1. Click on the image below to download the bracket and fill in your picks.
2. Email completed bracket to contests@thomashookerbeer.com by 5pm friday march 19th.  One entry per person.
3. The two brackets with most correct picks will get free entry to an upcoming open house!  (If there’s a tie, we’ll pick two from winning group at random)

Click on the image to download the bracket

Results:

• 6 – David S.
• 5 – Kevin G.
• 5 – Larry D..
• 4 – Debbie D.
• 4 – Matt Z.
• 4 – PJ L.
• 4 – Anthony L.
• 4 – Bryce H.
• 4 – Deborah C.
• 3 – Chris P.
• 3 – Dustin T.
• 2 – Robin T.
• 2 – Peter F.
• 1 – Tracey O.
• 1 – Scott S.
• 1 – Scott O.
• 1 – Jacob S.
• 1 – Bill R.

Winning Bracket:

Winning Bracket (by coin toss each round)

Just in time for all your big holiday parties, the breakthrough winter seasonal from Thomas Hooker will now be available in bottles. Look for it to show up on your local shelves in the next few weeks!

Judging will take place between 7-7:30 with the winners decided by crowd applause. If neccessary tie breakers will be determined by brewery costume judging czars.

Prizes:
1st – $50 Hooker Merchandise Shopping Spree + free entry to next open house
2nd – $25 Hooker Merchandise Shopping Spree + free entry to next open house
3rd – Growler filled with your choice of brew

Submit your best idea for something we can do to become a better brewery. All ideas welcome! We’ll pick the top two and each winner will receive free entry for them and one guest to this Friday’s Open House.

Submit your best idea for something we can do to become a better brewery. The top two entries will win free entrance to the next Friday Open House.

Just in time for backyard barbecues and warm summer nights, Watermelon Ale is now available in convenient and cooler friendly bottles!

Watermelon Ale is on sale at stores in CT, MA, PA, with NY coming soon.

It was just days after Watermelon Ale made its debut last year that loyal hooker drinkers started begging us to bottle it. Well Watermelon fans, your prayers have been answered, just make sure you stock up once you find it at your local store because early reports indicate the refreshing summer is flying off the shelves!

More big news for Watermelon Ale: Playboy has named it one of their top summer brews! Check it out in the June issue on newsstands now.

More Watermelon photos:

Want to get in free to the April 3rd Open House? Heres how:

1. Post a review of the brewery on google maps, yelp, yahoo, or insiderpages
   
2. Send an email to contests@thomashookerbeer.com with a link to your review and/or the username you reviewed under
3. We’ll choose two entries at random for VIP entry to the April 3rd Open House

Haven’t been to the brewery? Stop by at a Saturday tasting March 21st or 28th to get material for your review!  Good luck!

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update 3/26: the Google maps reviews are back up!  You’re safe to submit there again.  With one week left only 3 entries so far, you guys can do better than that!!

update 3/23: It appears Google has deleted some of the reviews submitted to our Google Maps listing!  We he contacted them to get your reviews back up!  For now maybe it’s best to use Yelp or Yahoo.

The perfect family trip!

We will be open as usual for Saturday tastings and Friday Open house events through the holiday season. So if your inlaws are getting on your nerves, or you just can’t take another glass of damn eggnog, come on down!  You can even take home a growler fresh hooker beer and spread the joy!  Also check out our new hoodie, beanie, and long sleeve at the gift shop if your looking for a very affordable last minute present.

Upcoming events:

• December 19: Friday Open House 5-8pm
• December 20: Saturday Tasting 12-6pm
• December 27: Saturday Tasting 12-6pm
• January 2: Friday Open House 5-8pm
• January 3: Saturday Tasting 12-6pm

“We wanted to shake up the buttoned-up insurance professional part of downtown,” Hartford City Clerk and Hooker Day Parade co-founder Dan Carey said.

The parade somewhat mimics the journey Thomas Hooker took with his 100 followers when they left Boston and wandered through the woods ending up at Hartford.  Except in this version people dress up in crazy costumes, only walk a few blocks and generally make fools of themselves!

Hooker Parade 2001

Unfortunately Thomas Hooker Brewing won’t officially be present.  Our request to have the Hooker Beer trailer in the parade was denied.  It was a last minute decision by the city to even have the parade so you can bet we’ll be pushing hard for more involvement next year.   We’re encouraging all of our loyal fans to dawn their Hooker shirts and hats and take to the streets anyway!

We’d also argue that there’s no better way to pre-party or post-party a Hooker Parade than with genuine Thomas Hooker Ales and Lagers!  Show our founder some respect!  Pick up a six pack at your local package store, stop by the brewery on Saturday and get some growlers to go, or stop by at a bar afterward.

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When: This Sunday October 26th @ 3pm.

Where: Starts at High and Allyn streets and ends at Mayor Mikes restaurant.  Guess who happens to carry Hooker Beer….Mayor Mikes!! If they’re too packed just cruise over to the Pourhouse or the Pump House.  Check out the hooker beer locator for more hooker beer friendly post-party locations (mayor mikes zipcode 06103).

Anyone can jump in the parade and crazy costumes are encouraged!!  There’s also going to be live music by the Hartford Arts Council and lots of goodies and giveaways.  Take pictures and send them to us and we’ll put them up on our website!

For more details and history on the parade check out this article from the Hartford Advocate

Our panel of BJCP certified judges chose Patrick Marsh’s Dry Imperial IPA as the Grand Prize winner. Patrick will assist with the brewing and bottling of a 20bbl batch of his delicious IPA which will then be sold at select retailers throughout Connecticut (we’ll keep you posted on that!). Patrick also fattens his wallet with $1,500 in cash! Runner up goes to Timothy Phelps and Mike Eyre’s Roggenbier. They take home $500 in cash for their award winning rye beer. The attendees of the Thomas Hooker Brewfest voted for Marco Tirillo and Dave White’s “Dirty Water Brown Ale” as the winner of the $1,000 People’s Choice prize. The people have spoken!

