New Beers: Two Roads Brewing, Stratford, CT

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I –
I took the one less travelled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Robert Frost

Tucked between the Connecticuts largest city (Bridgeport), the Housatonic River and Long Island Sound, Stratford  isn’t exactly the quaint New England shore town that conjures images of Frost, Thoreau or Emerson. In fact, growing up in this town of 50,000 I really only knew it to be famous for one thing -  massively contaminated industrial sites. Sure there was a rich aviation manufacturing history, a perennially excellent women’s fast-pitch softball team, and a theater that long ago boasted summer programs with “all the famous New York city actors”.  But those things don’t really inspire pride in a teenage boy.

How did I know that Stratford was environmentally famous? On a job interview in New Hampshire after my junior year of college I struck up a conversation with a staff member and he asked me where I was from. I was surprised that he intimately knew my hometown, so I asked if he had grown up there. Without speaking a word he pointed to the completely full bookcase behind me. I read the labels on the thick binders, “Remedial Plan“, “Superfund“, “Asbestos and Heavy Metals Dumping Sites“.  As I was reading he said in a perturbed voice “I’ve been working on Stratford for over 10 years…”.

I never got the job.

So why then, after more than 10 years living elsewhere, am I particularly proud to call Stratford home?

Beer. Specifically, the new brewing venture named “Two Roads Brewing” founded by former Pabst executive Brad Hittle and Brew Master Phil Markowski. The brew house, sporting a beautiful 100bbl brewing setup is located in an immaculately preserved and restored factory that was the home of the US Baird Company for over 150 years. Of course, before the team could begin brewing there was some dirty business to take care of – wouldn’t you know it – an environmental clean-up of the factory. The team also supported changing Connecticut laws to allow beer sales on Sundays, and for breweries to sell pints for on-premise consumption.

Plans for the brewery include a full line-up of beers to suit many styles, ranging from a saison to a double IPA. For the first year production is expected to be about 20,000bbl, but by 2020 Two Roads plans on cranking out 100,000 to 200,000 bbls annually. Though broad distribution is planned, not all of that beer will be labeled as Two Roads.  One reason the brewery is so massive is that Hittle and crew are planning on contract brewing for other craft beer labels. The industry is growing, and they had the capital to build big – so they chose that road to follow.

I had a chance to stop by the brewery on a snowy evening just before New Years, and found a packed tasting room that included family and friends. With five beers on tap, including a tasting room only Biere de Garde I settled in with the bowl of Utz Party Mix that was offered and got to tasting.

The dark copper biere de garde Holiday Ale was up first, and proved to be deliciously malty, with a hint of warming alcohol and wintry spices finished with a little hop bitterness.  Very tasty and exceptionally drinkable.  Note:  Two Roads will not be bottling this yummy brew.  So you have to visit the tasting room to try it for yourself.

I decided to mix up the recommended sampling order here and next went for the Ol’ Factory Pilsner and the Honeyspot Road White IPA. While I loved the creative names, the taste of these two just didn’t do much for me. The pilsner will be well received by the Budweiser crowd, while the Honeyspot Road will likely be recommended for fans of ShockTop or Blue Moon (and they’ll be a little confused when they taste it).

I saved what I anticipated to be the best for last – the Workers Comp Saison and the Road 2 Ruin Double IPA.  And I was not disappointed.

As I left I tweeted that Two Roads needs a pale ale and a “Sikorsky” Stout – and was immediately informed that a Russian Imperial Stout aged in rye barrels is in the works – and will honor Igor Sikorsky, the father of modern helicopters (Sikorsky first tested his helicopters in Stratford and the company headquarters is still located here). Can’t wait to return!

Road 2 Ruin : The double IPA (dIPA) is by far my favorite beer style, and a hometown dIPA – come on! It pours with a deep amber color and a soft pillowy white head that you could rest your head in all day long. While you’re resting there, take a deep breath and enjoy the piney hop aroma. Ahhhhhh… My first taste was met with a wallop of pine and grapefruit hop flavors, that gave way to a pleasant mild sweetness. Though the hops disrupt my palate a bit, I wouldn’t call this a palate-wrecking dIPA – it is more in line with Heavy Seas Loose Cannon, albeit a little less refined.  Don’t take that the wrong way, Loose Cannon is my go-to beer, and the slightly “rough around the edges” taste channels Stratford pretty well.

