brewpubs (Since 2010)

Brew Pub at Mohegan Sun, Montville (Closed 2011)
Tullycross Tavern and Microbrewery, Manchester (Closed Nov. 2013)
Cavalry Brewing, Oxford (Closed May 2014)
Guvnor’s Brewery, Norwalk (Closed Dec. 2014)
Top Shelf Brewery, Manchester (Closed July 2016)
Tidal River Brewing, Canton (Closed Oct. 2016)
Southport Brewing Company, Various towns (Closed Various dates)
Hell or High Water Brewpub, Norwalk (Closed Oct. 2017)
Hooker Test Kitchen, Montville (Closed March 2017)
Church Owl Beer, Stratford (Closed Feb 2018)
Olde Burnside Brewing Company, East Hartford (Closed Dec. 2018)
Carriage House Brewery, Canton (Closed April 2019)
Parable Brewing Company, Manchester (Closed Apr. 2019)
Steady Habit Brewing, Haddam (Closed July 2019)
Erector Brewing at NOLO, New Haven (Closed September 2019)
Hanging Hills Brewing Company, Hartford (Closed March 2020)
Stranger Tides Brewing Company, Colchester (Closed March 2020)
Bad Dream Brewing, New Milford (Closed June 2020)
Iron Brewing Company, Norwalk (Closed July 2020)
Noble Jay Brewing Company, East Lyme (Closed September 2020)
Fifth Year Brewery, West Haven (Closed October 2020)
Breakaway Brew Haus, Bolton (Closed October 2020)
Stony Creek Brewing at Foxwoods, Ledyard (Closed March 2021)
Cold Creek Brewing & Tavern, Ellington (Closed June 2021)
Better Half Brewing, Bristol (Closed December 2021)
Fat Orange Cat Brewing Company, East Hampton (Closed December 2021)
30 Mile Brewing, Old Saybrook (Closed January 2022)
Cottrell Brewing Company, Stonington (Closed January 2022)
Shebeen Brewing Company, Wolcott (Closed January 2022)
Veracious Brewing Company, Monroe (Closed May 2022)
Candlewood Brewing Company, New Milford (Closed July 2022)
The Brewery Collective/Velvet Libations Taproom, Wolcott (Closed September 2022)
Fairfield Craft Ales, Stratford (Closed September 2022)
Lock City Brewing, Stamford (Closed January 2023)

Cideries

(For wine-like hard cider, go here.)

Yankee Cider Company, East Haddam
East Coast Cidery, Enfield
Bushy Hill Cidery at Clark Farms, Granby
Spoke + Spy Ciderworks, Middletown
Stafford Cidery, Home of Crazy Cock Cider, Stafford
New England Cider Company, Wallingford
Tree House Orchard & Farm Fermentory, Woodstock

Kombucha

Cross Culture Kombucha, Danbury
East Coast Kombucha Company, Norwalk

CTMQ’s Food & Drink