Maya McFadden Photo
Bear’s Smokehouse BBQ in New Haven has partnered with the four brewing masterminds of Black Hog Brewing Co. to open a new riverfront brew-pub in town along with five new in-house brews.
The combined new Black Hog craft brewery and Bear’s Smokehouse is called The Stack. It’s in the DISTRICT innovation center along the Mill River off James Street in Fair Haven.
Brothers Jason and Tom Sobocinski, Tyler Jones, and Justin Benvenuto of Black Hog celebrated the partnership with an opening event Thursday night, touting New Haven’s only biergarten.
An Arts & Ideas Festival tour group of about 35 people joined during the celebration to try the five pairings of beer and barbecue.
The five brews available for the debut were Get on the Bus, S.W.A.G (Summer Wheat Ale with Grapefruit), Service India Pale Ale (IPA), Stacks IPA, and King Julian Vanilla Milk Stout.
“I always had an artistic side that I didn’t know what to do with until I found brewing,” said Jones (pictured).
After graduating with a Chemical Engineering degree from the University of New Hampshire, Jones coincidently found a homebrew kit in the coat closet of a past apartment. He later attended the master brewers program at the University of California, Davis, to kick start his brewing career.
Jones and Benvenuto offered tours Thursday to share more about the process of brewing.
The project’s small scale offers more creative freedom to brew new ideas, Benvenuto said.
The brewing process at Bear’s consists of mash conversion, kettle boiling, then fermentation. The brewery has a total of five fermenting machines for their brews. Fermentation processes range from two to eight weeks, Benvenuto said.
Steve and Sam Berry and Lauren Pinzka (pictured) called the five pairings offered during the food tour “a great new experience in a familiar place.”
Steve Berry said that the smoked turkey and S.W.A.G pairing surprised him the most. “I wouldn’t normally go for something boring like turkey at a barbeque spot but this one was flavorful and very surprising,” he said.
Thursday was Sam Berry’s first experience at Bear’s. He said he intends to return for the pulled pork and Get on the Bus pairing.
“It was nice to meet the creators like Jason and hear their personal stories about each drink,” Pinzka said.
Jason Sobocinski told customers that one of his favorites is the brisket and Stacks IPA pairing.
Of the five new brews, Jones agreed that the Stacks IPA is the most interesting because of its use of Simcoe and Eureka! hops. His favorite brew of all is called Ginga Ninja at Black Hog, a red ale brewed with ginger which he crafted with love for his wife and celebrated with on his wedding day.
“This brewing is all about fun because there isn’t any-one particular market we have to really appeal to,” Jones said.
The food tour group was served five appetizer courses of the five debut brews paired with Bear’s barbecue choices of pulled pork, smoked turkey, pulled chicken, brisket, and granola brown beer brats.
Bear’s smokes its pulled pork and brisket over hickory wood pellets 12 – 16 hours in advance.
Mollie Boulden and Lawrence Heys (at left in photo) bought tickets to the food tour to try out Bear’s offerings and learn more about what kind of beer they liked.
Though the food tour pairings were served inside, the group of colleagues enjoyed a view of the 6,000 square-foot Biergarten through the window walls.
“I plan to be back here this weekend,” said Heys.
A pig roast in the Biergarten for all customers began around 6:30 p.m. Guests were able to purchase a dinner consisting of smoked pig sliders and a choice of sides.
The pig roast dinner was in celebration of the new partnership with Black Hog. Since the company’s start, roasting a pig has become a traditional way of to celebrate special occasions like the opening of the brewery.