Workers Comp: I was surprised when I heard the local package store was pushing a saison on my youngest sister – these people know my family very well – and much as I love my sister, she is a Michelob Ultra and Bud Light Lime kinda person. When I tasted the Workers Comp saison and mulled the recommendation over in my head I realized there was a logic behind it.  This is a very accessible version of a style that can get downright funky, it’s not a particularly intense saison – so for somebody willing to take a risk and be exposed to a new flavor profile, it is a winner.  It poured a light straw/golden color and had all the essential saison characteristics – the slightly funky aroma and with that spicy saison yeast, the crisp light body, hints of white pepper, the “get hot outside so I can drink you on my back porch please!” feeling. It was a nice to find a saison that I could enjoy myself, and that I could share with my family and friends  who are willing to step out of their comfort zones.

Two Roads – keep on doing what you’re doing!

Utilitaire Control No. 6 – A Punishing Reward

Part 6 of 12 in the 2012 Utilitaire 12 was delicious.

After riding a modified Weenie 100, there was only one food that would be fitting for dinner – hot dogs.  Frankfurters, red hots, half-smokes, tube meat, wiener.  I am a big fan of this cylindrical foodstuff, which I attribute to having grown up in southern Connecticut.  There we had Super Duper Weenie, Rawleys, Swanky Franks, Danny’s Drive In, and Windmill, the best rolls from Chaves Bakery, and the best natural casing dogs from Miller’s Provisions and Hummel Bros.  Suffice to say, I have had a few hot dogs in my time.

Fortunately there is a hot dog joint in DC about a mile from my apartment (1.02 to be exact) on Barracks Row called “DC-3“, after the Douglas airplane. I cleaned up from the century and rode over (with lighting).  Same setup as before.

Here is where the punishment begins.  First of all, after spending a ton of hours in the saddle, hopping back on in blue jeans hurts!  Even if for only 2 miles.

Then I decided I really needed to see how bad this “3 Alarm Cruncher” hot dog was, since it was featured on a new Food Network show “Heat Seekers“.  Again, pain.  But this type of intensely spicy pain can also be pretty nice.  The 3 Alarm Cruncher was a DC style half-smoke, wrapped in bacon, split in two and stuffed with habanero peppers, a large helping of sriracha sauce, jalapeno relish, little green peppers, and jalapeno flavored potato chips mashed up and sprinkled over the damn thing.  WOW.

But also a reward for a tough days work, and I was happy.  Unfortunately the other DC-3 dog that I had was pretty lame, so I don’t think I will be back.  Oh well.

Here is my report for Control No. 6

Control Type: Dinner (first use)

Date:18 February 2012 (second ride, week three, light bonus)

Destination: DC-3

Distance: 2.04 miles

Who: Just me

Observations:

• Getting back in the saddle after a cantury is painful.
• The 3 Alarm Cruncher is painful.
• Hot dogs are a great reward.
• I am thankful that I live so close to so many great spots in DC.

Other Notes:

None.

Photos:

Post Thanksgiving Recap (Part 2)

I ran on Thursday, but what I really wanted to do was ride on Friday.

Turkey, stuffing and mashed potatoes had different thoughts however.

Initially I had planned to ride a metric century (See the route here), but when my alarm went off in the morning I had no motivation to get out of bed, ride an unfamiliar route with potentially black friday induced road ragers and worry about getting home before the shadows grew too long.  So instead I slept some more and woke up feeling great.  I had some breakfast (apple pie leftovers) and decided to ride through town and see some sights that I hadn’t in a long time.  Maybe I would go 20 miles, maybe 30, maybe 40.

It was great seeing how so many parts of your home town change, and equally good to see the parts that haven’t.  The “impossible” hills of my childhood were reduced to bumps (ok, there was one that was tiring). Though the overall flatness reminds me that I need to improve my climbing skills to tackle the real hills in Maryland and Virginia.

I shook off the turkey-coma pretty quickly, the roads were empty, the sky was a perfect blue and the temperature hovered in the low to mid-60s.  After riding through my hometown of Stratford I crossed the Sikorsky bridge on a ped/bike sidepath and road along the Milford coast as well.  All said and done, I went a hair over 41 miles.  The route is here if you are interested.

Here are some photos from the ride.

