This was my fifth visit to the Real Ale Harvest Festival at the historic Noah Webster House in West Hartford CT.
And it was almost certainly the best one yet.
I had so much fun, despite the dramatic turn in the weather conditions a little after halfway through.
But who cares if you are getting drenched on the outside, when you are also getting pleasantly wet on the inside as well.
Once again, my lovely wife volunteered to tag along and handle all of the driving duties, although I had to bribe her a little by tacking on some apple picking in Bethel CT.
The weather folks had threatened thunderstorms for the day, but at the time we arrived, and for the next couple of hours, the weather was almost perfect; bright, clear, not too hot, but a wee bit humid.
After the downpours that featured dramatically in the 2023 iteration of the event, the festival organizers were ready(ish) this time, with much of the standing area covered by two large open tents.
They would be needed.
As in past visits, I made sure that my missus was settled in a quiet area where she could catch up on some reading, before wandering back into the crowd (and there was a big crowd this year) in search of my first brew.
I sort of knew where I was heading first, and that was to the New Park Brewing table, to see what gravity keg lager they had brought along this year; they always bring a stichfaß of excellent lager, and usually also have something in a pin that is a little more experimental.
They did not disappoint.
Their Marzen was right on style, and for much of the event was my favorite tipple, only beaten down into second place by the folks from Dead Language once they managed to get their handpump operational and send their British Brown Ale out into the world.
Rounding out my top-three was another Festbier from the wood, the Copper Legend from Jacks Abby, coming all the way in from Framingham MA; the only out-of-state cask at the festival, with the other breweries all within the Connecticut state borders.
I had no plan of attack this year, I just ventured out and sampled in a totally random order, trying three to four beers each pass before checking back with my wife and catching my breath.
It would seem that I had made seven or eight passes during the three hours, as (checking the list below) I somehow managed to sip on twenty eight different casks, all but one of the featured offerings.
I don’t know how I managed to miss the judges favorite, a Barleywine from Counter Weight; I would have loved to finish with that, but I may have been distracted by the pantomime horse dog.
As in prior years, there was a tremendous variety of beer styles on display, with a range of strengths from a Radler to an Imperial Stout and the aforementioned Barleywine.
And as “required” by the event rules, many of those styles were thoughtfully (or playfully, or outrageously) enhanced by all manner of natural additives, mostly fruits, herbs, and spices.
Okay, so there was also wasabi, seaweed, and cucumber scattered around, but they actually worked very well in the Oshinko Roll Japanese Rice Lager from those mad scientists (kids with a chemistry set) from Alvarium.
It gets an honorable mention.
As does the Lavender Pilsner from newcomers Vue Brewing, the Berry Blonde from Willimantic (winner of the peoples choice award), the English IPA from the other newbies Black Shuck Brewing, and the Habanero West Coast IPA from Counter Weight.
To make up for missing a cask, I sampled two outstanding bottled cysers from Yankee Cider Company, one rhubarb and the other with golden beets; I am going to have to track those down again.
After completing four “dry” runs around the tents, the sky started to darken and the wind started to kick in, but it was the first clap of thunder that sent me and my wife into the safety of the museum itself; we were not alone.
We had barely taken cover before the torrential rain started, and we settled ourselves on the end of a long table, right next to where the judges were deliberating.
But not for long in my case.
It didn’t take long to finish my current beer, whereupon I walked through the building and out the other side to where most of my unsampled beers were located.
Yep, it was still chucking down outside but most of the attendees had taken shelter under the tents and the ominous rumblings from the sky had died down a little, so I made a mental plan to zig-zag to my next four beers, covered my glass with my hand, and hurried back into the storm.
And like a lifeboat returning again and again to a sinking ship, I made three more “wet” runs around the venue to rescue all of the remaining casks; except for that bloody Barleywine…
And then, as quickly as the rain started, it began to ease up, just in time to say our goodbyes, make a big fuss of the (very) big dog, and head for the car.
Thankfully, the drive home was uneventful, if a little uncomfortable.
It stayed dry on the outside, although one of the occupants was unpleasantly wet on the inside.
The next cask event is this upcoming weekend and is much closer to home.
Don’t miss out on the inaugural Jones Wood Foundry cask festival!
Saturday, September 13th starting at 12 noon.
