Dark Side Brewing started as an idea between friends - let's make the beers our bosses wouldn't let us brew at work. Since then, it has taken on a life of its own. Dark Side has become an outlet for creating unique, thoughtfully crafted ales.

Our beers have a sense of place. Terroir, whatever you want to call it. It should be something that is of where it’s from. Our philosophy is based on a vision of creating products that are influenced by time and place.

We, luckily, are able to source our materials from our local ecosystem. This is how we show the "where" of our beers. All of our beers begin with our special well water, which has a huge impact on the final outcome of the beers - water that is slightly hard and typical of New England. After laying down that foundation with the base of well water, the beers sense of place is further encapsulated with Connecticut grown malts, hops, and other ingredients. Finishing these beers, and truly making the beers more than just a sum of their parts is the use of yeasts that we have foraged and cultivated from my local ecosystem.

Beyond this sense of place, we believe that beer is a product of time. The nature of spontaneous fermentation and mixed fermentation is that the beer becomes a product of time. The beers we create are ever evolving and maturing with our house yeast cultures and bacteria. They are a testament of time and patience, as they dictate their own terms of when they are ready. It may be six months, it may be two to three years, it may be never.

Time does not just refer to the time it takes to produce these beers, it is directly linked to the seasonality of Connecticut. Our dynamic ecosystem and four distinct seasons give way to creating beers that are also of “when.” We harvest all of our fruits fresh and they go from the vine into the beer the same day.

We believe all of this has allowed us to create some beautifully complex and drinkable beers and we love sharing what we’ve made with friends.