New Haven Beer Guide: Your New Haven guide to beer, beer bars, breweries and brewpubs

Latest reviews from New Haven

68 /100 234 CROWN ST
“Nice place in the Yale area. They do some damn good pizzas that are New Haven style. They had 5 of their own beers on tap and you could have them all in their flight for 11 $. They also had about 15 other taps with local brews, but no flights available there.“
saxo 276 days ago
78 /100
Prime 16 (Bar)
172 TEMPLE ST
“Pub in the center of the city with a really good selection of beers.“
melush 580 days ago
62 /100 181 CROWN ST
“Right next to Cask Republic, this place is mostly a wine store, but has a small but fairly well-curated bottle selection, including ciders (and French ciders at that). Worth a quite perusal to see if you can find anything interesting, which there are sure to be some.“
mcberko 2096 days ago
80 /100 130 COURT ST
“Visited on Sunday. 16 taps and some beers also available as growlers. Didnt ask for flights and their online beer list tells everything about glass sizes and prices. Waitress was just great and poutine did what it should do, fill my stomach. I had good vibes in this place. Best in New Haven downtown?“
VastActiv 2258 days ago
46 /100 181 CROWN ST
“Nice looking store with a small craft beer selection. A small three door fridge and a small stand of beer. Not much in the way of locals, which I was after, and they will not bust up any 6 or 4-packs. Way more imports than I'd have expected. I guess they must not think much of local or American brews. I ended up with a few bombers and a can. Prices seemed fine, but I don't know the area. For Charlorttesville this would be on the cheaper side. Service was limited to "no, we don't break up any 6-packs," and ringing me up. Top be honest, there was almost as good of a selection at the neighborhood liquor store next to my hotel.“
hershiser2 2383 days ago
86 /100 93 WHITNEY AVENUE
“located in new haven Yale campus area, been wanting to check out this place for some time and it didn’t disappoint...place is quite unique with outdoor patio, small bar area, cheese store and downstairs dining nook that feels like you are hanging in a cheese cave, pickles on table to start were tasty...beer selection is pretty good with mostly local Ct options, some NEBCO stuff, drafts were not plentiful but good choices from Beer’d and some others..pretty nice bottle list that cover various styles, bottles seemed a bit pricey, however this was really the only complaint. Cheeseboard was solid, French onion soup and grilled cheese were superb, another summer gazpazcho soup was tasty as well. Other patrons were indulging in mussels, mac and cheese and the burger and these all looked excellent, prices were solid for the quality of food...probably gets packed at night as limited seating options exist..cheese shop is well stocked and has some unique things...goat cheese brownies...this is the kind of place I wish existed in my hometown as beer and cheese pair very well, some might recognize owner from cooking channel old show, big cheese, this is his joint, I believe they operate a food truck in new haven area as well, well worth a visit for top notch bistro type food and some excellent beer choices.. “
HeadyDE 2475 days ago
78 /100 268 COLLEGE STREET
“Visited fairly late on a weeknight, either Wednesday or Thursday. This place was pretty busy, but I still managed to have great service quickly. First and foremost, the focus of this place is cigars, but they are also a coffee bar, and whiskey bar, that also has some great, local craft beer available. When talking to the bartender, I was able to get a paired cigar and beer (a New England Brewing IIPA) recommendation. I trusted them and did not end up regretting that decision one bit. They have lots of seating both inside and out. I opted for a cushy leather chair inside. They had a jazz band playing the night I was there as well as a baseball game on a couple different big televisions. For as busy as the place was, it seemed fairly relaxing. As you sit, there are a couple wait staff wandering around making sure folks are set with beer and cigars, offering more if you want it. All things considered, this is a very cool place, especially if you enjoy cigars. Probably not if you don’t.“
JStax 2722 days ago
76 /100 234 CROWN ST
“Visited on a Thursday evening. Right in downtown of New Haven. This is probably the only brewery I have visited that has bouncers at the door. This is mostly because it is a restaurant/dance club on one half of the building and a brewpub on the other. Strange, but seemed to work. I only visited the brewery side. There was a good bit of seating. Mostly long, communal tables and the bar, but then there is a nook in one corner with couch seating. They had 6 of their own beers on tap, plus 6 others from guest breweries. All were CT beer on my visit. No flights were offered, but they do half pours. Service was friendly and helpful. Prices were reasonable. I would go back again if in the area. It was actually pretty cool.“
JStax 2739 days ago
68 /100 234 CROWN ST
“The BruRm@BAR couldn’t be more different from Cask Republic, my other favourite place in New Haven. It looks like a derelict factory inside and out, with bare concrete walls and no ceiling. It’s a bit of a dive, it’s rough and ready, it’s noisy and I really liked it. There are twelve taps arranged haphazardly around four dispensers at the bar and the choice of beer was pretty good when we were there. We’d heard they do great pizza and there were lots of empty boxes in evidence but unfortunately we arrived too late and they weren’t serving food. (Visited 30 October 2012).“
Boudicca 3245 days ago
64 /100 181 CROWN ST
“Stop in to look for some locals. They had spme but not too much, or what I wanted. Decent selection of interesting beers, and the guy working there in the afternoon was very helpful and knew about beer even though this is a wine shop.“
KyotoLefty 3534 days ago
50 /100 234 CROWN ST
“Went in on a Thursday night. Hipster bartenders were a bit surly, making us wait as they fiddled with their phones. Waitresses also a bit obnoxious and arrogant in moving us from seats. Had a pint of the session IPA which was decent but not outstanding. Pizza looked good. The attitude I got really pissed me off. Not the kind of place I want to hang in, though I would go back to the restaurant side for some pizza and beer at a regular table.“
KyotoLefty 3535 days ago
64 /100 196 CROWN ST
“Visited June 1, 2014.

