II Jeff S. Baker - Burlington Brewing

Published by American Palate

A Division of The History Press

Charleston, SC

www.historypress.com

Copyright 2019 by Jeff S. Baker II and Adam Krakowski

All rights reserved

Front cover: (top) The Burlington skyline. Courtesy of David Seaver Photography.

First published 2019

ISBN 978.1.43966.702.6

Library of Congress Control Number: 2019935345

print edition ISBN 978.1.62585.994.5

Notice: The information in this book is true and complete to the best of our knowledge. It is offered without guarantee on the part of the author or The History Press. The author and The History Press disclaim all liability in connection with the use of this book.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form whatsoever without prior written permission from the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

For Noella and Margaret.

In memory of Greg Noonan.

CONTENTS

FOREWORD

In 1988, the beer scene in Burlington, Vermont, pretty much consisted of Miller, Coors, Budweiser and White River Junction upstart Catamount Brewing Company. But by the end of that year, Greg and Nancy Noonan would introduce the concept of a brewpub, a relatively new idea on the East Coast at the time.

The Noonans scoured New England looking for a suitable place, and when they arrived in Burlington, the search finally ended. Armed with a shoestring budget and some used stainless steel equipment, including a maple sap boiler, an old pig feeder and an ice cream maker, Greg fashioned a commercial brewery using pure Yankee ingenuity. But Vermont laws wouldnt allow a brewery to sell its beer for on-site consumption. New laws needed to be enacted to allow beer to be served on the premises where it was manufactured, and today, every Vermont brewery with a taproom can thank Greg Noonan and former legislator Bill Mares for getting the job done.

Thus, Vermont Pub & Brewery, Burlingtons first brewpub, was born. But in the early years of the craft beer movement, local consumers were accustomed to mainstream, mass-produced yellow beer. Consumer education was needed to make this project work. The market was soon to be augmented with robust, full-bodied and hoppy beers. Each day at the new fourteen-barrel brewpub blended into the next as a new beer scene began to grow. Nearly everything was done by the seat of our pants, including the new and creative beer recipes that Greg was coming up within the early 90s, Brettanomyces beers were practically unheard of. In 1989, Greg helped to start the fledgling Green Mountain Mashers homebrewing club to enhance the new beer culture that Burlington would eventually become famous for with a focus on education.

While the craft beer environment was developing all over Vermont in the 1990s, Burlington was also growing. Three Needs Brewery & Taproom was founded by Glenn Walter and was soon followed by Zero Gravity Craft Brewery, led by former Catamount brewer Paul Sayler. Former Green Mountain Mashers homebrewer and winner of multiple Brew Masters Cups Paul Hale opened Queen City Brewing. Magic Hat, Switchback, Foam Brewers, House of Fermentology and Simple Roots Brewing have helped to populate the Burlington brewing landscape over the years.

Today, there is a new generation of brewers and consumers who are better educated and have more discerning palates and an enthusiasm like never before. As the Burlington beer scene continues to evolve and reaches heights never imagined in those beginning days, I am humbled to have been part of it and observed its ever-growing progress. Moving forward, I dont necessarily see an end to this growth and welcome all the new ideas inspired by todays Burlington brewers. I offer a tribute to both Greg and Nancy for their inspiration and pioneering of what has become the burgeoning craft beer institution in the Burlington community.

Steven Polewacyk
Vermont Pub & Brewery

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

AS ALWAYS, FIRST AND most thankful for my wife, Noella, who has fully supported me in pursuing writing. Without her, I would never accomplish what I have been able to do. Every dream. I would also like to sincerely thank our research assistant Ian Toshio Miyashiro, who assisted in transcribing historical documents as well as interviews for the production of this book. I want to thank all the brewers who opened their doors for this project and took time to help. Finally, I wish to thank my parents, Andrzej Krakowski and Majka Elczewska, as well as Ed and Elli Giobbi, for pushing and inspiring me to strive and pursue my passion. Thank you.

Adam Krakowski

FIRST, I COULD NOT have finished this project without the constant encouragement from my partner, Jana. Her love of literature and the arts is truly inspiring. Thanks to my parents, Margaret and Joel, for all their support and willingness to tour every darn brewery. For many of the interviews for this book, I was assisted by Ryan the Can Stealer Chaffin and Jason J Rock Strempek. Thank you to David J. Farrell, Jed Davis, Paul Sayler, Jennifer Swiatek, George Bergin and Todd Delbeck for employing me in the Vermont beverage industry and for coaching me along the way. Props to Ian Toshio Miyashiro and Noella Krakowski for their technical and editing assistance on the manuscript. Cheers to my great friend and fellow nihilist, Paul Sarne, who provided his professional eye for a number of photographs in this book. And special thanks to Steve Polewacyk, a truly rare character with whom I greatly enjoy drinking beer.

Jeff S. Baker II

PREFACE

Over the last decade or so, BurlingtonVermonts largest cityhas emerged as a culinary and craft beer destination thanks to a renaissance of brewing and a burgeoning farm-totable restaurant scene. Numerous Burlington breweries and restaurants have graced the pages of leading periodicals, but those whove never been to Burlington might ask: What makes Vermonts Queen City so special? Well, simply put, the Burlington scene has garnered its nationalnay, internationalreputation by being entirely homegrown and developing organically independent of widespread trends. (Okay, maybe Vermont started the kale trend, but we promise that the wheatgrass shot was not from up here!)

Starting from its modern brewing era in the late 1980s, Burlington has been the epicenter of Vermonts brewing scene. From the godfather of Vermont beer, Greg Noonan, to the next brewery that will open its doors in the city, Burlington is at the forefront of national brewing discussions. When compared to the Irish traditions in Boston or the German traditions in Milwaukee, there was no real brewing tradition to speak of in Burlington, so it has never been bound by traditional parameters. This afforded early brewers like Noonan, Bill Cherry and Paul Sayler to curate a wide array of styles and share their own interpretations. Sometimes, their beers have been bracingly true to the original European styles, while other times they have been completely unique. This allowed for a distinctive brewing scene to emerge compared to other beer-soaked places around the country.

Before taking a deep dive into the brewing history and current beer culture in Burlington, think for a moment about what season it is. This may seem like an awkward way to begin the book, but stay with us for a moment. Seasonality has faded from modern mainstream culture. Sure, we all know the different seasons (in Vermont, we claim six seasons, adding Stick Season and Mud Season), but our food heritage and traditions are much more unique than we realize; we no longer fully understand seasons in terms of cooking and brewing. In todays culinary landscape, we all have seasonal favorites, such as ramps (wild leeks), fiddlehead ferns, and morel mushrooms in the spring, for example, but we also eat a lot of things out of season. Take tomatoes, for example; come winter, the tomatoes available at the grocery store are pink in color and flavorless, yet people still purchase and eat them.