Relic Brewing Company

Mark really brews some really good beer. I live the next town over and stop by once a month to get a growler filled. Each time he has something new to try. I love that you always get samples of each beer he has that day.
He loves to talk beer and is happy to share his knowledge with you.
I hope that at some point he can expand or move to better location. Not really a lot of room to hang out at the current location. Basically you just go there to try a few beers and buy your growler fill. You wouldn’t go there to hang out for a few hours.
But this review is all about the beer and that is the reason I go there!

Mark is a true savant. His beers are rightfully recognized as some of the best in the state. Mark himself is charming and passionate, his space in Plainville is appealingly quirky.

I love this microbrewery. Amazing beer is brewed here, I haven’t tried one that I didn’t immediately enjoy. The tastings every week are an awesome idea. The owner is also a very nice person and always has info on the choices when asked. Anyone with a taste for good beer should stop in and check out the selection.

For the true beer aficionado or connoisseur, regular stops at Relic are a must. Beer is crafted here in small batches, and although you can find some of their brews bottled or on tap at some choice local outlets, dropping in to chat with the brewer and his fans while sampling his creations is a real enjoyable experience, every time. The only thing that keeps this from being a 5-​star rating is that it’s a very small tasting room with no real accommodations for anything except for standing along a very small bar where they pour free samples and growlers. There’s no seating and it can get a bit crowded trying to find some elbow room along the bar. But it usually works out and it’s always a very friendly crowd. As for the beer, it’s among the best in the region but also a bit unique. Most creations are just a little different from the typical brew per style, which always makes me particularly eager to try the latest offering. The brewer is creative and personable. They are only open a few days a week so check their hours. Thursday is especially popular and fun but Saturday’s are a good option as well. Although there may be some pretzels available au gratis, there is otherwise no food available here. The site is quite obscure in this neighborhood/​industrial area, an exterior that appears a bit dilapidated/​old school manufacturing facility, but it’s fine and clean inside. Parking is plentiful and free. It can be a little hard to locate so just trust your GPS and look for the little door facing the parking lot, set back from the street.

Very knowledgable brew master. Enjoyed their selection of beers. Try the Thrice Tripel and the Double Dry Hop Tropicale IPA.

I found this little gem on Unilocal.The beers are great, and the staff are super awesome and friendly. They change their beers frequently, so call ahead if you’re looking for something in particular. You can buy/​fill growlers, purchase by the glass or purchase by the bottle.
Tastings are free!

Relic is such a great little brewery. It is, however, a little bit hard to find because of the distance from the road, very few signs, and general smallishness of the place — but keep your eyes peeled, because it’s so worth it! I love their variety of beers, especially what they’ve got in the spring and summer.
All samples are free, and then you’re able to buy a souvenir pint glass (full of your choice of beer, of course) for $ 5 once you’re done sampling. It’s really impressive how often they’re switching up the taps to keep things fresh and fun.

Super nice people I showed up on a Thursday night Bottle Share pretty crowded. I tasted 5 beers a rye lager, amber ale, black lager, and two ipas one made with a Saison yeast. Basically, the visit confirmed what I had tasted at various beer bars in CT mainly Prime 16. I can’t get past the taster stage with this brewery. All of their beers are somewhat interesting but they feel green and unfinished, dirty. I realize they have a 3 barrel and fairly wide distribution for this size system. I think this is their problem, either scale up the system and ferment and age longer or decrease the distribution size. I think this brewery has good potential but needs to focus on making their beers a little better.

