The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Farm-based brewery offering up a pop up pub
ROXBURY — The state has seen a surge of wildly popular, farm-based craft breweries crop up in recent years, thanks in part to the Connecticut Farm Brewery Bill, which was signed into law in 2017.
On Friday from 6 to 9 p.m., the Hodge Memorial Library, 4 North Street, Roxbury, will host one such brewery for a popup pub, where attendees will have the opportunity to sample some brews from Kent Falls Brewing Co.
The first farm brewery in the state, Kent Falls Brewing began its operation in 2015 and has been paving the way for others to follow in its footsteps ever since. This brewery is known for its uncommonly and deliciously flavored beers with quirky names like Pause & Reflect, Sweatpants and Awkward Hug, and artistic, humorous, colorful labels. They place an emphasis on combining local ingredients with out-of-the-box elements, like mint, citrus, coffee and toasted hay, to concoct unique beers that delight the taste buds.
The brewery also manufactures its beer with an eye toward environmental stewardship and sustainability — one need only meander around the side of the brewing building on the farm to see the solar thermal array that provides preheated hot water for the beer-making process using solar energy. Additional solar panels atop the tasting room building supply up to 60 percent of all electricity needs.
Kent Falls Brewing also composts the beer-making waste byproducts of grain, yeast and hops to create fertilizer that is used to enrich the soil of its one-acre plot where hops are cultivated.
Kent Falls Brewing beers can be found in restaurants, bars
and liquor stores across the state and beyond. The self-distributing brewery can rack up 500 miles of driving each week making deliveries.
Located in Kent a hop, skip and a jump away from Lake Waramaug, the farm itself is on property that has been used for agricultural purposes for over 250 years. The land had been the homestead of the Camp family from the 1700s until as recently as 30-years-ago when the first non-Camp residents took over the property, prior to the birth of the brewery.
The popup pub will also give attendees a chance to meet the masterminds behind the brewery. Owners John Suscovich, David Bimbaum and Barry Labendz can usually be spotted milling about the farm checking on beer vats undergoing fermentation, pouring up drafts in the tasting room and performing all manner of farm chores when they are not out promoting their beers at events such as this.
Proceeds from the pop up benefit the Roxbury Library. The Friends of the Roxbury Library’s book store The Next Chapter will also be open for browsing and book sales.
Kent Falls Brewing is located at 33 Camps Road in Kent. The tasting room is open Thursday and Friday from 2 to 7 p.m., and Saturday from noon to 5 p.m. For more information, visit www. kentfallsbrewing.com.