The Beer Broad Went to Burlington Breweries

Craft Brewniversity's dear friend, Julia, aka the_beer_broad on Instagram, visited the breweries in the beautiful city of Burlington, Vermont. Since we both share a love for beer, she was willing to share her experience and we want to share that with you. For amazing pictures and opinions of beer, go follow @the_beer_broad on Instagram by clicking here.

Lets see what she had to say about some Burlington Breweries...

Switchback Brewing Co.

Flagship: Switchback Ale 5%. Like Burlington itself, the beer is different from what you might expect—unfiltered, naturally carbonated, bottle conditioned.

My pick:  The connector IPA (named after the world's largest file cabinet)  We stumbled upon Switchback because we were actually in the area to see how big the file cabinet actually was, and when we were leaving we saw a sign for the brewery and decided we have to go. 

Theme: Burlington and mountain living.  The word Switchback refers to a 180° bend in the road, especially one leading up the side of a mountain. Flights are served on a re-purposed snowboard, and you can most always find this beer on draft at the local lodges. 

Side Note: They fill up the entire glass on their flights! This made me happy because many of the other breweries I went to offered cheap flights but only filled up half the cup. I tried to look at it as half full, but did feel a little robbed. 

Citizen Cider

Flagship: Unified Press: Off-dry cider 5.2%

My pick: The Lake Hopper 6.2% ABV and dry-hopped with Cascade hops (this is one of their year-round offerings so definitely pick up a 6 pack if you see it in stores near you)

Tasting room: Amazing food.  Indoor and outdoor space. Feels like you're in a tree-house at the top of an apple tree.  They also make mix drinks using whisky and their cider. 

Side Note:  Most of the other breweries we went to carried cans of Citizen Cider if they did not offer any of their own ciders (or other gluten-free options) At Citizen they also has four draft lines devoted to beer from other breweries for those who are gluten tolerant. 

Magic Hat Brewing Company

FREE TOUR:

Overview of Tour: History of the brewery, short video of brew process (Love this because it was super simple with visuals and entertaining for people that already know how this shit works), Look at bottling and coming-soon canning line.

Do I get BEER?- None on the tour, but you do get four free shot sized samples at the bar. 

Take Aways: At the beginning of the tour they ask for a volunteer.  Say YES because you don’t have to do anything, they just hand you a free pint glass.

Tasting Room: Medium in size.  Indoors only and most of the space house the retail area, which is very extensive.  There’s no food and no place to sit.  If you miss the tour no worries, because you can take the self-guided version whenever.  

Brewery Only Beers: yes (2) Example- Belgo Sutra strong dark ale with figs dates a quadruple Trappist belgian style

What Are They Doing Differnt: They advertise free tour and beer, and who can say no to free beer.  Also Magic Hat’s style itself makes them different (read below)

Brewery:

Flagship: #9 'Not quite a pale ale' 5.1%

Art Vs. Science:  I say more of an art.  Yes, there is a mad scientist aspect to the place, but I think the artist won out.  They have an art space called Artifactory which is open every day and hold many events.  Their space is filled with art done by local artists and fans of the brewery.  Their current art installation is called Ninety-Nine Bottles (pictured above).  Magic Hat also has a beer called Art Hop Ale that not only changes styles year to year but also the art featured on the bottle.  They claim that the ‘Art Hop Ale is a collaboration of two fine arts - the art of illustration and the art of brewing’.

Motto: ‘A performance in every bottle’ and if you don’t love this one, just look under their bottle caps for an interesting phase to live by.

Theme: The founders decided to go to west coast in and see 33 breweries in 10 days, and not surprisingly they all started to blend together.  From there I think their goal was to stand out, in order to not quite meet to status quo.

Zero Gravity Brewery

Flagship: Conehead IPA with 5.7% and 49 IBUs and Green Mountain pilsner with 4.9% and 25 IBUs.  This perfectly explains the brewery’s duality.  They want to appeal to all kinds of beer drinkers, from the geeks to the basic bitches.

Namesake:  Their logo is a hummingbird reflects this balance between the simple and complex.  It almost seems to be unaffected by gravity. This equilibrium best describes their beers and the brewery itself.  Environmental symmetry also comes into play because Zero Gravity tries to use locally sourced ingredients, recycled materials, and energy efficient practices as much as possible. 

Art Vs. Science:  Both.  The recipe creation is an art, but once it is perfected it is a science to keep it consistent.

Side Note: One of the owners is a Packers fan, and has created a home away from home for other Wisconsinites who wish to watch the games in good company.

Queen City Brewery

Flagship: I could never find this in writing, but according to the bar tender their flagship beer is a Yorkshire Porter that comes in at 5%.  It’s their spin on an English dark ale.  Many of the beers here hold true to traditional European and American styles. 

My Pick: The Hefeweizen that was classically unfiltered and exclusively used German malt, wheat, and hops, while their yeast gave it that necessary banana and clove notes.  (5.8% ABV 23 IBUs)

Brewery Motto: Unofficial, but self-described as, ‘world class beers without the jet lag’.  

Namesake:  While most of the beer recipes  originate in Europe.  Queen City Brewery is definitely a Burlington based company.  Their philosophy clearly states: ‘A Strong Connection to Burlington’s Cultural and Industrial Heritage’.  And the name itself derives from the city. A queen city is a city that is the biggest in the state, even the capital.  Burlington is bigger in size than Montpelier, and this also holds true when comparing the cities beer cultures.