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Kinsmen Brewing Co.
PUB
ROUTE: I-691
Founded: 2017
Impression
On the old Hartford Railroad right-of-way, now re-baptized the Farmington Canal Greenway. Old Clark Bolt Company Building. Row type building with striking, low, A-form roof. Interior is a big Munich-beer-hall open plan, with low round tables in the middle and higher tables on the sides of the room. Big bar in front with very welcoming bartendresses. 30 x 60 ft. tank room behind the bar. Room is slightly dark, but not annoyingly so.
BEERS TASTED
Beer 1: Hog Water IPA with Spruce Tips, from Cask (7% abv) Wow! Delicious! Not really piney except at very finish. Nice sour taste on attack and on mid-palate. Refreshing, but maintains full-bodied flavor throughout. (Tasted at Black Hog 7/31/19.)
Beer 5: Double Roast Double Coffee Stout (8.8 abv).Big, full, rich coffee flavor, backed by medium body and nice maltiness. Well done. Note: I am a contrarian when it comes to Guinness: I find it very thirst-quenching, and so I like it in summer, whereas its rep is heavy and winter-bound, which I find silly. The Double Roast is too big and full-bodied, with too much coffee flavor for me to enjoy it fully in summer, which is when I had it. And yet... and yet... it was surprisingly refreshing! Go figure! (Tasted at Kinsmen 8/13/19.)
Beer 2:Hella Yummy German Helles (5% abv) Classic, and very well done. (Tasted at Kinsmen 8/13/19.)
Beer 6: Cold Gold American Light Lager (4.9% abv) Good body, but weak flavor. (Tasted at "VIP Tasting Experience," Smokedown Farm 7/24/21.)
Beer 3: Conical Form Spruce Tip Gose (4.3% abv) Not too sour / not too salty. Spruce tip on back palate, but barely. Overall, very pleasant, light, not malty. Well done! (Tasted at Kinsmen 8/13/19.)
Beer 7: In the Cut Hazy NEIPA (6.8% abv) Funky nose. Milky appearance. Light NEIPA, and no dankness (thank God!). In other words, everything's there, and this is a really nice IPA. (Tasted at "VIP Tasting Experience," Smokedown Farm 7/24/21.)
Beer 4: Trickster Barrel-soured Golden Ale (7% abv) Big sour! Big Golden Ale, with Belgian bent (the trick?) because of the tartness, though this one really takes it to an extreme. Having said that, this beer is fantastic, and seems like what Belgian Golden Ale should be. The experiment worked! (Tasted at Kinsmen 8/13/19.)
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