View of Great Meadows Marsh and wildlife preserve looking towards Bridgeport, CT. Very high tide.

Gulls enjoying the cold waters of Long Island Sound at Long Beach

A washed up shell that I came across in the road on Long Beach.

Drive Like Your Kids Live Here. I like that.

Stratford Point Lighthouse. Built in 1822 at the mouth of the Housatonic River

Coming in for a landing at Sikorsky Memorial Airport

Swans in the Housatonic River

A stone wall at the boat launch we used to use

An old Datsun and truck near the old Army Engine Plant

Close up of the rusty car

Building after building at the Old Army Engine Plant. If it wasn’t still owned by the Government it would likely be a superfund site.

Stratford Shakespeare Festival Theater. Once home to many great stage actors (including James Earl Jones). Now rotting as the town mis-manages rennovations.

On the Merrit Parkway (Route 15) Bridge over the Housatonic River. Sikorsky helicopter prepares for flight tests at their testing grounds.

Found this funny guy in Milford. Looks like it was a submarine used to dredge oysters?

Shot of the Milford shoreline. One lone man tries a few casts to see if anything is biting.

Charles Island beyond a fishing pier. The island was discovered in 1614 and settled in 1639. Believed to be cursed and haunted. Famous pirate Captain Kidd is said to have buried treasure here.

Old Curtiss-Wright labeled Hangar at the Sikorsky Airport. Curtiss was once hte largest plane manufacturer in the country.

Shadows and broken windows at the old hangar. Gustave A. Whitehead flew the first ever plane near here (before the Wright brothers!)

Post-Thanksgiving Recap (part 1)

It really sunk in today that things are in “back to normal” mode after the Thanksgiving holiday – last week I worked only two days, but alas tuesday is now back to its barely-middle-of-the-week status.

It seems like everyone had a great Thanksgiving, without major family blow-ups or traffic induced riots (though I was close).  I won’t need to be reminded that dropping passengers off in Manhattan at 3pm on Wednesday (on 34th street just a few blocks from Macys no less) doesn’t make for a very happy John.

I wrote recently about the Running/Thanksgiving connection – after this year I am not dreading it as much anymore!  On Thursday morning my sister and I hauled ourselves over to Southport, CT to run the Pequot Thanksgiving Day 5 mile Race – a local institution on par with mandatory “Alice’s Restaurant” radio specials.  With barely any training beforehand, I was hoping that nothing worse than 11-minute miles would be in my future.

We arrived to a shaded sub-40 degree start area and quickly decided that we needed to stay warm in the nearby gymnasium – thankfully out of the nearly 4500 runners who participated, only a few dozen others had similar thoughts!  The first mile was slow due to the massive size of the group (is there a running term for peloton?), and we even came to an abrupt halt around 1.6 miles in when the course turned slightly up hill.  I guess so many people slowing or walking caused a cascade effect.  But my first two splits were about 10:45 and 9:50… not bad.  From about mile 2.5 to mile 3.5  things cleared out and my legs continued to feel pretty fresh – I would say my cardio conditioning was holding me back.  Around mile 3.5 I started to realize that I really needed to make a pit stop or my bladder would burst.  I passed the 4 mile marker after running back to back miles at about 9:30 pace and noticed a porta-john about 100 feet off the course at the side of a lifeguard shack that was closed for the season.  Salvation!  Back on the course I knew I had made the right decision, and kicked really hard for the last few hundred meters coming in at 49:18 (9:51 pace).  A new personal best! With my rest stop I still ran a 9:40-ish final mile.  Of course my sister also ran a PB – 45:50,  congrats to her!

Post-run still-life. If you knew my mothers blog this photo would fit right in.

Then we ate, and ate, and ate.  I love thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving Plans

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite times of the year.  Crisp fall air, leaves, football games, family time, my birthday and of course, the thanksgiving dinner!  And the Thanksgiving run?!  Yes, my love/hate/indifference affair with running usually centers around thanksgiving.

I have always been a reluctant runner, in fact my earliest running memories are in freshman year of high school.  I went out for the no-cut freshman football team, and among other difficulties in learning blocking and tackling, I just didn’t get running.  That sounds weird, but I honestly think that my biggest hurdle was the mechanics of running.  First I had to figure out what I wanted my body to do, then I had to effectively communicate it.  I was so discouraged that by the time that freshman football season ended on thanksgiving, I quit trying to run before I could figure it out.

