Elite Bash @ Back East Brewing!

This was awesome!
The beer was great, tapas did a fantastic job on the food and I really look forwards to returning at another time to get more.
Great job!!!

wooo! free beer and supporting a good cause, Unilocal rocks it!
i had consumed some of the back east beer before and thought it was OK but at the brewery served fresh it was excellent and if you have the chance i highly suggest you partake. the beer guys were super friendly and their beers are exceptional and run the full range from dark to light and i was happy they weren’t too in-​your-​face hoppy. next time i will pick up a few fresh growlers.
hanging out with Unilocalers is always fun! and the food from Tapas was also very good and it is now on my places worth checking out list.
i was sad work called and i missed the tour, but its a reason to go back to Back East.

Thank you Emily for setting up this great event up. Thank you Back East brewing for hosting this great event and providing libations to us thirsty Unilocalers. Also thanks to Tapas for providing a good sampling of food. The beer was good, the porter was my favorite right next to the Misty IPA. The tour and story to go along with it was very informative and inspiring to us home brewers who have hopes to go pro some day. Tapas brought a few greek sampler trays and a few trays of wraps. The hummus, stuffed grape leaves and BLT wrap were my favorites. Next the ugly sweater contest yielded a narrow win for the hideous fuzzy red Santa sweater, the winner received a big bottle of their imperial stout. On the way out the door Back East provided Pint glasses to all who attended, thank you guys so much. Thanks again to Emily and Paige for working this event as everything went off without a hitch to the partakers eye. I can’t wait to go back for more samples and to purchase a few growlers.

Thank you, Miss Emily (Go fellow MELTer!) for arranging another stellar Unilocal Elite event. You’re so good at your job! (hope the big wigs at Unilocal see this and give you a HUGE raise for the holidays).
I was VERY excited to go to Back East Brewery. I’ve been to their neighboring brewery, Hooker, many times. This place was on my «got to get there very soon» list. I studied their web site intensely to make sure that when I went for the tasting, I would know my stuff. My concerted efforts won me a growler of beer. Yessss!
Onto the beer. I loved everything and I especially loved the Porter. It was really nice to meet the owners, such friendly fellows. The brewer who was pouring was also very friendly. Who doesn’t love a friendly brewer?
The food from Tapas was as expected: delicious. I especially loved the greek salad. The chicken salad wrap was scrumptious. And who in our group hasn’t mentioned the hummus? Yes, please feed me hummus.
It was lovely to meet all my fellow Unilocalee Elite friends and also to see some new faces. The brewery tour was informational, and of course the ugly sweater contest was quite funny.
It was nice to see Foodshare there. It would be good to adopt them as our charity because we all enjoy food… and what better charity for Unilocalers than one that gives food to deserving populations?

A few weeks before Christmas, my true love gave to me…
awesome Free Beer,
Unilocal name tags,
three charming hosts,
big scoops of hummus,
baba ganoush,
stuffed grape leaves,
pita bread wedges,
real ugly sweaters,
red Santa hats,
reindeer antlers,
Unilocal shot glasses,
Unilocal church keys,
cool Unilocal gloves,
lots of olives,
various wrap sandwiches,
sexy cool tassles,
Unilocal Bingo cards,
Foodshare donations,
nifty red plates,
a chemistry lesson,
a sweet Elf hat,
cold inviting growlers,
Back East beer glasses,
wonderful people,
a stellar community manager,
…and a fun relaxing evening with friends,
Happy Holidays to all.