This is a really fine creative nano-​brewery tucked away in a nondescript small industrial space just south of the old commercial center of Plainville. Tip to first timers: check it out on Google street-​view or just follow the direction on their website else you’ll drive by, as they’re set back from the road with no signage visible from the street. You enter into a small space with a tasting counter on your right, limited bottled beers for purchase straight ahead and a «crowd space» to the left decorated with label art as well as a status chalkboard telling you what’s on tap. The Brewmeister, who was not in on the day of my visit, is apparently a brainstorming tinkerer as I was told they have just under 100 different beers they brew. The good thing about this is it keeps the tasting experience unique and worthy of regular revisit, but the downside is your favorite may not always be available. They have a bewildering variety of bottle labels to match their copious beer lineup. Best of all are the free small tastings of 5 or 6 of their current brews, conducted by friendly, knowledgable staff. You can bring your own growler or purchase one there, and prices are very reasonable. The day of my visit led to an addiction to Queen Anne’s Revenge and Anyssa, perfect dark rich accompaniments to the continuing cold weather.

Yummy beer. Wish they had some staple beers that are always on tap. It’s cool that they are constantly coming up with new flavors. Wish I lived closer so I could stop by more to try them as they make new ones.

Excellent beer. Great flavors. Staff are very well informed and knowledgable about beers and brewing.

Relic is great, hard to find originally, but great. Not only can you taste all their beers on tap for free, but they also allow tasting of other unique beers that customers brought in. The owner is great to talk to and i enjoyed hearing about his life. The place is small but it allows you to easily talk to others at the bar. I will absolutely be back.

This beer is incredible. Relic isn’t really into IPA’s although their farmhouse IPA is spectacular. They had an interesting mix of Belgian inspired beers when I went. The brewers are great and really willing to chat about beer. They also have free samples.

Relic rocks. There’s a friendly, awesome staff that know beer and love to chat. I haven’t met anyone I didn’t like there.
This place has an interesting vibe. Similar to Firefly Brewing, Relic is in an inconspicuous location; on a main road– but if you didn’t know where to look, you would drive right past it. The numbers on the door are half written in sharpie. There is no real way to tell if it’s open (but they are: Thursday, Friday and Saturday). The room inside is small, a little dark. These elements all together give it a special, exclusive mystique which adds to the experience.
When you walk inside you will see that local artists decorate the walls with their work– most of which is for sale. There is nowhere to sit, but it’s not that kind of place. You don’t linger forever– you get your beer and move on. The service is pretty fast so you can have the whole experience in less than an hour. I have been there when it’s packed and when it’s empty, and either way it’s fun.
Now the important stuff, the beer. Free samples and reasonable prices on growlers. Re-​use the same bottles, or return them to get your $ 5 back. The beer is good– the owner serves seasonal batches that make sense for the time of year and the available ingredients. Summertime, expect saisons, ales and lagers that are fruit infused or light and crisp. Wintertime, expect darker brews, like the legendary coffee stout. So good.

In my opinion, Relic has the best beer in CT. I love all of the different and interesting beers that brewmaster Mark concocts– he is a true genius. I usually prefer dark beers like porters and stouts, but there has never been a Relic beer that I’ve tried and didn’t like. In fact, I am not a fan of IPA’s, but the Transatlantic IPA is so delicious that even I enjoy it. Some of my favorites include the Antiquity, Huntsman and Earl Grey & lemon saison– just to name a few. If you’re a beer lover, stop by & bring a growler (or 3)!

If you live in CT and you want your friends to both love and revere you then go buy them a growlette/​bottle/​growler of Relic beer… they will instantly bow to you and kiss your feet.
The beer here is top notch, my personal favorite microbrewery (nano-​brewery, whatever) in CT. Mark is wildly creative and crafts wonderful Belgian inspired beers — saison variations abound, he works wonderfully with the yeast strain brettanomyces, and is an overall beer wizard. If you have the chance to talk to him, do so. I am obsessed with the schwarzbier Blackheart and my boyfriend and I have a bottle of Darkness Falls sitting in our «cellar» waiting for the right moment. One of his beers actually rendered me entirely speechless… it was one in the Tarot series… so complex and lovely. Local artists make his labels! He barely distributes! So get over there and prepare to be amazed!!!

