At first, the entrance is greets you with with a stunning house-like entrance, welcoming you into a friendly world of local craft beer. Once inside, a number of areas are available to sit and socialize with friends. We decided to belly up to the bar.
If this was just about the beer, this review would say that Stoney Creek offers a great variety of craft beer brewed at Foxwoods as well at its first brewery in Branford, CT. But, this new pub at Foxwoods is much, much more.
The Full Pint – Craft Beer News reported, “The brewery is Stony Creek’s second brewing operation following their flagship Branford, Connecticut location. With two floors, 7,100 square feet and seating for over three hundred guests……Both floors of Stony Creek Brewery offer distinct experiences. The ground floor is designed as an ode to Stony Creek’s New England heritage which also includes a spacious beer garden and a brew deck with a view into the brewhouse, giving guests a first-hand look at the beer production process.”
The Beer
To quote the Stony Creek website, “THE FUSION OF CLEAN, BOLD, AND AGGRESSIVE WEST COAST FLAVORS AND EAST COAST BALANCE AND DRINKABILITY. WE CALL THIS AGGRESSIVELY LAID-BACK BEER.”
Yes, those are stouts! Amazing taste.
Bert ordered Sun Juice, a smooth wheat beer with orange peel, grapefruit peel, coriander & chamomile. This is a great alternative to an IPA craze. They have a number of excellent IPA’s like Cranky, a West Coast IPA with citrus and tropical notes. I went with a flight of four beers. The star of the show is Stoney Joe, a golden mocha stout – that’s right golden. But even more outstanding is Nitro Stoney Joe, only available at Foxwoods or Branford. (Cans of many other brews can be bought as well.) 15 Stoney Creek brews are on tap.
The Staff
Katie & Kristy , our fantastic bartenders
Probably one of the most enjoyable parts of our visit was meeting its staff members. Our two bartenders were an incredible help with knowledge and description all of the beers. Want to taste before ordering? No problem – they want you to taste and be sure to order something you like. Brewmaster Andy Schwartz leads the team. We were able to speak to Johnny Haines, in charge on this day, who was very complimentary to Foxwoods in the way the two businesses have worked together. As an example of the great hospitality, he stopped his very busy work load to speak to us, ready to answer questions we had. John informed us a top Foxwoods chef designed the menu. Foxwoods prepares all of the food served.
The Set-Up
There are two floors, each with a different perspective – East Coast (the laid back area) / West Coast (aggressive area) and different variations of the same food. Wings, flatbreads, and sandwiches are offered on both floors, but each floor offers them with a different cuisine.
The second-floor design has a Southern California-themed beer and cocktail bar, a stage, and an overlook area. On the lower floor, there is a raised platform with Adirondack chairs to people watch in the casino.
NETG recommends this for a break from the casino, or just a break from life . It’s a great place to meet friends and enjoy quality beer. See you at Stoney Creek at Foxwoods – look for guy with the NETimeGambling tee – that’l be me.
Binbin
THE MONDAY LINK
Hops House 99 is a brewpub specializing in Maine craft breweries. With a good array of Maine beers and others from around the world, it follows its name by offering 99 beers. 22 beers on rotating taps, and the rest in cans & bottles. On this afternoon, they had some specials to “kick the Keg.” So we had a couple of Jamaican Stouts at $3.99 each.
16 gaming tables round out the casino’s main floor. Hollywood Casino currently offers Craps, Blackjack, Spanish 21, Roulette, High Card Flush, Three Card Poker and Texas Hold’em Bonus®. Most low limits start at $5. However, on this Sunday Afternoon, the limits were higher – BJ could not be found under $10 and most table games in at the $15 and above. The one huge craps table had no Fire Bet, All Tall, All Small, etc. Your basic craps with 3,4,5 odds.
This is a 15 minute walk from Hollywood Hotel Casino. We parked for free in the parking garage (parking around concert area can be expensive), played, ate and drank at Hollywood, and walked to the concert. We highly recommend a summer visit with a concert at Darling Event Center in mind.