Breweries Near Middletown, CT: Where to Drink Craft Beer

By Erik Hernal, founder & editor

The best breweries near Middletown, CT are Forest City Brewing (180 Johnson Street) and Spoke & Spy Ciderworks (180 Johnson Street), both in the old Remington Rand factory, plus Eli Cannon's Tap Room (695 Main Street) downtown and Concentric Brewing (91 Main Street, Portland) over the Arrigoni Bridge. Middletown's beer scene punches above its size. Across the river in Portland you get two more, and if you'll drive 15 minutes, five additional taprooms ring the town. Here's the honest local list, all open and checked this month.

Brewery	Known for	Where	Vibe
Forest City Brewing	NE IPAs, sours, an outdoor Beer Forest	180 Johnson St, Middletown	nano-brewery, weekend hangout
Spoke & Spy Ciderworks	small-batch cider next door to Forest City	180 Johnson St, Middletown	tiny, cider-nerd friendly
Eli Cannon's Tap Room	35+ rotating taps, the classic beer bar	695 Main St, Middletown	loud, beloved, late
Eli Cannon's Brewing Collective	the Eli's crew making their own beer	49 Randolph Rd, Middletown	newer production taproom
Concentric Brewing	Portland's first brewery, beer garden + kitchen	91 Main St, Portland	roomy, food on site
Arrigoni Winery & Cider	farm cider and wine, local beer on tap	1287 Portland-Cobalt Rd, Portland	rural, view-y

Middletown's own breweries

Forest City Brewing (180 Johnson Street) is the one to start with. It's a nano-brewery tucked in the old Remington Rand building, turning out New England IPAs, sours, and stouts in small runs, and in warm weather it spills out into an outdoor Beer Forest where you can get full pours, big soft pretzels, and hot dogs (vegan ones too). Hours are tight, mostly Thursday through Sunday, so check their location and hours before you go. It's a real community hangout, the kind of place where locals end up on a Saturday afternoon.

Spoke & Spy Ciderworks (180 Johnson Street) shares that same building and makes small-batch hard cider from interesting apple varieties. The taproom keeps short hours (Friday and Saturday afternoons, roughly), so it's more of a planned stop than a drop-in. If you think you don't like cider, this is the place that changes your mind.

Eli Cannon's Brewing Collective (49 Randolph Road) is the newer chapter: the people behind Middletown's famous beer bar started brewing their own. The taproom over on Randolph Road is open Wednesday through Sunday, and it's the spot to drink Eli's house beer at the source rather than off the tap wall downtown.

The beer bar locals send everyone to

Eli Cannon's Tap Room (695 Main Street) isn't a brewery, but you can't write about beer in Middletown and skip it. It's the godfather of the Connecticut beer bar, with 35-plus rotating taps that lean hard on local and hard-to-find brews, plus a kitchen and a back patio. The vibe is loud, a little chaotic, decorated like a fever dream, and everyone in town has a story from there. Go once and you'll get why people drive in for it.

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Just across the river in Portland

Concentric Brewing Company (91 Main Street, Portland) is a five-minute hop over the Arrigoni Bridge and it's Portland's first brewery. It's the most full-service stop on this list: a real taproom, a beer garden, and an on-site kitchen (Graze) serving full plates so you can actually eat a meal with your flight. Good first stop if you've got a group that wants food.

Arrigoni Winery & Cider Co. (1287 Portland-Cobalt Road, Route 66, Portland) is the rural one, a family farm operation about ten minutes out that does its own cider and wine and keeps rotating Connecticut craft beers on tap. Go for the setting as much as the drink.

Worth the short drive

A handful more taprooms sit 15 to 20 minutes out, and a couple are worth the trip. Rule of 3 Brewing (201 West High Street, East Hampton) is the live-music-and-food-trucks warehouse brewery, open since 2022 and the most "spend the whole afternoon" of the bunch. Coles Road Brewing (817 Farmington Avenue, Berlin) is the small owner-run spot with regular food-truck nights and beer to go. Phantom Burger & Brewery (199 Saybrook Road, Higganum) is the one for dinner: they brew their own and build smash burgers on brisket tallow from the smokehouse, which is exactly as good as it sounds. Little House Brewing (16 Main Street, Chester) sits in a historic downtown Chester building and is the only one open Sunday mornings at 10. And Five Churches Brewing (193 Arch Street, New Britain) is the former coat factory turned brewhouse with wood-fired pizza, about 20 minutes west.

Common questions about breweries near Middletown

Are there breweries in downtown Middletown? The makers are just off downtown: Forest City Brewing and Spoke & Spy Ciderworks share 180 Johnson Street, and Eli Cannon's Brewing Collective is on Randolph Road. For taps downtown on Main Street, Eli Cannon's Tap Room is the move.

What's the closest brewery to Middletown? Concentric Brewing in Portland, about five minutes over the Arrigoni Bridge, plus the two makers at 180 Johnson Street right in town.

Any cideries near Middletown? Two. Spoke & Spy Ciderworks at 180 Johnson Street in Middletown, and Arrigoni Winery & Cider on Portland-Cobalt Road in Portland.

Which ones have food? Concentric (Graze kitchen) and Phantom Burger & Brewery (smash burgers) are full meals. Forest City does pretzels and hot dogs, Five Churches does wood-fired pizza, and several host food trucks on weekends.

Is Stubborn Beauty still open? No. The old Stubborn Beauty Brewing closed in early 2025. Forest City and Spoke & Spy carry the 180 Johnson Street building now.

While you're out, here are the local guides to the best restaurants in Middletown, the best coffee shops, things to do in Portland CT, and a perfect weekend itinerary. See what's on this week on our events page, browse past issues, or subscribe above for the Thursday rundown.