Kinsmen Brewing, Milldale CT

2 March 2024

I’ve wanted to visit Kinsmen for a few years as I’d enjoyed one of their beers somewhere and you don’t see them often; in fact, I can’t remember seeing any of their beers on tap in the last couple of years. Today, I finally got to visit. Unfortunately, the weather wasn’t great so I didn’t get an outside shot of the building (not that there was a lot to look at). The inside space was much, much larger than I’d expected, though!

This is what might be considered the entry to their space, between the bathrooms and the main space! It seemed quite inviting to me, especially those overstuffed chairs immediately to the left. Beyond that — through the “St. Patrick’s Day-themed archway” was the main space::

It was quite a large space but noisy as well with no sound dampening, something that I’m sorry to say has become more of an issue for me as I age and my hearing degrades. Oh well …

But there’s a very large bar at one end and a fireplace at the other with more large, overstuffed leather sofas in front of the fireplace along with a kitchen that was sending out lots of food items. Those workers were certainly staying busy!

Here’s my flight, from left to right:

Husky Hops (New England IPA, 6.5%) – they created this for UConn athletic events as an enjoyable brew for games. I concur! I loved the fruitiness, perfectly balanced with the hops.

Hot Pocket (Hazy IPA with Nelson Sauvin hops, 6.3%) – this was good, but didn’t hit the spot like the Husky Hops did. I found it to be much drier in taste than the Husky Hops although I probably would have enjoyed it a lot more had I not ordered the HH as well.

Mega Goose (fruited sour with Strawberry and Gooseberry, 5%) – the more I sipped this one, the more I liked it …. but I never reached the point where I would have wanted a full pint of it. I confess that I’m very picky about sours in that way — I like most of them that I try, but only sometimes find one I want more of … this was definitely in the “a little is enough” category.

Champions of Brekkie (Breakfast Stout w/coffee and maple, 6.3%) – well, this was interesting. It went from “wow, this is good!” to “I’d never want more of this” within the course of a few sips. I certainly don’t regret having it as it really was interesting, but there’s no way I’d ever want to do a full pint of it.

By the time we left Kinsmen, they were really, really busy and REALLY, REALLY noisy. I’m sure I would have enjoyed it a lot more if it had been quieter — I think I’m getting to the point where a quiet British pub would be far more to my liking than a noisy American taproom. Noise-dampening treatment certainly wouldn’t go amiss in places like this. Still, the beers were pretty good and I don’t at all regret taking the time to stop in.