Kent Falls Brewing is Rad

/

We recently carted the kids to a brewery about 75 minutes away. I think you should, too! Kent Falls Brewing Co. is an “American Farm Brewery.” Loosely translated, Kent Falls was a farm before it was a brewery and today, it’s both a working farm and a working brewery. The brewery part opened about three years ago and the whole thing is located in picturesque Litchfield County, CT.

Kent Falls is well regarded and respected among craft beer fans and I’d venture to say it’s thought of as one of CT’s very best breweries. Folks far more knowledgeable than I am about the craft microbrewery scene could get into much more detail than this, but to vastly overgeneralize, their beers are smooth and easy to drink. On our visit, we learned that Kent Falls beers tend to be lower ABV and are suitable to be drunk on a farm. Sounds good to me!

A visit to Kent Falls Brewing had been on my husband’s "to do list" for awhile and so, the day before Father’s Day this year, we grabbed a few other craft beer loving friends and celebrated the dads a day early with a trip up to Litchfield County. 

Up a dirt road and across the street from a small lake, the Kent Falls space is made up of a tasting room, a brewery and acres of farmland that grow and house things like hops, pigs and chickens under the moniker Camps Road Farm. The tasting room is incredibly quaint (fresh flowers and oak barrels) and the beers they are pouring for $4 each are incredibly tasty. In the back of the tasting room is a small patio with picnic tables and YES, a climbing structure to entertain the kiddies. (The head brewer indicated they want to expand that kiddie area in the future). While prepared food is not yet available onsite, Kent Falls allows guests to bring their own snacks and eats. We saw folks that had all kinds of picnic goodies with them. Kent Falls also offers a nice rotating selection of their beers and pasture raised poultry and pork to take home.

If you head up on a Saturday* like we did, Kent Falls does a complimentary brewery tour at 2pm. The tour lasts about 30 minutes and really gives you a sense of the brewery's overall passion for good, fresh product. You’ll learn about their brewing process and how they started and where they hope to go from here. Plus, your little ones will get to see pigs eat compost and you will get a special “brewery tour only” beer unavailable elsewhere to drink while you walk. Now everyone’s happy!

The farm also grows cider apples to be sent to Neversink Spirits, their affiliated distillery in Port Chester that makes gin, apple brandy and "eau de vie" - a type of colorless brandy made with any fruits but grapes. Cool stuff.

Litchfield County is jam packed with farm focused, family friendly activities. We’ve been in the fall to pumpkin pick and a few years ago, we did a glorious overnight mini-vacation in the area sans kids. I can’t wait to report on future Litchfield visits, which I'm pretty sure will now include a stop at Kent Falls.

*The Kent Falls tasting room is currently open Thursdays and Fridays from 2-7pm and on Saturdays from 12-5pm.