• Grand Prize: Patrick Marsh – Dry Imperial IPA
• Runner Up: Timothy Phelps & Mike Eyre – Roggenbier [Hillside Brewing]
• People’s Choice – Marco Tirillo & Dave White – Dirty Water Brown Ale

Grand Prize - Patrick Marsh (Dry Imperial IPA)

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Runner Up - Timothy Phelps & Mike Eyre (not pictured) Roggenbier

People's Choice - Marco Tirillo & Dave White (Dirty Water Brown Ale)

Thanks to everyone who entered the contest and attended the brewfest. We had an awesome time and can’t wait to make it even better for next year (stay tuned).

For more photos of the brewfest visit the album over at the Hooker Gallery

NY Times Interactive Oktoberfest Gallery

A panel of beer tasters at the New York Times just rated Thomas Hooker Octoberfest the best of the 24 Oktoberfest/Marzen style beers they sampled!  It was an impressive sampling group that included seven German beers and four of the six traditional beers found at Oktoberfest in Munich.

In a double win Hooker Octoberfest also won for best value!

Excerpt:

“The No. 1 beer, Octoberfest from Thomas Hooker, was beautifully balanced with each flavor component melding into a delicious, refreshing whole. If you ponder each sip, as we did in our tasting, you might remark on the malt aromas or the way the bitterness of the hops contributes to a clean, crisp feeling in the mouth after you swallow. But if you are polishing off a bottle at a party, or simply having a conversation with a friend or watching a ballgame, you would simply notice how enjoyable the beer was and reach for another.”

Look for our Octoberfest out in stores and on tap now.  Come by the brewery for our open house this Friday to taste it fresh off the brew tanks and talk with our brewer about what makes the Hooker Octoberfest so special.

Links:

• New York Times article
• New York Times Interactive Oktoberfest gallery (with audio commentary)
  

Fox 61 Morning Show Live at the brewery

Fox 61 was at the brewery all morning filming live segments for their morning show.  Check out all four segments below:

Brewery Tour : Curt gives a quick tour of the brewery

Community involvement : Curt discussing the brewery’s community involvement

Beer Lineup : Curt gives a rundown of our beer offerings

History and Hops : Curt talks about the history of the brewery and our hop farm

hooker hat (black)

Check out our new Thomas Hooker Baseball hats. Get yours in black or khaki. These are some high quality hats, and you could be wearing one with pride for only $14.

Hooker Keg

Thomas Hooker featured in a WFSB Channel 3 Eye Witness News special report on the rise of keg thefts. Watch the full report with Hallie Jackson.

WFSB Better Connecticut

Thomas Hooker featured on WFSB’s “Better Connecticut”. Watch the full video segment with Better Budddy Teresa Labarbera as she tours the brewery.

Connecticut Home Brew Contest

Thomas Hooker presents the 1st Annual “So You Think You Can Brew” Connecticut Home Brew Contest. All of the details are available at the contest home page.

New Watermelon Ale

Be the first to taste our brand new Watermelon Ale, at the July 4th Open House from 5-8pm at the Thomas Hooker Brewery.

The light and crisp Ale has a hint of watermelon essence, which is accented with colorful hues, resulting in a very refreshing thirst quenching brew.

Our More Than A Mouthful Watermelon Ale is sure to please a variety of palates lending itself to being the perfect summer treat.

- Jay Ramos (Head Brewer)

New York Times Article

Read what the well respected folks from the Big Apple have to say about our brewery and the weekend beer tastings.

Link: Brew Tour, From Kettle to Keg

Beer Encounters Video Profile

Watch this behind the scenes video produced by BeerEncounters.com with interviews from the Hooker Team and an in depth look at the brewing process. Learn more about the history of the brewery and watch as President Curt Cameron explains the different steps in our brewing process from the brew kettle to the bottling line.

New Hookerbeer.com

We are proud to finally release the updated hookerbeer.com and we hope you will find it a welcome improvement. We are still working on certain areas of the site and we encourage your feedback on the changes!

We’ve introduced several new features including a photo gallery where we will share photos from all types of Thomas Hooker events, and an all new beer locator to help you find Thomas Hooker in bottles and kegs near you. We’ve overhauled our events section and it will now provide up to date information regarding tastings and other brewery events. We’ve added lots of new items to our online store and more new products are on their way soon. We have loads of other new and exciting ideas for the site that we will be adding in the near future to keep you better connected to the brewery. We hope you enjoy the new site and don’t forget to tell us how we can make it better for you!

Saturday Tastings

Our Friday Beer tastings have been a huge success and we are excited to offer you the chance to tour the brewery and taste our beer on Saturday’s now also. Starting May 3rd we will host tours and tastings from 12-6pm. For $5 you get a guided tour of the Brewery followed by a full tasting of our beers and a Hooker Pint Glass to take home. We also include coupons from several area restaurants and don’t forget to visit our gift shop. We welcome large groups. What better way to spend a Saturday afternoon? See the events page for the next Saturday tasting date.

New Hooker Mini Keg

We have some cool new items in the Hooker Store including Hooker Beer Coasters, Metal Bar Signs, New Baseball Caps and more! In case you missed it we also recenlty came out with a new lineup of t-shirts, new pint glasses and Thomas Hooker Growlers. Buy online or stop by the brewery for one of our tastings and buy in person.