A Brew-tiful Elite Event at Crown & Hammer Pub

Parking is a little weird. Collinsville «center» is tiny so your sharing a lot with pretty much every store on the strip… not that anything is open there on a Monday night after 5pm.
The place was super cramped for how many people were invited. It was tough to stand and talk anywhere as you were always in someone’s way. If you’re claustrophobic this is your Hell. Even though I was uncomfortable in the communal space, sitting at a table was a surefire way to hide ourselves from any interaction. We would have stood at the bar but the room was completely full. There were high wall booths tucked along the passage from the kitchen to the main room, but again, you’re dooming yourself to no socializing at all.
The «beer tasting» we were offered was more of a «beer sample». It sounded like there would be a few, but there was only one. Don’t get me wrong, it was really good beer (Houndstooth); I got nothing but love for the folks down at Relic. Stop in and buy a growler if you get a chance and you won’t be sorry. I just wish they brought a few more, or that it was advertised as «try a brew from Relic» instead of «come enjoy our beer tasting». As Alexander Pope once said «Blessed is he who expects nothing, for he shall never be disappointed.»
As for the free drink tickets, man, I’m not a fan of fruity beers. It just doesn’t make sense to me. If you want a fruity drink try a wine cooler or a mixed drink. If you want a beer get a beer. I’m a purist like that. Watermelon flavoring has no place pairing up with barley, in my opinion.
As for the food, it was the kind of food you feed to drunk people who don’t care about what they’re eating… typical microwaved bar food. Saying the chocolate cake was chalky would be an understatement. The wings were flabby skinned and the sauce was kind of boring. I assume it was from a squeezy bottle. Cheese and fruit plates were nothing special. I kind of wish the key lime pie was more forgettable. I would call it haunting. If they’re not cooking from boxes or thawing lots of food here I’d be very surprised. It’s a bar so I don’t why I was expecting fresh fare. We ended up stopping for pizza on the way home.
Overall it left me asking, «why?» Reflecting on a stomach ache is no fun, the food wasn’t delicious, the location wasn’t conducive to socializing, the free drinks were the kind of free I don’t really want even though it’s free and the town was depressingly sleepy. Maybe characterizing it as a dive is too much, but it’s definitely more of a local watering hole than a spot you should travel out of your way to see.

This was my first Unilocal event. Good times. A lot of friendly people in a cool, relaxed environment. I finally got to try fried green tomatoes, which were bangin’. Honestly, everything was good. I’d also like to thank the friendly officer for only giving me a written warning 30 seconds after pulling out of the parking lot. Hopefully I’ll be to another one of these soon.

Long overdue review.
I showed up late for this Unilocal event and it was nice seeing some familiar faces. The best part of the event for us or rather my plus one was the live entertainment. Did we have a blast? Yes we did. I wish I socialized more. I found it hard to navigate the room because of the structure of the building. Unilocal I promise for the next event I’ll make an effort to talk more this time around I was too busy stuffing my face with those yummy chocolate thingy.
Thanks to Emily, the wonderful Unilocal team and the staff at Crown and Hammer for a wonderful Monday evening.

so this was my first elite event and i have to say i had an utter blast. it was so great to mix and mingle with other ct foodies and enjoy the treats. there were treats abound. the food was great– fried green tomatoes, two types of wings, a scallop and shrimp sample (cooked perfectly, i might add), and a pretty good lookin’ dessert spread (which i opted out of in favor of another brew)… and the beer was as well. hooker watermelon and ipa. two of my summer faves.
i am definitely looking forward to seeing those we met and meeting news as well at the next event!
thank you emily!

Another fun Unilocal event, thanks to the wonderful Emily & Crew. The Crown & Hammer pub (the only restaurant in Collinsville?) opened its doors to the Unilocal crowd this Monday evening, swaying from its typical Closed-​on-​Monday routine. After a long, stressful day at work, a couple free beers and satisfying finger foods were an amazing way to unwind. The Hooker beers were promoted (thus free) and decent. I don’t exactly enjoy fruity beers but I figured I’d try something new — the watermelon lager — which went down reluctantly but quickly. meh. The second beer, the Hooker IPA, was a bit better, but still not the greatest in the world. Beggars can’t be choosers. Relic Brewing’s sample of their dark mild brew was a nice touch. As for the food, all of it was very good. The wings were large and well-​seasoned, fried green tomatoes were comforting, the horseradish-​dolloped steak slices were savory and spicy, and the Key Lime and violent-​murder-​by-​fudge pastries were a sweet finish. The quarters were a bit tight for the entire group, so conversation proved to be somewhat limited to your direct surroundings. The pleasant owner hung around and was great for conversation as well — thanks again for the hospitality!

