Where Burlington drinks local: brewpubs, taprooms and the new wave.
Taprooms, brewpubs and the local beer scene in Burlington worth taking a tram to.
Zero Gravity opened in 2004 inside American Flatbread; the Pine Street brewery opened 2015 and absorbed the Great Northern as the current Beer Hall.
Tip: Beer hall seating is first-come, first-served. Covered outdoor patio in season.
Foam Brewers sits 100 feet from Lake Champlain's edge across from Waterfront Park with westward sunset views over the Adirondacks. New England hazies,
Tip: Sunset patio fills fast in summer; weekday afternoons are easier.
Switchback opened in 2002 under master brewer Bill Cherry; the first 100 percent employee-owned brewery in New England. The Beer Garden and Smokehouse runs.
Tip: Closed Monday and the dog-friendly patio is the seat; the Beer Garden Smokehouse kitchen closes at 20:00 even when the bar runs to 21:00.
Queen City has 16-plus taps that rotate through German lagers, English ales, monastic styles and Scottish winter warmers from the renovated South End.
Tip: BYO food or order delivery as there is no kitchen onsite; the beech-smoked lager pours faster than the South End helles.
Burlington Beer Co. moved its taproom from Williston to a 14,000-square-foot former brick warehouse on Flynn Avenue in 2021. 48 taps and a 46-foot bar;
Tip: Full kitchen; one of the few breweries in town that takes reservations.
Vermont's first brewpub and the longest-running brewery in the state. Greg Noonan lobbied Vermont to permit onsite brewing-and-consumption and opened Vermont.
Tip: The cask hand-pull is the bartender pick most evenings; the kitchen runs full menu until close every night.
Vermont's biggest cidery closed its Pine Street pub April 2025 and opened the Press House Pub at 180 Flynn Avenue October 2025, consolidating production.
Tip: Full food menu and cider cocktails; rentable for private events.
Fiddlehead's original brewery and tasting room is in Shelburne, sharing a building with Folino's Pizza (BYO food encouraged across the hall).
Tip: No kitchen onsite; Folino's Pizza across the hall is the move and you can carry pizzas back to the tasting-room glasses.
Sean and Karen Lawson founded Lawson's in 2008; the Waitsfield destination brewery opened 2018 in the Mad River Valley (45 miles from Burlington).
Tip: Earned B Corp certification in 2023; the solar canopy in the lot is one of Vermont's largest.
John and Jen Kimmich founded The Alchemist in 2003; the Heady Topper IPA from this Stowe brewery (35 miles from Burlington) sparked the entire haze-IPA.
Tip: Same-day Heady-Topper four-packs sell out by midday on weekends; arrive at open.
Shaun Hill founded the brewery in 2010 on family land in Greensboro Bend; the seventh-generation Hill descendant on a Northeast Kingdom plot held since 1788.
Tip: Download directions ahead; service is patchy past Hardwick. Retail allocations rotate.
Johannes von Trapp opened the brewery at the Trapp Family Lodge in 2010; the Bierhall opened 2016, a mile from the lodge, serving Austrian-style food.
Tip: Bierhall is dog-friendly outside; lodge dining rooms separate.
Stowe Cider's Shakedown Street taproom serves dry preservative-free ciders alongside barrel-aged and fruit-forward releases. Barbecue and gluten-free menu;
Tip: Closed Mon-Tue; verify Friday music lineup on the operator site. The Tips Up dry cider is the gateway pour into the cellar series.