Scorecard w/e 9/9/25
At the 10th Annual Noah Webster House Real Ale Harvest Festival the Cask Whisperer sampled and enjoyed the following casks:
Brew | Style | Brewed by |
It’s all in the Grindcore | Oatmeal Stout – Coffee, Ginger, Vanilla | Alvarium Beer Co. |
Bumble Playground | Double IPA – Honey, Juniper, Elderflower | Alvarium Beer Co. |
Oshinko Roll | Rice Lager – Cucumber, Dill, Seaweed | Alvarium Beer Co. |
Gardner Punch | American Sour Ale – Cilantro, Ginger, Serrano | Alvarium Beer Co. |
Baked | Glazed Donut Ale – Coconut, Pineapple, Banana | Alvarium Beer Co. |
Porter w/ Raspberry | American Porter – Raspberry | Back East Brewing |
Lager w/ Lemon, Basil, Hemp | American Pilsner – Lemon, Basil, Hemp | Back East Brewing |
Becoming Misfortune | English IPA – Smoked Oak | Black Shuck Brewery |
Legit Wit | Belgian Wit – Lime, Lemon, Ginger | Brewery Legitimus |
The Silence Abbey | Belgian Dubbel – Chocolate, Raspberry, Date | Brewery Legitimus |
Bright Wave | West Coast IPA – Habanero | Counterweight Brewing Co. |
Velveteen | British Brown Ale | Dead Language Brewing |
German Style Radler | German Style Radler – Lemonade | East Rock Brewing |
Tribute 1960 | Weissbier – Blackberry, Raspberry | Firefly Hollow Brewing |
Copper Legend | Festbier | Jacks Abby Brewing |
Not so Dark Secrets | White Stout – Cocao, Black Cherry | New Cambridge Project |
Imperial Stout Trooper: Cinnamon Bun | Russian Imperial Stout | New England Brewing Company |
Supernaut: Passionfruit /Blood Orange | NEIPA – Passionfruit, Blood Orange | New England Brewing Company |
Coconut Hefeweizen | Weissbier – Honey, Cocao, Coconut | New Park Brewing |
Marzen | Marzen | New Park Brewing |
Parsons Green: Dry Hopped | Best Bitter – Dry Hopped | Nod Hill |
Stillwater | Extra Dry Saison – Strawberry, Rhubarb | Twelve Percent Beer Project |
Strawberry IPA | American IPA – Strawberry, Basil | Thomas Hooker Brewing |
Ginger Snap Lager | American Lager – Ginger | Thomas Hooker Brewing |
No Cap Pilsner | Pilsner – Lemon, Lavender, Blueberry | Vue Brewing |
Razapeno Cream Ale | Cream Ale – Raspberry, Jalapeno | Vue Brewing |
Head Juice | American Pale Ale (APA) | Watson Farmhouse Brewery |
Blushing Blonde | American Blonde Ale – Berries & Brown Sugar | Willimantic Brewing |
Upcoming Cask Events (Festivals and Otherwise)
- September 13th: JWF Cask Ale Festival at Jones Wood Foundry
- November 8th: Blue Point 21st Cask Fest at Blue Point Brewing, Patchogue NY
Upcoming Oktoberfest Events (With Confirmed/Potential Cask Sightings)
- September 12th: Strongtoberfest 2025 (there may not be a cask, but where else can you sample festbiers from multiple NYC breweries?) @ Strong Rope Brewing, Red Hook, Brooklyn NY
- September 13th: Grimm Oktoberfest 2025 (casks mentioned) @ Grimm Artisanal Ales, East Williamsburg, Brooklyn NY
- September 20th: River Horse/DuClaw Oktoberfest (with specialty casks) @ River Horse, Ewing NJ
- September 27th: Faßfest (multiple stichfaß tappings) @ Kills Boro Brewing, Staten Island NY
- September 28th: Blocktoberfest 2025 (there have been casks in the recent past) @ Strong Rope Brewing, Red Hook, Brooklyn NY
Upcoming Random NYC Casks
- This upcoming Sunday, September 14th, Tørst will be featuring a Dortmunder-style lager from Schilling Beer on cask, as part of their Exploder Tasting Party event 2pm – 6pm.
NYC Cask Venues
Known Operational/Active Beer Engines
- Jones Wood Foundry (x2)
- Fifth Hammer
- Wild East
- The Shakespeare (x3)
- Cask Bar & Kitchen
- Drop-off Service
Occasional Pins (worth a follow on Instagram)
- Strong Rope
- KCBC
- Tørst
- Blind Tiger Ale House
- Threes Brewing
- Brouwerij Lane (First Friday Firkins)
- The Owl Farm
Cask Venues Reachable from NYC by MTA or NJ Transit Train in Under two Hours
Metro-North Hudson Line
- Draught Industries, Beacon NY (one handpump, Old Glenham beer range).
- Coopers, Beacon NY (one handpump, Old Glenham beer range).
- Happy Valley Arcade Bar, Beacon NY (one handpump, Old Glenham beer range).
Metro-North Harlem Line
- The Ambleside Pub, Mt. Kisco NY (four handpumps, Old Glenham beer range).
Metro-North New Haven Line
- Marlowe Artisanal Ales, Mamaroneck NY (one handpump, Marlowe beer range).
- Nod Hill Brewing, Ridgefield CT (two handpumps, Nod Hill beer range).
NJ Transit NJCL Line
- Triumph Restaurant and Brewery, Red Bank NJ (one handpump, Triumph beer range).