I always look forward to these Unilocal events simply because the excitement of seeing all the reviewers I follow or somehow have cross paths with intrigues. There were tons of fresh /​new faces this time around. Really the group of Elite Unilocalers are truly something, many I have met are extremely friendly
I sorta missed the food, late arrival due to homework. I had a wing and some of those chocolate thingy. Both yummy. I was slightly disappointed about missing out on the watermelon ale because I’m a huge fan of pear cider. I made up for it with a shot and am embarrassed to say I should have skipped it.
Enjoyed the live music. Thanks to all those involved in the preparation process. This was indeed a fun way to spend a Monday evening.

Another Unilocal Elite event down the hatch! Since I just moved to CT last year, I haven’t really explored the Western half of the state, but coincidentally have driven past Crown & Hammer on a Craigslist expedition to New Hartford; so I was happy to see the event was out in this neck of the woods!
We arrive fashionably late, and unfortunately it was just late enough to miss most of the food. Oh well — I am not a huge fan of wings anyways so it was fine. I did grab a little plate of those shrimp & scallops and the sauce was divine.
I did happen to snag some tastes of the Key Lime (is that what it was?) and the chocolate cake which was yum! And I LOVED that we had beer ON TAP! I didn’t get any Watermelon Ale but I did have the IPA which I surprisingly loved (I typically don’t like pale ale!).
All in all — I loved mingling with folks I’ve been meaning to touch base with at the past few events, and by 9pm all my favorite Unilocal peeps were the ones left closing down the joint — the cherry on top of this Monday Funday soirée!

Having missed the last Unilocal Elite event due to a totally unfortunate early summer illness, I was psyched that the latest one was going to be at the Crown & Hammer. I’d heard only awesome things.
Alicia S. and I arrived at about 7:30 and, as she mentioned, just missed most of the delicious light bites. I snagged a tiny dish with a scallop & shrimp & sauce that was very good — I would have eaten a whole heapin’ plate! I also ate half of a fudgy delicious chocolate lava cake for dessert, which was tasty but rich, so half was perfect.
I was pretty bummed that they ran out of the Hooker Watermelon Ale before i was able to redeem my drink tickets. I am not a fan of IPAs and thus was not a fan of the IPA they put in its place. But that’s okay! Madeleine L. was sweet enough to exchange her Sam Summer for my icky IPA. Thanks again, Madeleine! The sample of «dark mild’ beer from Relic Brewing was a surprising delight, especially since I don’t care for dark beers. I can’t wait to swing by the nanobrewery in Plainville soon.
The live keyboardist was a great touch to the party ambiance. It was entertaining yet not intrusive. The restaurant was great but the space wasn’t totally conducive to mingling. But hey, we’re all social butterflies and we made it work!
Thanks to Emily and her team for putting on a fun Monday night shindig! I had a wonderful time speaking to all of the Unilocalers I hadn’t gotten to meet at previous events. You guys are too much fun! Can’t wait to see the pics.

