Stony Creek Brewery Growing As A Tourist Attraction

By Jack Kramer, Correspondent

BRANFORD, CT - Everyone who lives in Branford knows that the biggest tourist attractions in town are the Stony Creek Brewery. All of you have to do is drive by the jammed pack parking lot – especially on a weekend – to see that’s the case.

What might come as news to some is that Stony Creek is becoming quite well known as a tourist attraction outside the state of Connecticut.

At a recent meeting on town’s Transit Oriented Development (TOD) plan, Stony Creek owner Ed Crowley told those in attendance that the brewery isn’t just attracting visitors from Connecticut.

“I have people who literally check out the license plates of cars on the weekends, and the numbers show that 30 percent of the cars are from out of state,” said Crowley.

Crowley said the brewery is marketing itself now to become a tourism attraction all over New England – and its working.

He said the proximity to the nearby Shoreline East train station helps in that effort.

“We’re trying to get more people on the train” said Crowley, stating many are coming into Branford, traveling by train from outside of Connecticut.