Black Hog Brewing Company Beers

Black Hog Brewing Company
Oxford

My visit to Black Hog Brewing Company is here.

Year-round Beers:

Black Hog Down Black IPA
Easy Rye’Da, B-
Ginga Ninja, C-
Granola Brown, A-
Nitro Coffee Milk Stout, A
SWAG, C+

Farmland Series

5-Gallon Pail Ale
CT Love Bomb, D
Rosemary Dunkelweizen, C-

SEasonals

Autumn Nugget
Bacchanalian Barleywine
Strawberry Gose

The Hop Collective (THC) Series

THC Bravi
THC Chinook, C+
THC Centennial

Disco Pig Bottle Series

Disco Pig #1: Brett Brown Braggot
Disco Pig #2: Brett Golden Sour

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Out with the old Cavalry, bring in the new!

The first “brewery turnover” during this crazy Connecticut craft brewery boom happened in an industrial park out in Oxford. Cavalry ceased operation in May 2014, sold everything to the folks from Black Hog and three months later we had a new brewery.

Black Hog didn’t mess around. They brought in the head brewer from Portsmouth in New Hampshire. They gathered the industry minds behind the highly successful Caseus/Ordinary empire in New Haven. They brought on some great marketers and graphic designers. They signed on to a far-reaching and influential distributor.

And they brewed a crap-ton of beer out of the gate.

In short, I’m not sure there are many people lamenting the loss of Cavalry. Black Hog has done a great job making us all forget their overly-carbonated and boring British-style beers.

But what will Black Hog bring to the table? Will they challenge the current kings of Connecticut beer? New England? Time will tell, of course, but early on it is clear they have done a great job getting their name “out there” and their product in way, way more bars and restaurants than you’d think possible so quickly.

They’ve also somehow co-opted two other hot trends – obviously from the owners’ restaurant background. Like the whole farm-to-table thing and the snout to tail thing.

They are all over the “local hops” (and other botanicals) bandwagon* and their logo is, of course, a hog ripe for the butchering (which is what they had at their grand opening, by the way). They know what they are doing.

*I feel compelled to note that Thomas Hooker Brewing has had a hop farm in New Hartford for as many years as the new “We’re growing local hops!” breweries have been in existence – combined. (To my reckoning, that’s Black Hog, OEC, Shebeen, Relic and impending Kent Falls Brewing. Though Relic is a little different, because Mark’s hop-growing “program” is so quaint and wholesome.) Local botanicals in local beer is a great thing, and I don’t want to diminish that, but you know… hops from Oregon, Germany, New Zealand, and Australia are pretty freaking great.

Let’s hope the beer is worth it.

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My visit to the brewery
Black Hog Brewing Company
CTMQ’s page on CT Breweries and Brewpubs
CTMQ Drinks every CT Beer