Brewery Legitimus, New Hartford CT

2 February 2025

I’ve known of Brewery Legitimus for a while but hadn’t made it there until today. It’s out of the way for me — almost an hour from home — but it was well worth the trip.

When I walked in, I told the bartender this was my first visit and asked what their best beers were to add to a flight. He said they have a particularly good source of water locally, being near the Barkhamsted Reservoir, so I should definitely try the lager, Pils, and Kölsch. Beyond that — and given that their flagship NEIPA had just kicked and the next batch was waiting to go into kegs — he suggested the Bourbon Barrel Stout. Here’s the result of that recommendation:

Legit Lager – German Lager, 4.5% – This is a delightfully crisp and mildly fruity lager, very clean, well-balanced, and extremely tasty. I often stay clear of lagers because they can be too malty, but this is one I would be happy to drink all day, every day.

Collinsville Pils – Pilsner, 5% – Compared to the Legit Lager, this didn’t make the grade for me. It may be the variety of hops used, but I found it to have an unpleasant bite, a bitter aftertaste in the roof of my mouth. I’ll stay away from it in the future (but with the Legit Lager available, who needs a Pils anyway?)

Church Pool – Kölsch, 5.1% – Even with water in between the Pils and this, it was a bit tough to tell exactly what I was tasting. In the end, I found this to be a pleasant if unusually mild Kölsch, perfect for warmer weather, I suspect.

Lord Dobson Bourbon Barrel Aged – Imperial Stout, 10.5% – To be honest, bourbon barrel aged stouts aren’t my favorite drink, but I went with this based on the bartender’s recommendation. It was, as are all others of this style I’ve had, heavy on the bourbon barrel flavor. If you like that, I’m sure you’d enjoy this.

There’s no kitchen here, but they do have a regular rotation of food trucks that are there right when they open. Today’s truck was this one, although the guy had arrived to discover he’d forgotten some things at home and had to get them, so the crêpe irons weren’t heated and ready to go until about 20 minutes after the taproom opened. The menu had a lot of choice on it and I opted for the Cubano, essentially a Cuban sandwich (ham, pork, swiss, pickles, and mustard) in a crêpe. I’d planned to go back for a dessert crêpe as well, but this filled me up! It was delicious.

I’d already been here for as long as I’d intended, but I decided on a pint of one of their IPAs to finish out:

Limitless Nostalgia – American IPA, 7% – If it weren’t for the higher ABV, this would be a great session beer. It was beautifully balanced with just some mild hop bitterness, rather like a reimagined West Coast IPA. This and the Legit Lager were the two hands-down favorites for me today.

With that, and a 4-pack of the lager to go, I headed out and will look forward to a return visit someday.