I didn’t run again until junior year in college, where I distinctly remember a few breakouts that transformed myself from a “fast shuffler of feet” to actual running.  And in doing so I actually felt really good, in fact I was able to get to a point where I ran a few 5k races with times in the 24 minute range (I’ve never touched that again). I gained some confidence, dropped the freshman 15, and even enjoyed running up some of the hills around campus.  This all came to an immediate halt during the first semester of grad school, near thanksgiving, when running lost it’s fight against grad school and my radio program to fill the little free time I had.

It was thanksgiving weekend last year when I committed to running a half marathon with my sister.  I had slowly folded a tiny bit of running into my routine over the past 2 years and the half marathon was a good next challenge.  I like challenges, and I like how they force you to train.  The half marathon was incredibly rewarding, I missed my initial goal, but beat the revised goal I set when I realized what it took to run for that long of a time.  The half marathon was in the middle of June, and I logged about 200 training miles between Jan 1. and the race.  Since then, I think I am somewhere near 25 miles.  So of course… what have I done?  I signed up for the Pequot  Runners Thanksgiving Day 5 miler, which has been a Connecticut tradition since 1977 and attracts over 3000 runners (including many elite level folks).

Post Half-Marathon John

So I need to train – I have 6 days left!  I am fortunate to have a good amount of base that seems to have survived the half marathon – and nearly 1000 miles in the saddle this year haven’t hurt either.   If I can get two 4 mile runs done this week, I figure I won’t embarass myself too badly.  In a perfect world I would be at a 8:30 minute pace, if I had continued to train I would be shooting for a 9:30 pace.  I’ll be happy with anything below an 11 minute pace – but we’ll have to wait and see!

Maybe more important than my love/hate/indifference affair with running is my love affair (with limited hate) of cycling.  After a few years of setting targets and goals for myself, I will finally meet almost all of them!  I wanted to ride 1 century, and I rode 2; I wanted to ride an event with DC Randonneurs, and I coffeeneur-ed instead, I wanted to ride at least 1000 miles (keep in mind I don’t commute by bike) and I am 75 miles from that goal!

So, I’ve decided to turn Black Friday into Goal Friday.  I’ve mapped out a 100k route a few towns over from my parents home (where I’ll be visiting for the holiday) and hope to break the 1000 mile barrier on that ride.  Forecasts right now are calling for temps in the mid to high 40′s, which will be darn cold!  I’ll layer up and hopefully stay warm enough to finish the ride, though I have worked in a few shortcuts and bailout points if for some reason the weather turns or it simply is too cold.  I need to stock up on more wool!

Planned Route for Black Friday

With these goals done for 2011, it is time to start planning my 2012 goals!

Labor Day Ride – Connecticut “Gold Coast”

One of those “small world” types of coincidences id that both my family, and Kate’s have ties to Candlewood Lake in Western Connecticut. A few generations back, likely in the mid-1940′s my family purchased a small summer retreat in the New Fairfield portion of the lake.  I spent many long weekends and summer vacations growing up at the lake and to me, it is one of the most restful and relaxing places I know of.  Virtually cut off from all electronics, days can be spent fishing, swimming, and boating – while nights are for bonfires and absorbing the sounds of nature.

Kate’s family, on the other hand, has lived there since the mid 1950′s in real houses.  And since showers and working toilets are nice, we decided to spend our holiday weekend on her side of the lake. 

We did get to experience some of my family history with a bike ride on sunday – an adaptation of one of the featured rides in the Falcon Guides “Best Bike Rides in New England” series.  Touring the Gold Coast of  Connecticut (Westport, Fairfield, Southport), we got to ride past 3 family properties (two still in the family), the harbor where my uncle and grandfather moored their lobster boat (The Carlee B), the mechanic I bought my first Volvo from, my high school, and the Trader Joes where my mom is currently an artist.

Clocking in at just over 32 miles (The map calls for 28.2, but we took a few detours) it was a nice leisurely ride, with a few hills to challenge us, and a few downhills to coast! 

What rides did you take this weekend?  Let me know if there are any great routes that I need to know about.

 A mapmyride link to the route can be found here:

CT Gold Coast and Hills Ride