How difficult is it to keep up with personal writing when you've got a hectic new job and newly arrived twins during a global pandemic? Well, I made this trip to the Beer'd Brewing Company's second location about a year ago and am only just getting around to writing it up now.
Craft breweries have exploded in Connecticut in the 2010s. Steve Wood, the guy behind the robust brewery and Connecticut cultural resource CTMQ.org, originally hoped to sample every beer brewed in Connecticut before he got bowled over by a tidal wave of new taps and turned his focus instead to profiling individual breweries.
I've experienced something similar since making my first Bike and Brew outing in 2016: a goal to visit every brewery within biking distance became less and less feasible as first one, then two more children arrived, limiting the potential to take a lengthy solo ride. Meanwhile, beer entrepreneurs keep adding to the tally of potential places to visit nearby.
The COVID-19 pandemic has, unfortunately, diminished this number a bit. Noble Jay Brewing Company, which I previously visited, closed up shop in the summer of 2020. Stony Creek Brewery at Foxwoods, a secondary site of the Branford-based Stony Creek Brewery, shuttered recently before I had a chance to plot a ride there.
But there are still some outings left to do, assuming I can get around to them. One such opportunity came in the early summer of 2020, when my wonderful wife urged me to get out of the house and have a few hours to myself while she wrangled two babies and a preschooler. The result was a trip to The Silo, the second location of the previously reviewed Beer'd Brewing Company.
Which means once more over the Gold Star Bridge, my friends. It's the second to last time, assuming nothing new opens east of the Thames, as I still need to visit the Shunock River Brewery in North Stonington.
After the usual harrowing trip over the Gold Star Bridge and strip malls of Poquonnock Road, I took a turn into quieter territory. The route passes the Avery Homestead, an oft-overlooked historic landmark located next to a railroad bridge. Captain James Avery built his home here in 1671, and "The Hive" housed generations of the Avery family until sparks from a passing train burned it down in 1894.
The Avery Memorial Association was founded in 1900 to commemorate the homestead, and also runs the separate Ebenezer Avery House museum. It's still active, and the group had restored the memorial a few days before my ride.
During the early scuttlebutt about the second Beer'd location, there was only a vague idea that it would be "near the airport." The Groton-New London Airport is pretty impressive for a municipal airfield. It previously supported an airline or two for commuter flights, currently supports the Coast Guard's ice patrol missions (which utilize a massive C-130 plane), includes a National Guard wing, and regularly brings in Air Force One when the President comes to speak at the Coast Guard Academy commencement in New London.
When Beer'd finally did open its second location, it was in a small industrial park near the airport. It's kind of an odd mix of businesses here: a variety of technological/manufacturing/logistics/whatever concerns, the main lot for the city's school buses, some automotive businesses, and a brewery perched next to a cheese shop.
Beer'd began brewing operations at the Airport Business Park back in 2018 but didn't open a taproom until early in 2020. According to an article on The Silo's opening, Beer'd was going for something a little more industrial than the more rustic tone of their main location in Stonington's Velvet Mill. It's unclear if The Silo offers anything distinct to the location; apparently the site includes a one-barrel brewhouse for experimental offerings.
I'd hoped to get a better sense of The Silo with my visit, but unfortunately the pandemic was still prohibiting people from actually going inside and checking it out. I'd also been hindered on a previous visit where I hoped to bring my daughter along after a hike, as The Silo is one of the few breweries in the state limited to ages 21 and older. So the interior remains a mystery to me.
The Silo is also remote enough that it had limited itself to pickup orders instead of bringing in a food truck or other dining options like several breweries have opted to do. Thus the sign with the detailed instructions that awaited me upon my arrival. I called in, ordered a couple of four-packs, and said they could bring it out front to the guy on the bike.
So instead of the pre-pandemic routine of trying a beer or two before heading home, I was presented with eight beers to haul home in my backpack. One was a mix pack of some Beer'd offerings, while the other was their delicious Midnight Oil oatmeal stout, one of my wife's favorites.
I soon knocked the count down to seven. The Silo had hauled in all of their outdoor seating out of caution, so I stopped at a picnic table outside one of the business park buildings and savored a Midnight Oil while reading a book about the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Nearly a year later, we're still grappling with the pandemic but vaccination efforts are giving cause for optimism. The twins are still a screaming handful, but are starting to get a little more communicative and easier to manage alongside a three-year-old. The occasional weekend Bike and Brew outing may not be out of the question.
Out-and-back journeys are becoming increasingly rare, though. Aside from Shunock River Brewing and the potential to visit the imminently opening Bank & Bridge Brewing in Mystic, my options are going to be limited to point-to-point rides ending in Old Saybrook, Chester, Colchester, and maybe even the famous Willibrew in Willimantic. Time will tell.
Previous Bike and Brew Outings:
Outer Light Brewing Company
Beer'd Brewing Company
Fox Farm Brewery
Shelter Island Craft Brewery and Greenport Harbor Brewing Company
Barley Head Brewery
These Guys Brewing Company and Epicure Brewing
Mohegan Cafe and Brewery
Noble Jay Brewing Company
Tox Brewing Company
Niantic Public House and Brewery