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Stewards of the Land Brewery
BREWERY
Founded: 2019
ROUTE: N/A
First Visit: 7/7/2021
Impression
Stewards of the Land Brewery was on the DeFrancesco farmland in Northford, Connecticut. I wonder whether its location northwest of Lake Gaillard and Branford's most commercial areas, or maybe its place quite east of Route 17 and New Haven, made it a brewery too far. Enjoyable for a weekend trip to farmstands, but not for a casual visit to the brewery. That's too bad, because they were courageous beer makers, using their obvious capital not just to make beer money, but to experiment with interesting combinations. The tasting room was very cozy, with a passel of solid wooden tables and chairs, a faux-marble bar, and the attraction of a large interior window looking down upon the beer-making vats and equipment. SotL played a heavy-metal soundtrack in the room, but did so with volume turned down. A nice touch of tension that gave the place some atmosphere despite a relatively sedate crowd.
Beers Tasted
Beer 1: Farmhand American Lager (4.4% abv) A good lager, played straight with good typicity. Nice, nutty flavor. (Tasted at Stewards of the Land, 7/7/21.)
Beer 2: Cold Drake Imperial DIPA (8.2% abv) Aroma & flavors of honey, bergamot, and apricot. Big, savory popcorn flavor, with honey extract. An odd beer. Hard to describe. (Tasted at Stewards of the Land, 7/7/21.)
Beer 3: Smoked Maple Maibock (8.3% abv) This beer uses sugar maple sap and smoked malts to achieve a big, but not overwhelming, smoke, with good Maibock flavor and a balancing astringency on the finish, like a sharp, bitter tannin. This Maibock has bigger body than the ones one usually finds. A superb beer. (Tasted at Stewards of the Land, 7/7/21.)
Beer 4: Cow Town Hoppy Brown Brown Ale (5.5% abv) Good brownian flavors, but not amazing. An acceptable beer, but the flavor really tails off on the mid-palate and finish. (Tasted at Stewards of the Land, 7/7/21.)
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