ON Tap: ANDY SCHWARTZ, Brewmaster at Stony Creek Brewery Talks Blackjack and Beertenders

A brewery located in a casino? Casinos have long been home to first-class restaurants and bars, so why not?

Connecticut’s Foxwoods Casino has an operating brewery onsite named Stony Creek Brewing. Chilled shared a cocktail with brewmaster, Andy Schwartz, made by one of his brew-happy beertenders.

Stony Creek Stills

Tell us about having an actual brewery on-premise at a casino.

It was imperative for us to have a fully functioning brewery onsite at Foxwoods. We’re a brewery first and foremost, so beer comes first in everything we do. Having a brewery onsite does several important things for us. First, it allows us the opportunity to test and innovate new beer recipes on a small (smaller than our production brewery in Branford) professional brewing system.  Our brewers can create multiple batches of a new beer and quickly and effectively get feedback from our customers. Second, it gives our guests at Foxwoods the opportunity to see a working brewery firsthand. For many of them, this is a new experience and the chance to see a brewer behind the glass making beer and then try something fresh at the bar (or even directly from the fermenter if Johnny or Alex gives you a private tour), makes for an exciting experience. 

Stony Creek Cocktail Flight

Talk to us about the beer cocktails at your brewery.

Again, we are a brewery first and foremost, so beer leads the way with everything we do. But beer is also super versatile and meant to be fun. What better way to express this versatility than making beer cocktails? Each cocktail is designed onsite by our innovative “beertenders” and handcrafted in front of you. We have some unique drinks. Our staff is continually creating new beer cocktails.

How many beers are brewed on premise?

We generally have 3-4 house-brewed beers on tap, sometimes more. The rest of our 16 taps are supplied fresh from our Branford Brewery.

Stony Creek Coaster

What are some of the most innovative beers you’re brewing?

We’ve made some unique beers at Foxwoods, several of which have been promoted to the big time and brewed and packaged out of our main Branford Brewery for distribution into the general market. We developed our super unique Koi Bird at Foxwoods. This beer uses three different types of rice, grapefruit juice, and Citra hops, and then fermented with sake yeast. This beer was tested at Foxwoods and has been distributed throughout our entire New England distribution footprint.  

Any new brews coming soon?

Look for a series of beers brewed with a rare Norwegian Farmhouse yeast. Also, look for some test brews for possible fall beers using various spices and flavors, as well as possibly a fruited sour brew.