This was an unexpected stop. If it was called Kelly’s Restaurant I probably would have walked right by but it said Gastropub so on the way back from BruRm, Wine Thief, and Cask Republic this warranted a quick stop. Well, a quick stop turned into an enjoyable half hour on the patio. They were out of several beers that looked interesting so in the end I had an Allagash White. They had some interesting food specials but they were out of the one I wanted. Baked brie it is. Food isn’t bad but the beer list leaves something to be desired.“
t0rin0 3580 days ago
66 /100 234 CROWN ST
“Visited June 1, 2014.

This is a pretty interesting layout. There is a very large room beyond the bar that is more of a lounge and on the other side of the building is a dining room. I spent my time at the bar to try the beers. They were not very impressive sadly. They had five house beers at the time including a weird IPA, a honey brown, and a watermelon beer. Despite what the description here says they have more than five taps as they have another ten or so guest beers available. Sixpoint, Green Flash, Goose Island, Ace, and Harpoon were the big brands. They also had some Two Roads, Back East, and Wachusett. The bartender was nice enough to provide a taster of the Goose Island Endless IPA as part of the flight. Could be a neat place to stop at occasionally if the beer was better.“
t0rin0 3580 days ago
60 /100 234 CROWN ST
“Large place, a bit hipster, more restaurant than bar or brewpub, although the brewing equipment is pretty prominent. One hour wait for a table, so we sat at the bar - and then discovered there was a huge back room that they weren’t using. Odd - not enough staff, maybe? Pizza was OK - my first time seeing mashed potatos on a pizza, and in retrospect that was a good prep for my visit to New Zealand.“
Travlr 3879 days ago
56 /100 181 CROWN ST
“A small, neat store in the centre of town, conveniently located almost next door to the Cask Republic. It’s nicely laid out with small, low islands of wine in wooden crates. It sells mainly wine but there’s also a stand of bottled beers from some of the smaller craft breweries. (Visited 30 October 2012).“
Boudicca 3897 days ago
68 /100 95 AMITY RD
“Basic warehouse-style liquor store with a few large rows of craft beer. Well organized and stocked. Unfortunately, they don’t allow you to break 6-packs and buy singles. Good selection otherwise and a good place to pick up regional beers that aren’t distributed far. Right down the street from New England Brewing Co. and a good place to pick up their beers.“
sonnycheeba 3905 days ago
62 /100 234 CROWN ST
“the beer isnt spectacular but the pizza is! Go for the pizza and try a couple beers but don’t go for the beer.“
Ernesto987 3946 days ago
62 /100 234 CROWN ST
“A large brewpub / concert hall with an old artistic feel. Actually, it feels like caverns with each room a different vibe. The service was slow as the two bar tenders seemed more interested in texting than serving. Food was good and beer ok.“
BeerandBlues2 3962 days ago
68 /100 95 AMITY RD
“Really off-center but this is often where we find the best beer stores. And this one is the best selection I found in the New-Haven area. Typical big beer store look and feel, no fancy display or anything. Wide alleys and lots of beer stacked up on generic industrial shelves. Lots of beers. Good prices. Impersonal service, you are on your own. A few nice good finds can be made there, especially from New England Brewing since they are their next-door neighbours. One cool thing about this place is that it is pretty close to Delaney’s which I found to have the best tap selection in the New-Haven area, so you’re going off-center for two reasons and not just one.“
Glouglouburp 4040 days ago
78 /100
Prime 16 (Bar)
172 TEMPLE ST
“A pretty nice pub well located in the lively part of town. A good list of taps focussing on New-England and NY breweries. I remember drinking a pint of Blue Point 10th Anniversary IPA which was in very good condition. The pub itself is part-beer-bar, part restaurant. Medium size place that can probably sit 100 people max. Patrons are a younger well-behaved crowd, we are right next to the prestigious Yale university after all. The one thing I remember this pub for is the french fries. Not only are their sweet potatoes french fries just as good as the now defunct The Alchemist (and because The Alchemist pub is closed, Prime 16 now has the best sweet potatoes fries on the planet) and their cheese french fries were also sublime. The rest of the food was standard pub fare. Whether you want to party with good beer or want a meal with good beer, this is the place to go when you are downtown New-Haven. The best tap selection I found downtown New-Haven, but an even better tap selection at Delaney’s, but this one is off-center and not a cool place like Prime 16.“
