Event at NEBCO? BEWARE!!!!!!
Do not trust New England Brewing Co. (formerly Stony Creek Brewery at their Branford location) with your event. What we experienced was not just poor customer service, but a complete breach of contract, a disregard for ethics, and an appalling lack of professionalism.
In March 2025, we booked their upstairs Celebration Room for a private nonprofit event scheduled on August 22nd. We signed a contract (yes, in writing), paid the deposit, hired a band, secured a pizza truck, purchased raffle prizes, decorations etc. and promoted the event to over 75 guests. This was our second year hosting the event at Stony Creek — we were loyal, excited, and had every reason to expect things to go smoothly.
When rumors surfaced in June about NEBCO acquiring Stony Creek, we did the responsible thing and reached out. The event manager — who remained on staff under NEBCO — personally assured us multiple times via email that our event would be honored, despite the change in ownership. The contract even bore NEBCO’s letterhead. We had regular contact, confirmed details, finalized headcounts — everything was on track.
Until Monday, August 18 — just four days before the event.
That’s when we were blindsided by a call from Madeline, the general manager, informing us that our event space was no longer available. Why? Because they decided to host their own soft opening that weekend and unilaterally chose to revoke our reservation. No mistake, no double booking — they simply wanted the space for themselves.
The “solution” offered? Move our 75-person private event to a gravel alleyway on the side of the brewery, with a retaining wall that completely blocked the water view, next to portable toilets and fencing, or relocate entirely to their Woodbridge location (a commercial building with a tent in a dealership parking lot), which was logistically impossible for our guests. We tried to work with them. We even visited the site to assess the alternatives. But nothing came close to the beautiful indoor/outdoor venue we had reserved, complete with bar, bathrooms, and elevator access.
Despite acknowledging our concerns, they chose not to fix the situation. The event space is a separate area upstairs- they could have easily kept our event while still hosting their soft opening that Friday night and they also would have had the upstairs space for themselves that Saturday and Sunday anyway. Instead of trying to make any reasonable compromise on their end, they broke a legally binding contract and left us scrambling, days before the event, to cancel with guests and vendors — with zero accountability or legitimate remedy. They also contacted our band behind our backs offering to hire them on another date to avoid refunding us what we paid them.
This isn’t just bad customer service — it’s selfish, unethical, and deeply unprofessional behavior. To say this is disappointing is an understatement. NEBCO had every opportunity to do the right thing — honor the agreement they repeatedly confirmed — and instead, they chose to prioritize their own soft opening over a committed client and a nonprofit event.
After numerous messages, NEBCO eventually mailed a refund for the $750 deposit from Stony Creek and after sending them a demand threatening legal action, they forced the pizza truck to refund us our deposit (who lost a $2,000+ booking because of them). As of November, we still have not been reimbursed for the cost of the band. As expected, NEBCO dismantled our entire event at the very last minute due to their own selfishness and is the only entity in the situation that has not lost a single penny because of it.
To anyone considering hosting an event here: BE WARNED. This business has shown it will not honor contracts, will cancel last minute without valid reason, and will offer insulting alternatives while taking zero responsibility (or remorse). Do not risk your event, your time, or your reputation on a place that operates with such disregard for its customers.