Thomas Hooker Brewery Tour | Drink Craft Beer | Out, Beer, Hooker, Great, Brewing

Thomas Hooker Brewery Tour

Hey all you DrinkCraftBeer'ers! So Devon and I hit up Thomas Hooker brewery in Hartford, Connecticut today in a hastily planned, but fortunate, stop! After being unable to find somebody to stay with in Brooklyn for our first night, we rerouted to Hartford to stay with a friend of Devon's. Since we were in Hartford, we decided to check out Thomas Hooker. We called around noon, and told them we'd be coming by at 4. Turns out they were bottling Liberator DoubleBock (one of my favorites)! So we roll up to where we think the brewery is. Basically, it's in the back of an unlabelled brick building with "BREWHOUSE" along the top of the front.

No signage, even on the door. We peek in and finally see someone. They figure we're the kids who called on the "brewery tour of the east coast." We confirm. They invite us in, and one of the greatest brewery experiences of my life ensues. So, first, we met Steve. He's a brewing apprentice and a really cool guy. Soon thereafter we meet Paul Davis, the head brewer. Both are great guys, and we quickly find ourselves with cups of blonde ale in our hands... Fresh from the bright tank (where beer is put to clarify and get yeast out of suspension after it's done fermenting)!!!

Above: Fermenter full of 80 kegs worth of Hooker Blonde

And let me tell you, that is really the way to drink it. This beer was delicious! We sampled the Irish Red Ale and their American Pale Ale while Paul and Steve explained the commercial brewing process, how the brewery is growing, and more. It turns out Paul is a brewing traditionalist... Seems to me he enjoys throwing a little monkey wrench in the works once in a while, though. The Irish Red is one of the best of the style I've ever tried! Some ideas we'd never thought of, but are definitely going to try in our homebrews. Turns out the Irish Red and the IPA will be available in 6-packs soon. Long story short, Thomas Hooker is a great brewery putting out some amazing beer! This stuff is great (especially the Liberator)! We walked away with a buzz, lots of knowledge about commercial brewing, a tip to check out the Willimantic Brewing Company, and 2 bottles of Liberator courtesy of Thomas Hooker. The President, Curt Cameron even came by and we got to say hi to him. All in all, wonderful experience! And look out for stuff by Thomas Hooker... It's great beer made by great guys! I know it's going to be one of my more regular beers now.

Alright enough of us talking, here's a few more pictures of the inner workings at Thomas Hooker:

Above: Paul Davis, brewmaster, adds a hop addition to the boil

Above: Paul and Steve prep to bottle Liberator

Well, as we mentioned, we got a tip to go check out Willimantic Brewing Co. in Willimantic CT. Given the great experience we had at Hooker, we knew we had to check this out. Lets just say it did not dissapoint. This is a great brew pub that isn't afraid to experiment with their beers. India Dark Ales, India Pilsner Lagers and a variety of other hopped up beers are found on their beer menu.