«I am a firm believer in the people. If given the truth, they can be depended upon to meet any national crisis. The great point is to bring them the real facts, and beer.»
— Abraham Lincoln
Just when you think Emily is tapped* of new, fun places she finds something like this. And bringing FoodShare into the gig was genius; I applaud this and her other efforts to mix the things that really matter with our fun outings. It would be so good to see this at every Elite event, Fortuitous, t’was, as I’d recently sent them an email inquiry to volunteer (pursuant to Emily including them at the Red and Black Ball) and it was good to speak with someone from the organization about it.
The beauty of FoodShare matters as it is adding a minimal amount of effort to redistribute what’s already there, and would find its way to a landfill otherwise. Most volunteering would cost me a babysitter; this, I can do from my car.
So… nothing new to add beyond what has already been said, nor would I be able to say it better. TONY the co-​founder did a fantastic job as a host, leading the tour and explaining why Back East beers are very much worth your while. Person-​to-​person, he offered just enough about each brew to educate the drinker. Em’s fave Imperial Stout went home with me**.
At the event, tho, IPA was king, although the award-​winning porter was also DELISH. I like BIG beers, and as much as it was described as a New England-​style IPA, that is, with hops a bit reigned in, they were still much in abundance and much enjoyed by this particular cowboy.
Its good to support your locals, and especially when the locals are excellent. Back East is certainly amongst those.
A nod to the 3^rd of the troika, Tapas; although I had only a half BLT wrap, it certainly looked yammi yammi.
And a tip of the hat and full bow to those attending, without whom the efforts of Emily, Paige and the crew at Back East would be for naught.
* Sorry…
** Well, none of those SPECIFICALLY she’d taken home, but one very much like them***.
*** Tho, it IS a good idea to let Emily buy them, then take them home.****
**** The thing is how to do it. And, with that meddling boyfriend of her’s, Nick, it makes it all that much more difficult. *****
***** He’s got cameras, so even IF you weren’t busted, you may be caught in the background, absconding with one of Emily’s stouts.******
****** But then again, you COULD just say you were helping them bring the bottles out to their car, then you FORGOT what you were doing and put them in your own car.

This was the first Unilocal Elite event I was able to make in a while, and it was one of the best yet. Unilocal event + brewery = match made in heaven.
I was so excited to visit Back East and try all their beers. My favorite was the porter — it was fantastic, and I can understand why it’s award-​winning. I also really enjoyed the Winterfest and the Back East Ale. The Back East staff was super friendly, and they kept our sample glasses generously filled. I will definitely be back for more beers and to keep supporting this great local brewery.
On top of the beers, there were some good snacks. I can’t complain when there’s hummus.
I think my favorite part of these Unilocal events is the company, and everyone was in ugly sweaters, which made it even better. It was wonderful to see all my favorite Unilocal friends again, and I was so glad to have met even more new friends!
An added bonus: I was one of the winners of Unilocal Bingo, and I got to take home a bottle of Back East Imperial Stout! (I’ve heard great things — can’t wait to try it!) Then on the way out, I was able to grab Unilocal chapstick (you can never get enough chapstick!), « Unilocal LIFE» gloves, and a Back East glass, as if it couldn’t get any better.
Thanks for making the last Unilocal Elite event of the year a great one, Emily, Back East, and all the lovely Unilocalers who were there!

Tasty treats, happy hosts, beautiful beers, silly sweaters, and exuberant Elites: well, it made for an excellent evening.
The guys from Back East Brewing should not be held responsible for my over-​affection for alliteration, but they should definitely be thanked for providing some great examples of the brewer’s art. The kick of hops at the finish of their Golden Ale was quite nice, and I think the lighter feel of their Porter is a nice take on that classic style. They gave us a great explanation of beer making, though I suspect they won’t let the master brewer off the hook again if they’re going to have chemists in the room… And the pint glass is much appreciated.
Congratulations to Taryn M. for winning the ugliest sweater contest; I’m pretty sure it was the combination of loose thread and rhinestones that got her the prize.
Thanks to Tapas of Bloomfield, Back East Brewing, and Foodshare for all they brought, and thanks as always to Emily C., Paige N., and Nick C. for making it all come together. I’m looking forward to the first Elite event of 2013!

1.) Introduction:
Finally!!! Emily gets a Unilocal event happening at a brewery! Woohoo! «Toga! Toga! Toga! Toga!»
*pours beer out of a Stanley cup trophy onto his body*
2.) Aesthetics:
Not well lit on the outside. I I wish there were lights at least on the pathway heading to this place. On the inside… well lighted. It’s a small place all together, but it kind of gives you that Mom and Pop store type of feel. Cozy. But the best part was seeing everyone smiling, mingling, drinking and bonding with each other. That was definitely pleasing to the eye!
3.) The beer:
Sorry, everyone, but I’m a Porter/​Stout guy. I like to drink IPAs and Wheat beer during the spring and summer, but you will find my niche with Chocolatey and/​or coffee tasting beer during the Winter. I had the Golden Ale and the Mount IPA that night, but I just kept coming back to the Porter.
4.) The Staff:
Nice guys. Love to talk. I didn’t really ask them much about the beer at bar side, but it was interesting to hear the info during the tour. Us Unilocalers had some very good questions. I wish more of them were answered.
5.) Impressions:
I didn’t try the food, but the beer and Unilocaler ambiance was great. A very fun, sweet, intelligent group of lads! Thanks, Emily! I hope that we can get another brew or wine went happening! I gave this event 5 stars, because it was fun times with all of my Unilocalers, and I believe this was a first beer and not food specific event in Hartford.

