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March 22, 2022

Wolcott, Cheshire brewery openings cheer battered beer industry

Liese Klein Velvet Libations Taproom Manager Deb Stanclift pours a beer at the grand opening on March 17, 2022.

In a sign there’s still some fizz in the local craft beer industry, two New Haven area breweries celebrated openings this week and a third neared completion. 

In Wolcott, new brewery Velvet Libations celebrated its grand opening on Thursday with green-clad beer drinkers fueling up in the taproom for St. Patrick’s Day festivities.

Velvet Libations General Manager Don Laviano said the new business was grateful to be opening Thursday after troubled times for the industry.

“We're excited to be opening when, unfortunately, so many craft breweries had to close down through the pandemic,” Laviano said. 

The Brewery Collective, a company with craft operations in Connecticut and Rhode Island, runs the new brewery. The taproom at 1 Wolcott Rd. was once run by Shebeen Brewing, which closed its retail operations earlier this year to focus on its distribution efforts.

Liese Klein
Counter Weight Brewing's new Cheshire facility.

With new offerings including a wine-barrel-aged Belgian dubbel, a Berliner weisse and a grisette IPA, Velvet Libations seeks to bring together cutting-edge beer styles and the mellow vibes of the 1960s.

“We're looking for an early ’60s vibe, you can tell from the furniture, the decorations,” Laviano said, gesturing to the wall art of vinyl album covers and seating areas outfitted in retro couches and chairs. “We’ve got this whole new identity here.”

Down the hill in the wilds of northern Cheshire, Counter Weight Brewing Co. was set to celebrate the grand opening Friday of its new 20,000-square-foot facility, which includes a taproom and beer hall. 

Founded in Hamden, Counter Weight announced last year it had bought land to build a new facility at 9 Diana Ct. in Cheshire, located in a semi-rural area just south of 691 and the border with Southington.

A new version of the brewery's No Hope for the Kids American IPA and a food truck offering Eastern European food were planned to celebrate the grand opening.

In New Haven, Armada Brewing is finishing up renovations to its new taproom and brewery at 190 River St. in the Fair Haven neighborhood, part of the former Bigelow Boiler factory complex.

Armada plans a major announcement on April 5 as it nears completion of the project, according to a representative. The East Haven-based brewery is building a small brewing operation and taproom with a 68-person capacity at the New Haven site. 

A huge movie studio complex has been proposed on River Street to the east of the Armada site by Jaigantic Studios, which is currently headquartered in Shelton.

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