Glouglouburp 4040 days ago
62 /100 234 CROWN ST
“Here’s a place hard to review. I visited this brewpub early in the after-noon in the middle of the summer. It was quiet, the bartender was one of the most friendly and enthusiastic beer lover that has ever served us, we talked beer and various stuff, we were given goodies. It was a very fun few hours. However after talking to him I realize I would hate that place if ever I was there at night especially during outside summer, during university time. The music is reportedly discothèque level with university kids dancing on the tables. And seeing the loudspeakers in the place, they have the ammos to do so. Knowing that it’s kind of hard to give a score to the place. As for the beers, I had three pints of their beers (they also have guest taps) and they ranged from bland to pretty decent. Anyway, depending of your age and the mood you’re in, this place can be a lot of fun or totally unbearable. I had a good time there, but I think I got lucky, I would probably hate being there at other times.“
Glouglouburp 4040 days ago
68 /100 181 CROWN ST
“Came across this place by accident. Strategically well located in the lively part of New Haven, close to most of the good pubs. As the name implies, this is primarily a wine and spirits store but they do carry a good selection of craftbeer. Mostly typical stuff available in Connecticut, small New-England micros and bigger breweries from USA and around the world. After talking to a few staff from various pubs I was told that there is only one place with a very large beer selection in New Haven and it is Amity Wine & Spirits. However Amity is quite remote on the edge of the city so The Wine Thief is the choice by default if you cannot drive to Amity and want to buy beer, just don’t expect anything above the widely distributed beers in Connecticut.“
Glouglouburp 4040 days ago
64 /100 181 CROWN ST
“Mostly a wine store but there is a small but excellent selection of beers here. Staff that rang me out was friendly and chatted me up about beers.“
rocbyter 4065 days ago
80 /100
Prime 16 (Bar)
172 TEMPLE ST
“This place always has a great selection of moderately rare and great local beers. Servers are great. It can get a little dark at times which is fine for drinking but not eating. Menu consists of mostly burgers and sandwiches but they are some great burgers.“
rocbyter 4125 days ago
76 /100 181 CROWN ST
“Everyone who has ever helped me here has been incredibly friendly and helpful. For me, the biggest bummer of this store, is actually the lack of refrigerated beers. They have an interesting selection of imports and harder-to-find micros, but they’re all warm and I’m usually in town and ready to drink something cold. Prices are a nip high, but if you’re downtown and looking for something ahead of time, this is a great place to shop.“
auerbrau 4181 days ago
38 /100 234 CROWN ST
“My first visit today, and probably also my last. What is it about New Haven? Everywhere I go the scene is completely yuppie and douchey. I’m sorry, there’s no other way to explain the high level of obnoxiousness that pours out of the wealthy in this town. They pollute so many places with their ridiculous dress, terrible voices, and inane conversations. I’ll take my pints someplace where the draft list is decent and I don’t feel like I’m on some bad hipster-Gonzo-acid trip.“
auerbrau 4223 days ago
56 /100 95 AMITY RD
“Located very close to New England Brewing. Big liquor store. Lots of high quality stuff. No singles from six packs. There are some singles available but they tend to be of the macro/malt liquor variety. Prices were OK, as was the parking. Customer service was generally surly, with the exception of one guy and the cashier who turned nice once I pointed out she had overcharged me. They fixed that with no problem. Decent place to stock up.“
Drake 4246 days ago
84 /100 234 CROWN ST
“A really cool bar for Connecticut. A good concert with cheap PBRs the night I was there. Plus a lot of their house ales.“
jkwood04 4314 days ago
12 /100
The New Bottle Shop (Beer Store)
490 ORANGE ST
