Kent Falls Brewing is a Farm brewery, in every sense of the word.  And as far as farms go, they truly meet and exceed all our stringent criteria for “doing it right.”  In addition to raising organically-fed, pasture-raised pork and poultry, Kent Falls uses the land in their little corner of Camps Road Farm in Kent, Connecticut to grow an array of vegetable gardens, 1acre of hops, and 1.5 acres of apple orchards, always saving a small area as an untouched nature preserve for invaluable biodiversity.  They regularly rotate the grazing pastures to help ensure regenerative, healthy soil, and they refrain from spraying any pesticides, herbicides or other poisonous chemicals on their crops and land.  They implement composting, and they harness solar energy, which in fact reduces the amount of energy necessary to boil their well water for brewing so significantly that this ultimately offsets around 60% of the brewery’s total energy output each year. 

A partnership with Neversink Distillery further enhances their closed-loop system:  Kent Falls provides the apples for Neversink’s gins and brandies, and Neversink sends back the spent material, which is then used to supplement the diet of Kent Fall’s farm-raised pigs.  As a very small-production, self-distributing brewery, the Kent Falls family is a team of less than a dozen people working together to bring some of the best beers our state can offer, from the land straight to your glass.

CRAFT VALUES

Incredibly, there’s even more to admire about Kent Falls Brewing than their impressive ability to maintain a sustainable permaculture.  They’re also leading the charge towards an overall heightened awareness regarding material sourcing in craft beer, as well as the statewide movement towards entirely Connecticut ingredients.  Since day one, as a self-established “Farm Brewery,” Kent Falls made a commitment to source a minimum percentage of local ingredients.  Six years in, they’ve unequivocally helped to build up and sustain Connecticut’s growing grain industry through valuable support via BSAs, or Brewery-Supported-Agriculture programs.  When the quality or quantity of local options isn’t possible (CT’s fledgling hop industry is still a ways off), Kent Falls at the very least chooses to always source from small family farms in other regions.  

At S&L we advocate that you should always know what raw materials make up the contents of any bottle, where they came from, who grew them, and how they were grown.  All too often, even the best brewers don’t know the specifics, and most beer malts and hops are sourced from large conglomerate farms. So far, Kent Falls is still the only brewery statewide that’s using 100% local craft grains, but fortunately today (very likely influenced by Kent Falls’ concentrated effort and fearless example) more CT brewers than ever are now introducing the conversation into their production and are beginning to source more local ingredients to work with.  As your neighborhood boutique bottle shop, we’re constantly humbled by the opportunity to provide to OUR local community these local craft products, made of artisanal local ingredients, whilst supporting the farmers, brewers, winemakers, all our other craftsmen, and their families.  

THE BEERS 

Simply put, Kent Falls makes technical, approachable, clean beer.  They certainly redefine what it means to be a Connecticut IPA or lager, but our personal favorites so far have been the small batch saisons, brett IPAs and low-ABV farmers ales and table beers.  Top quality local ingredients, the healthy presence of wild yeast strains and bacteria, and the synergistic benefits of permaculture farming all undoubtedly contribute to their beers’ character and uniqueness.  This is beer with terrior, baby!!

Superscript IPA - their aromatic and fruity imperial pale ale made, like all of their beers, with 100% local craft malts, here specifically from Valley Malt of MA and Connecticut’s own Thrall Family Malt, as well as some local hops (about 16% from their own brewery hopyard!). 

The Hollow - a light, earthy, farmy pilsner inspired by the flavors of their home in Kent Hollow, with notes of straw, hay, honey, and clover from their house-favorite Northeastern grown “Endeavor” barley.

Patience Like a Buffalo - a collaboration with their friends at Rustic Heirloom Ales that evolved into something truly extraordinary, balanced, and beautiful.  With the help of two individual house strains of Brettanomyces cultivated at each respective brewery, over its one year spent maturing in oak the beer’s pilsner base developed nuanced acidity, complexity, and flavor.  

Look for their repurposed farm tool iron tap handles at your favorite beer bar, or come downtown to Spencer & Lynn for fresh, cold 4pks and a rotating assortment of cellar-worthy bottles.

#doingitright #madewithlove #organic #regenerativeagriculture #nofarmsnobeer #supportlocal #CTcraftbeer #beerflavoredbeer 

— Kim