Overall, we both enjoyed our time on Monday evening with Elite 2012. I was happy to hear that we were going to be invited to a restaurant west of the river! Definitely was a treat to drive through Farmington then to Canton/​Collinsville. Beautiful and relaxing driving along with our handy GPS led us directly to «Crown & Hamper Pub». Convenient free parking across the street in the Town Hall’s parking lot. What a nice small Connecticut town this was, less than 50 yards from the Farmington River! I almost felt like going kayaking since they had a rental adjacent to the pub!
As we arrived, I noticed a few Unilocal Elite Fans standing outside the restaurant, waiting in line to sign in!!! My wife & I were greeted by Emily/​Yelp Hartford Manager, and each of us received two red tickets to try locally brewed beer. Who doesn’t love that? I actually had tried the bottle version of Thomas Hooker’s Summer Watermelon Beer, and the «on tap» version was much better than from a 6 pack! Being not much of a beer drinker, I also tried a Relic Beer. They were passing out samples in a little dixie cup but who’s going to turn that down, not me! Relic can be found out Nano Brewery in Plainville, Ct. So between the two beers on tap from Thomas Hooker (Bloomfield, Ct) and Relic (Plainville), definitely was a great way to start off this Elite Party!!!
I turned my head and noticed an 8′ long decorated table full of cheese platters, fruit in a watermelon, bread and lots of wings! So, getting to this event on time really paid off because we LOVE wings! I mean what goes with Beer? Wings!!! Gotta have them, so I grabbed a nice clean white plate and eyed the juicy wings with honey BBQ… they were outstanding, and even though they were messy to eat, they flavor just melted in my mouth! Yummy, I screamed out! Next, I tried their dry rub herbal seasoning Wings… OMG, yummy yummy for my tummy tummy! I mean, I almost was going to do cartwheels in this place in between the tables!!!
Other appetizers were brought out throughout the evening, as the one man band continued playing and singing on his electric piano. Just perfect, hearing the music in the background as everyone mingled around, back & forth to the bar and to the appetizer table! I almost lost my wife at one point during the night, cause I found myself sitting at the bar talking to two lovely ladies. lol… See what beer can do to me?
At the end of the evening, I wished I had a chance to look over their full menu. Maybe we can find it online… for sure!!!
The shrimp was good but a little overcooked. The scallop was very good in a special home made sauce!!!
Lastly, if you thought the Elite Party was over, it wasn’t! There was one more surprise and it was dessert! Usually, I’m not a big dessert guy because after dining out, I“m so stuffed and unable to fit anything else in me… but let me tell you… this Dark Chocolate Cake, shaped into a doughnut, with no hole in the middle. was very very good!!! My wife exclaimed how well the consistency of the chocolate was throughout the cake. I only wished, they had some hot coffee to go with this, but nope lol, another sip or two of Thomas Hooker Beer to wash down that smooth chocolate cake!
Because this pub is usually closed on Mondays, we were able to meet with the owner as he was cleaning off our tables. Nice guy! He accepted our compliments as well to the chef!
Well Emily, another fantastic Elite Event! Thanks!!!

I had a great time at last night’s Brew-​tiful Elite Event. It was really cool that we had all of Crown & Hammer to ourselves and completely took over the place. While it was a little tricky moving between the tables and seats, my boyfriend and I were still able to mingle, which was maybe my favorite part. It was great seeing a lot of familiar faces and meeting more Unilocal friends! It was also great grabbing some more Unilocal swag — I didn’t even know I needed a Unilocal shot glass, bottle opener, or tattoos until I saw them on that table. We didn’t get to try all the food, but what we had was good. Most notably, we liked the wings and really liked dessert. It was nice seeing the folks from Relic and finding out when they’re open so we can visit the brewery ourselves. I’m a big fan of Hooker Watermelon Ale, so I was happy to see it on tap — and complimentary with our drink tickets. We’re definitely making it back to the Crown & Hammer ourselves since it looks like a cool place to hang out on a regular day.
Thanks for putting together another wonderful event, Emily! And thanks, fellow Unilocalers, for being such great company, as usual!

Emily thanks for the great gathering!
A cool place. cool people. good beer. what more could you ask for? a shot glass? yah, we got that.
we will probably try to come back to crown & hammer for a non-​yelp event, we do come up to Colinsville to walk the trail often — it is a cute little town (even though it is very sad that Husk has closed, i really was hoping for a delicious empanada before the brew-​tiful event). it does seem like everything up here closed at 6.
Dan R — i was looking for you, but i didnt see that hat anywhere!
I really liked the Relic Beer and may try to make it to their open house this friday! anyone else down for more delicious local beer??!

This was my first Unilocal event and I have to say that I was really impressed. Brews and pub grub are always a winner, but the crowd and the music made it even better.
Crown & Hammer was definitely off the beaten path, but it’s got a great thing going on there, lots of character. We were a little late, so we missed most of the apps, but the ones that I tried were delish. I took a peek at the regular menu and it looks like I’ll have to plan a trip back up here soon for dinner.
The beers were great too. The relic hounds tooth was nice and dark, the kind of beer you want to take your time with. They’ll be available in Branford soon. I liked both Hooker brews, the watermelon and the IPA. I’m not a big fan of fruit beers, but I thought their watermelon ale was actually pretty good, light and not too sweet.
Big thanks to Emily and the Unilocal crew for organizing this! We had a great time, can’t wait for the next one :)