“This place is absolutely horrible when it comes to service. The latest member of their staff is not only rude, but completely unknowledgable when it comes to certain wines. I live close by and only come to this establishment out of convenience, but would never, ever frequent it if I lived farther than I do. I can’t reiterate enough how the staff is rude and disrespectful to its clientele. I am surprised that this place has stayed in business as long as it has. I wouldn’t recommend shopping at this store if you were dying of thirst and this was the last wine shop in town.“
doberman618 4383 days ago
68 /100
Prime 16 (Bar)
172 TEMPLE ST
“I have mixed feelings about this place. The ambiance and setting are hip, but cozy. The draft list is ample enough (although, I’d like to see some more session beers) and the happy hour prices were unbeatable. I paid 5.75 for two beers?!? However, service was sluggish. Nobody came to the table we sat at, and when I went to the bar to buy a second round and close out and told her that nobody had been by, she got really snotty and offended. The food is also a little over-hyped and heavy-headed.“
auerbrau 4524 days ago
70 /100
Prime 16 (Bar)
172 TEMPLE ST
“Feels a lot like Bar and Plan B. They all feature a commitment to craft brew and artisanal liquor and they attract a younger crowd. The bar area was crowded but not obnoxiously so. They had a nice selection of taps and bottles mainly regional craft although they had a couple of belgians thrown in. The ubiquitous hamburger was one of the best ones I’ve had in a while. Not better then Delaney’s but a giant leap superior to cask republic.“
DiarmaidBHK 4753 days ago
62 /100 234 CROWN ST
“I was shocked to see how packed this place was on a Sunday night. They only had 5 house beers on draft but they had 6-7 other taps some nice, Lagunitas wtf, others utter crap, to all those hipsters still drink pbr stop embarrassing yourselves. With the exception of the stout nothing really stood out. The pepperoni pizza, though a bit overcooked, was still flavorful. the restaurant is in a converted firehouse which made for a dramatic setting. All in all it wasn’t a place I’d make a special trip for again.“
DiarmaidBHK 4757 days ago
50 /100 196 CROWN ST
“Looks like an inviting place. Irish pub so they obviously pull the Guinness and Smithwicks but also Magners cider as well. Looks like the best place in the neighborhood to watch whatever premiership match showing on fox soccer channel. They claim they’re a gastropub so they’re obviously making big claims on their food. Bottle selection sucks but they have some decent craft taps(raging dog IPA, Southampton double white, dfh 60 minute) definitely do not go out of your way to find this place if all you want are suds.“
DiarmaidBHK 4758 days ago
62 /100 181 CROWN ST
“The nice thing about this store is that it is right there in the middle of bar central and that it is a nice looking store. They also take good care of their beers and wines. The store itself carries a limited amount of craft beer with the occasional seasonal. If you have a car, head to Amity or New England Beverage for much bigger selections. If not, this place is worth a look.“
Cletus 4808 days ago
58 /100
Prime 16 (Bar)
172 TEMPLE ST
“Located between BAR and Cask Republic. The tap selection here tends more toward the regional brewers. This place gets extremely crowded and making your way to the bar can be challenging during the busiest times. The best this bar has to offer are usually on one of their two casks. They also do tower takeovers where a brewer is featured on the majority of their taps. The burgers are excellent. Definitely worth a visit, though Cask Republic’s draught list is usually more interesting.“
Cletus 4813 days ago
56 /100 234 CROWN ST
“Converted from an old firehouse, BAR has a mainly dark, untreated wood and open brick interior with wide open rooms. The place has various sections with its own separate bars, plus their are lofted tables as well. Cool looking place. Usually there are only 5-6 beers on tap brewed from the facilities. About the beer, it’s not that great; the beers I tried were flat, too watery, and were sour. However, their flatbread pizza was delicious.“
joebudzjoe 4813 days ago
12 /100 204 CROWN ST
“This place should not even be in the places section. It is not a beery place and there are about 90 other bars like it in the same neighborhood. Stick to Bar, Cask Republic, Prime 16 and Richter’s. The only reason sammy entered it is so that he could artificially inflate his numbers.“
Cletus 4815 days ago
16 /100 144 TEMPLE ST
“This place should not even be in the places section. It is not a beery place and there are about 90 other bars like it in the same neighborhood. Stick to Bar, Cask Republic, Prime 16 and Richter’s. The only reason sammy entered it is so that he could artificially inflate his numbers.“
Cletus 4815 days ago
