March 5, 2009
Visited during Inbièrenationale IV, May 2007. Now that place rocked. This old post office building kept its charm, conserving the cachet of olden days. The Café is divided into 2 large dinning areas, and a little pub area. Food was quite good, typical pub fare. Beer selection is excellent, with around 10-12 WBC taps and 20 guest taps.

February 17, 2009 [ Updated March 25, 2009 ]
Damnit, I love this place. The food is pretty good, but let’s be serious, the real reason to go there is for the beer. They always have a great selection of "guest brews", and usually about 10 house brews on tap at any given time. Plus they provide a schedule so you know when their new beers are coming out. The "certified gold" is supposedly their flagship beer, but what they really do well is big beers: IPA’s, stouts, and barleywines (namely their signature "Whilly Whammer" barleywine). If you come here, be prepared for a long session of delicious, high-ABV beers.

February 15, 2009
Although I love only an hour away, this was my first isit to Willamantic Brewing Company. Great experience. The place was packed, although had a laid back atmosphere. I was impressed by the huge number of guest taps, in addition to the absued number of beers they brew themselves. The menu also lists upcoming house drafts. I had a sampler, and was impressed by all their beers, especially the Rail Mail Rye, which is as tasty a 5% beer I’ve ever had. I met the head brewer Dave, who came by to chat beer for 5 minutes even though the restaurant was absurdly busy, and gave a preview of Night of the Barrels. The burger was tasty, if a tiny bit overcooked. I walked out with a growler of the Rail Mail Rye. Great experience.

January 21, 2009
My second time visiting here, but I don’t know why I hadn’t rated it before. Beautiful space in an old post office, a theme that makes itself known in many of the beers postal-inspired names. Food is okay, a fairly large menu with a lot of the typical brewpub standards. There is also a largish selection of sandwiches and wraps if you’re trying to avoid the fried stuff. Beers were uniformly good with a broad selection of styles represented but none were really standouts on this occasion. It’s a bit annoying that they only serve full pours though, as I would have liked to try a few more, but couldn’t since I was driving. Also annoying that they charge through the nose for their growlers. 6.50 for the glass and another 12-14 for the beer itself makes every growler come close to 20 bucks for the ones I asked about. This is a very good place and one I’d love to visit again with a designated driver so that I could more fully enjoy the beers without spending a fortune on growler fills.

January 19, 2009
Great brewpub located in an old post office, the ambiance has been well documented so I won’t talk too much about that. There were at least 10 of their own beers on when I was there (07 Willi was on) the day after thanksgiving, as well as some great guest taps including Ommegang Rouge! Food was very solid for a brewpub, although it was pretty much typical pub fare. A couple of slight cons: growlers were very expensive- fall festivale ale and spuyten IPA were being sold for $30, probably 25 without glass. Also- although they do samplers, they won’t include any of their big beers. Full pours only, which was a drawback to me as I was driving. Be warned that they will not sell growlers of Willi Whammer. Since they always seem to put on vintages of that beer in half barrel kegs, I don’t blame them for that, but I was unaware until I was at the brewpub.

July 8, 2008
I go there all the time, my favorite is the Kentucky Burban Barrel Stout. Be careful it’s not a light beer!

June 12, 2008
Located in an old Post Office, this wonderful brewpub features great food and a solid selection of homebrewed beers. Heavy on the IPAs, Willimantic also features some nice brown ales and stouts (Postal Patron!). If you are within an hours drive, definitely worth checking out. Also, Willimantic has a fine menu, with some awesome burgers and generous appetizers. Plan to eat dinner there as well.

June 9, 2008
Thanks goes out to IMMY for taking me here. The food was excellent, I didn’t have a beer that I didn’t like, and talk about some eye-candy. This is a must stop when in the area.

May 24, 2008 [ Updated July 7, 2009 ]
I love this place, their homemade brews are top notch and their guest brews are diverse and plentiful. I’d give the place a 5 out of 5 on ambiance if the whole place was more like the bar section, but the eatery section isn’t as enjoyable. If you go to eat, definitely sit at the bar and try an aeropostale pizza. This place is a real gem.

February 16, 2008
A converted post office with an adjoined bar / brewpub and restaurant, Willi makes great beer and offers great food in, essentially, the middle of nowehere. Probably ten or twelve different in-house beers when we were there (including Pushing the Envelope Extreme) along with some local CT beers and diverse U.S. and foreign selections, including stuff like Ten Fidy and Aventinus. Very nice selection of beers. Excellent food menu and solid vegetarian selections: the veggie burger was huge and tasty, while the cajun fries were excellent. Everyone in our party enjoyed their food, and we went through multiple rounds of Pushing the Envelope Extreme. Very much worth the drive if you’re anywhere in the area. Willi and Cambridge House seem to be the must-stops in CT.