Two Roads Brewing Co.

Yogi Berra said that when there is a fork in the road, “take it.” In Stratford Connecticut, there is such a fork and you would be doing well for yourself if you take it. Not far from the busy interstate is the well trafficked taproom at the Two Roads brewery. Pulling up to the building on a Friday night is a pretty exciting feeling, starting when you see the short shuttle bus parked out front. Going in the door, past the glass case display full of the bottles and cans previously released and up a flight of stairs into the main taproom. The thing that first struck me was the view of many large steel tanks across the large room littered with tables, chairs and brimming with people.

A large oval bar allows many thirsty patrons access to over a dozen beers. I had sampled a couple of their sour offerings recently and I was excited to see four different sours on offer. We each got a paddle of five brews and situated ourselves at one of the circular tables and admired the artwork painted on the tanks.

What I liked most about Two Roads was the vintage atmosphere giving patrons the impression they have been around forever even though they were founded in 2012. The cases in the entrance highlighting past beers, the VW bus from the 70s, and the large state of the art brewing setups all come together to give you the feeling that they are an old standard as well as on the cutting edge of craft beer.

Those ten beers and a couple other samples gave us much to talk about. In the end it’s too much to remember and it would take up too much space to go over each. Instead, here are a few of our favorites:

John -

Passion Fruit Gose - I had a few fruited sours that were all very good but this was at the top of the pile. The fruit character came through strong, was enhanced by the tartness of the beer and was supremely satisfying and refreshing.

Nitro Scottish Pub Ale - I have spent some time in Ireland and Great Britain and this brought me right back. I found a very nice amber ale with a solid malt core and restrained hop character. The nitro really finished the equation giving it a luxurious mouthfeel.

Bob-

Sour Saison - Two of my favorite beer styles of beer together to make something greater than the sum of its parts. It’s fruit forward, tart, a little funky, and all me.

Nitro Espressway Coffee Stout - Check out our post on this one. In short, this is an outstanding coffee strong beer that is begging to wash down a cookie