64 /100 95 AMITY RD
“not bad for CT, quantity is very high, and quality isnt anything to shake a stick at. mostly normal CT offerings, but a few interesting hard-to-finds.“
beerfest5 4826 days ago
50 /100
Prime 16 (Bar)
172 TEMPLE ST
“Low lighting a pretty groovy tunes. The first guy who served us was near the end of his shift but was still a bit rude. He also couldn’t tell me where the brewer of a beer I asked about was from. The next chap seemed a little more friendly but I didn’t quiz him. The tap selection was reasonable but with nothing too hard to find on it. The bottles were pretty standard for the state. Had some BANGING parmesan/truffle fries. Beers were reasonably pricey but as soon as 4pm rolled around they halved and we could just go for it. Got to love that.“
Alphadelic 4896 days ago
74 /100 879 WHALLEY AVE
“This is not a classy bar. In fact, it’s a total dive. Everyone is incredibly friendly, fantastic deals on drinks and food, and more darts than you could imagine. It’s my homebase. I rarely venture elsewhere.“
mantis51 4905 days ago
30 /100 144 TEMPLE ST
“A big, noisy Irish place not a craft beer place. I did not even see Sierra Neveda, but yes Sam Adams makes an appearance here. Head to the other places for craft beer, but do come here to meet drunk students, and if you need noise and have lots of people in your group looking to hit a bar rather than enjoy a good beer.“
Sammy 4998 days ago
42 /100 204 CROWN ST
“Well, with Bru and Prime 16, you can skip this place if you are interested in craft beer downtown by walking. If you are really wanting to go to a 3rd place, even Richter carried more beer. Dark lighting type place, intimate conversations I guess. Maybe one craft beer tap on, so mostly I write this to warn of others. New and maybe they will get it. No service, as the bartender was outsde for a smoke, not that it was too busy inside.“
Sammy 4998 days ago
58 /100 234 CROWN ST
“taps, long bar though was fairly busy when I went an everning pre-school session. Their beer is OK, the main reason for going. Lots of tables, including some intimate tables. Looks like a student hangout, with a rustic appearance overall. Downtown, and easy part of a pub crawl. Sevice was average, but it was fairly busy as I said.“
Sammy 4998 days ago
70 /100
Prime 16 (Bar)
172 TEMPLE ST
“thought this to be the best bar in downtown New Haven, though still not saying too much. Kind of crowded, a little noisy. Good selecion of taps, quanity-wise in New Haven, some really good ones like Allagash Curieux A few taps were stale, or the gas mixture is off or what, so that thes beers tasted off. A smallish bar, unfortunatley too small for the two bartenders to get around each other. A couple of notches below Delayney’s as a bar. Staff was knowledgeable about beer, though not very knowledgeable. Worth a stop as you may find a good tap on, and they do have a cask. “
Sammy 4998 days ago
68 /100 95 AMITY RD
“I went here as told by local bartenders that it was the best store in the state, with everything that can be gotten a hold of in the state. A long double row of beer, which is above average for most stores. The manager quickly saw I knew what I was doing, and gave me carte blanche to break up any 4-packs and 6-packs. Prices were fine. A medium sized store, when taking into account the wine and spirits.“
Sammy 4998 days ago
58 /100
The New Bottle Shop (Beer Store)
490 ORANGE ST
“This place is a real enigma. On the one hand, there’s a lot of run-of-the-mill stuff; many prices are a buck or two more than everywhere else; Unibroue 12-oz bottles are inexplicably only sold as singles; and if you do buy singles, they don’t have any empty six-pack holders to place them in (they tried to shove a six of singles into a plastic bag before I told them I’d just carry the bottles). On the other hand, you’ll occasionally find rare gems here; the place doesn’t get picked over like some other beer stores in the area, so you can find seasonals and limited releases when they’re gone elsewhere (I found Oskar Blues Ten Fiddy here in early June); and some offerings are actually under-priced. Staff is very nice, but pretty clueless when it comes to beer. If you live in East Rock, this is a nice, walkable option if you are going somewhere other than The Wine Thief on Whitney. They also have a large selection of wine and liquor, though the same contradictions apply to those spirits as well.“
sepia5 5049 days ago
86 /100 95 AMITY RD
“Large selection of beers available in Connecticut. Prices consistent with other stores in the area.“
r94uconn 5108 days ago
Add New Place

Show Map

Print City Map