Beers with malts, hops, and accents of all types,
You’ll be joyous when it goes down into your pipes.
The Belgian IPA is truly a winner,
A perfect stop right before dinner.
Stopped by Friday night for a tasting. Turns out they had an author of a beer book on-​site for a meet & greet. Pretty phat. We were told we could try a free sample of all five beers on tap as long as we drank them one at a time. The samples are probably two ounces or so. But, still a great deal.
Tried the Belgian IPA (very crisp and flavorful with a nice hop bite), Black IPA, and Strong Lager. All of them were very good, but the Belgian truly stood out. I could have put an entire growler down.
The tasting experience isn’t perfect, as you order at the bar and then just stand in a large, empty room to drink your beer. No chairs, tables, ledges, etc. I think the point is to get people to find a beer they like, buy a growler, and then exit. But at the end of the day, the beer is excellent, and that is what truly matters with so many crappy breweries popping up everywhere. Will be back fo SHO.

I thought about it, and while there are still a few kinks to work out with visiting the brewery, I can’t give Relic any less than 5 stars because I love their beer so much. After first trying their Houndstooth at the Unilocal event at the Crown and Hammer last summer, I have been on the lookout for Relic beers at bars ever since, and I’m always happy when I can find them.
I visited the brewery for the first time on a recent Saturday afternoon. My boyfriend and I got there with an hour left to spare of open house, but they were already out of at least two beers, and they were running out of what was left. We didn’t buy anything because there wasn’t enough of the beers we wanted to fill a growler, but we were still able to try some samples, which were worth the trip. The highlight of my visit was the Fool’s Gold, which was a wonderful, slightly dark, buttery, double altbier. For the rest of the day, I couldn’t stop thinking about how good it was. There’s a huge demand for Relic beer — we were told that people line up with lawn chairs an hour before they open — and now I understand why.
The tasting area was very small and cramped for the dozen or so people who were there when I visited, but they’re expanding to a much bigger tasting room. The owner/​staff talked about how they’re trying to expand production so they don’t keep running out of beer like they are now. You can tell these guys really want to make more beer. I’m glad they do.

Support your local brewery!
Ok, I live in RI & grew up in Litchfield BUT my father had a small business not too far away in Bristol so I can claim Relic as my «local» brewery.
No matter where Relic is located it’s still awesome.
As other reviews state, it’s not marked from the road at all. There’s no way you’d just stumble upon it unless you’re on a mission to find it in the first place. Once you pull into the parking lot & are paying attention you can’t help but see the Relic Brewing sign & know you’ve arrived.
Walking in the owner/​brewer Mark actually recognized me from meeting me at CT Beverage Mart a few weeks ago. He seems to be good with faces since it seemed he recognized almost everyone who was in and out during my trip. Every time I turned around someone new was in/​out getting a growler re-​fill.
Again, the place is tiny & there were about 6 others there on my visit & I felt I was always in the way. Samples were flowing & Mark was multi-​tasking filling cups or growlers, drinking & chatting up the beers.
Mark was serving 3 of Relic’s beers (they ran outta Houndstooth by Saturday afternoon) & they were all unique & tastey. I was gonna go home with a Whiting Street Lager grolwer either way but also purchased a bottle of Fortnight IPA for good measure. My nephew came with me & we brought home 2 small growlers of Whiting Street & the French Farmhouse Ale to share with my brother in law.
Check out their website & Facebook for tasting hours. Right now they’re only doing them on Fridays & Saturdays. Definitely use GPS to find the place! And don’t worry too much about brining just cash. Mark takes plastic if you feel the need to splurge!

After trying the Houndstooth at The Crown and Hammer tasting event, we decided to check out their Friday open house and pick up some beer for home.
Drove by the place the first time, its sort of a non descript industrial building a ways off the road and the signage is minimal, but if you go by the numbers its easy to find. The «brewery» location is tiny. but as long as it’s enough space to make these delicious small batch craft brews, it’s big enough.
Sampled the houndstooth, shipwright, fortnight and antiquity. Left with a Houndstooth growler and some Whiting St. All the beers were good and unique.
Super friendly people, great local beer, free samples. what a great way to start a Friday.