Emily did a great job planning another wonderful Unilocal event. I particularly enjoyed the Hooker watermelon Ale and the meaty juicy chicken wings. Teriyaki was the way to go. (I can easily overlook the open-​faced beef slider on toast that was a little on a rare-​side. It happens)
The atmosphere was cozy and warm, staff was inviting. I’m looking forward to going back.
The highlight of the night though was the tasting from the nano-​brewery in Plainville. Holy cow was that good.
Hope to have more time to mix and mingle too. Crown & Hammer isn’t really set up for a mingle place. But rumor is the next event might feature some good beer too. Can’t wait.

How to make a Monday feel less Monday-​ish? Treat it like a Friday!
This was my first Unilocal Elite event and I had no idea what to expect. It wasn’t even so much the lure of the free food, drink and live music that got us to make the hour-​and-​a-​half trek down from western mass on a work night in the middle of Euro 2012… it was that the mother ship was calling me home… «Opinionated foodies who don’t take themselves too seriously… THESE ARE YOUR PEOPLE!»
The pub was charming, the food was great, and I loved the diversity of the crowd. My only regret was not getting up from my chair to circulate and meet more of you… we were at a table by the fireplace flanked by interesting folks on both sides, so really just pivoted from one good conversation to the next without having to uproot.
Everything about the evening was lovely and I’m looking forward to the next outing. Thanks, Emily… really well done!

Goooood times! While I’m not a fan of watermelon (of any sort) I was happy that the bartender was up for pouring me a couple of pints of Guinness. I was thrilled when the Hooker Watermelon ale ran out and it was replaced with a lovely IPA.
I really enjoyed meeting (and re-​meeting) fellow Unilocalers. I’ve decided that all of our plus 1’s are a truly sassy lot as well. What would we be without our plus 1’s.
Emily and company-​you did a great job! Can’t wait for the next event.

Oh hey, look, another Unilocal Elite Event! And this one so conveniently located in the middle of nowhere! I was just thinking, «Hey, you know what wasn’t far enough away? West Hartford!» Luckily Emily was all over it and managed to schedule this in a town with an abandoned ax factory, which is not even close to how many of my nightmares begin.
All kidding aside (okay, only some of it), Emily did a pretty terrific job putting this one together. The bartender was super friendly and helpful (and even did me a solid after I idiotically dumped a shot of Onyx Moonshine). The piano music added a layer of ambience. And it was great to see Relic Brewing out there with a pretty delicious beer.
The food itself was pretty great, although the restaurant layout wasn’t conducive to the ravenous devouring of wings, fried green tomatoes, and steak slider thingies, but overall I was pretty impressed with how well it worked out regardless.
It would’ve been nice to have another option than the Watermelon Ale by Hooker but luckily it ran out pretty quickly (depending on who you ask) and was replaced by their very good IPA.
It’s always cool to be able to put names to faces and discuss our various love of food and drink and being awkwardly social with enough beer. I swear, Mom, my Internet friends count! Really!
Kudos again to Emily and the Unilocal Crew for throwing together another enjoyable event several bajillion miles away from my home that led to only minor Tuesday morning regrets.
Not bad.

Awesome event, as always! The beer was flowing, food was plentiful, people were friendly, dessert was decadent and the Unilocal swag was cute. Good job Emily!

My second Unilocal event and we enjoyed every minute of it. Got to sit and chat with so many Unilocalers — there really is a terrific group of people united under the Unilocal banner. We enjoyed the Hooker Watermelon a lot and was bummed out when the keg was depleted so fast. The owner did a terrific job, welcoming everyone, clearing the tables, and making us all feel at home. The food was very good– nice cheese and fruit platters and many styles of huge meaty wings. The flank steak on toast with horseradish sauce was terrific. Major props to the desserts– the mini chocolate lava cakes and the key lime pie tarts.
The many tables in the dining room made it more conducive to sit and kibbitz with new friends, as opposed to the stand-​up deal at Burtons. Having met some UnilocalErs twice, I feel we are all friends now, and it was a very enjoyable evening.
No doubt Emily had many hours of planning and negotiation to get this event off and running. Let me thank you Emily; my wife and I really enjoyed your efforts, the food and drink at Crown & Hammer, and the friendship of so many Unilocalers.