Top Shelf Brewing Company

By EastCoastBrewReviewer -
The Stats

 Location: Manchester, CT

 History: Top Shelf is a "nanobrewery" who takes pride in brewing the freshest and most flavorful beer for local consumption." They moved to their current location a few months ago from their former location a few miles away. They've been open since Feb 2013. 

 Food Service: No (BYOF)

 Website: http://www.topshelfbrewery.com 

The Scenario

Very cool spot in a small business park with a large bar and plenty of space to play giant jenga, cornhole or one of their many board games (even a Foosball table!) They host many theme nights and trivia weekly. We were there on a Saturday afternoon and only a few fellow beer drinkers were with us at the bar. They currently only have four beers on tap which creates limited options but they do offer two flat screen tvs for those at the bar. The bartenders were awesome and gave us samples and a tour of their new brewing space on our way out. 


The Ratings

Hazy Hop and Humid Summer Wheat
D: 4/5
K: 4/5

Pucker #1 Sour
D: 4/5 - love me some sours :)
K: 2/5 - too sour!

Trickery Golden Coffee Stout (You read that correctly. It looks like a blonde ale but tastes like a stout.)
D: 3/5 - not a fan of stouts typically but this had a mild coffee taste
K: 2/5 - not as bold a coffee flavor as other coffee stouts

Final Thoughts

D: 4/5 - I enjoyed Top Shelf a lot. There is tons of space and I think it must be fun when it gets crowded later on in the day. I actually liked all of the beers we tried including the samplings of the sour and stout. I would definitely go back if I was in the area again. 

 K: 3/5 - An overall great brewery with plenty of space and a huge bar. I can appreciate they friendliness and welcoming attitude I received from the bartenders and the Summer Wheat was great and refreshing! I would definitely visit again if I was in the area and wanted a cold one.


Check them out on social media!


facebook.com/topshelfale

 @top_shelf_brewery


@topshelfbrewing

Location: Manchester, CT, USA

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