Being a fan of the old Hartford Whalers, I had always wanted to go to Hartford. The fact that there was a brewery on the old Colt firearms complex in Hartford was a win for everyone. I would've loved to tour the Colt facility during its hayday. Samuel Colt was born in Hartford in 1814 and began making guns in 1836. He founded Colt firearms in 1855. As it is for gun-makers it was feast or famine. During wartime, Colt did great, but suffered in the aftermath. Known for innovation, Colt was the first manufacturer to offer interchangeable parts for its guns and used powerful steam engines in its plants before others were doing it. He also was the first to build a tenement for his workers with housing, daycare, churches and food. He established a ten hour work day with a required one hour lunch break.
Colt is synonymous with many of the most recognizable guns in history, from its famous Peacemaker to the M1911 to the Colt Python and though Colt didn't invent the Thompson 1921 submachine gun, the Browning M1895, precursor to the BAR, M16, M4 or Maxim-Vickers, it was contracted to build all of those weapons. In fact, the loss of the M4 carbine contract in 2013 led to the downfall of the company. After emerging from bankruptcy in 2017, the company floundered and was sold to CZ in 2021. What a shame to lose perhaps the most well known gunmaker in the US to a foreign company. The factory is shuttered now, a monolith to the past, with just its beautiful blue onion-shaped dome as a reminder of its former glory. The tenement buildings have been repurposed, the armory just in name only now. On the ground floor of the newly renovated apartment complex, now called Colt Gateway, lies the Thomas Hooker Brewery. Thomas Hooker is considered the father of Connecticut. After being fed up with the far stricter Puritans of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, he started the Connecticut Colony in 1636 in Hartford. Direct relations to Hooker are President William Taft and JP Morgan.
The brewery was originally called the Troutbrook Brewpub in 1996, but rebranded itself after its best known beer, Thomas Hooker Ale in 2003. Though the main brewery is no longer in Hartford, this taproom still exists. We sat down for lunch on our first day without rain on the trip. I caved in to my indulgences and had their Irish Red, aptly named Irish Red Ale. Oh, it was good. Malty, caramel, moderate hoppiness and a deep red color all entice you in this beer. I had finished it before my food arrived. The blend of East Kent Goldings hops and Williamette hops make this a solid ale. They are both hops from the UK with East Kent going back as far as 1790 and used as a bittering agent and Williamette giving the beer much of its flavor. I would drink it again for sure. My brother had ordered a blonde ale, aptly named Blonde Ale, but the tap had runneth dry. They changed out the barrel and though he had ordered a different beer by then, they brought out the blonde ale anyways. Free beer, so I had it. It was a blonde ale. Though one of their original beers, I was not impressed, nor unimpressed. It was a pretty simple blonde ale that had nothing that stuck out to separate it from any other blonde. I was eyeing the Tom Lager, but we had a long drive so we took off. I did, however, buy a t-shirt and they had some Colt handgun designs etched on bronze blocks that were cool to look at. Before leaving we did walk around the factory to see if there was a museum or something to wet the gun fetish, but alas, there was nothing we could find. The tacos and nachos were good too, by the way.
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