You know, they probably could’ve hosted this Elite Event in an abandoned alley with all of us huddled around a hobo barrel fire, and I’d still give it 5 stars if someone would give me another glass of Back East Brewing’s Misty Mountain IPA or Golden Ale or Winterfest Lager.
And that’s not even considering that there was free hummus.
Overall, another excellent even with some impressively hideous sweaters which begs the question: why do you people own these sweaters and for what purpose other than winning contests? Do you wear that thing in public? Does it drive away feral animals?
First of all, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the Reason for the Season: Celebrating Gross Commercialism and Claymation Christmas Movies! OK, not really. It’s about caring about your fellow human beings or some such thing, so thanks to everybody who gave to Foodshare. It’s a great cause and truly worthy and I’m glad Emily was able to help get them involved.
Special thanks to Tapas for providing some pretty delicious food and, of course, the aforementioned hummus. If you want to bribe me with hummus, I’m not above that. Not even a little. The chicken salad wraps were especially good, so if you didn’t get one, well, sorry. I’m a weak man who can’t turn down a good wrap.
Of course, our gracious hosts at Back East Brewing were awesome. I am supremely impressed by their beers and even picked up a growler while I was there. I especially enjoy the crispness of the IPA and the clean taste of the Golden Ale. But honestly, whatever style of beer you like, they make an excellent version of it. I’m not a huge porter fan in general but I found theirs to be quite good.
And they really are some pretty awesome dudes. I especially enjoyed their willingness to accuse people of being spies with virtually no evidence. These kinds of reckless accusations are exactly the kind of thing that the Spirit of Christmas is really all about. I get warm fuzzies just thinking about it.
And congratulations to all of the winners of the various contests. Nice to have some friendly competition between ugly sweaters (it’s not about the sweater, but how hard you SELL the sweater), strange bingo variations, and impromptu quizzes.
Can’t wait to see y’all again.

Awesome tour of a micro-​brewery. The owners were very informative in describing their brewing process, even passing out samples of malted barley and hops.
The beers themselves were amazingly complex. I have had better IPA, but not too many. The Golden Ale and Porter were definitely worth returning and buying a Growler.
The food from Tapas was spectacular as usual. All in all, a great event for this first-​time Elite. I enjoyed the friendliness of everyone, and cannot wait for the next event!

I almost couldn’t make it to this event, but as fate would have it, it worked out and it turned out to have the perfect ingredients to make a great party: excellent beer, the best company, and the ugliest of ugly holiday sweaters (congratulations, Taryn M., for winning the prize for ugliest sweater. The one with tassels and the one with the popped out Santa also stick out in my mind).
The guys from Back East Brewing couldn’t have been friendlier or cooler. They were a lot of fun during the sampling and super informative while explaining the beer brewing process. The comprehensive lesson was educational and they were very generous in giving growlers to winners of the a few quiz questions. I should have paid more attention.
I only sampled two of the beers: the Golden Ale and and the Winterfest, both of which I loved! It’s no wonder that they’ve only been open since August and their beers have already won two awards in the Great International Beer Fest. I seriously regret not trying the other ones, especially the Porter, but I will definitely be back soon to try the rest and introduce a few of my non-​Yelp friends to Back East.
It was wonderful to see my old Unilocal buddies and meet some new Elite members tonight! I ate less at this event than others, mainly because there were many people to catch up with after not being able to attend the last few events, but I enjoyed the Mediterranean platters — especially the stuffed grape leaves.
The Unilocal Life fingerless gloves and the Unilocalstick (chapstick) will definitely come in handy during these cold winter months. I love the Unilocal shotglass and bottle opener and my brand new Back East pint glass! I can’t wait to use it!
A million thanks to Back East Brewing Company, Tapas of Bloomfield, Foodshare, and the Unilocal team (Emily C., Paige N., and Nick C. the photographer) for a fantastic last Unilocal Elite event of 2012!