5 Craft Beverage Experiences

5 Craft Beverage Experiences in Central Vermont

While Vermont has the most breweries per capita, our wineries, cideries, and roasters boast delicious local pours, offering a taste of Vermont. Beyond the beverages themselves, these makers serve their products in tasting rooms with atmospheres that are truly unique to Vermont. Find your next craft beverage stop at one of these five craft beverage experiences in central Vermont.

Get Your Caffeine Fix

802 Coffee/Capitol Grounds – Montpelier 

Brewing coffee since 1998, 802 Coffee is committed to roasting excellence and building a culture of specialty coffee. While all coffee begins the same, the chain of events to create each bean requires delicacy and attention to detail.

802 Coffee takes their responsibility very seriously, committing to preventing flaws in production, guaranteeing that every bean sold is the product of diligence and care. Every batch is test roasted and tasted numerous times to deliver a profile that highlights the nuances while reinforcing what sets it apart. All of 802 Coffee’s products showcases their close relationship to growers and importers.

A Montpelier fixture, signature coffees boast politically inspired names. Roasted in the heart of Vermont, it continues to be served where it all started, just blocks from the Vermont State Capitol at Capitol Grounds.

Craft Beer with a Cause

Lawson’s Finest Liquids – Waitsfield
Located in the Mad River Valley, Lawson’s Finest Liquids crafts fresh, high-quality, flavorful beers with a commitment to excellence, innovation, and sustainability. Lawson’s Social Impact Program (SIP) supports community vitality and has contributed more than $1.5 million through SIP initiatives.

Lawson’s Finest started in 2008 as a home-based brewery. Local and national buzz, as well as recognition through prestigious awards, soon brought fans from throughout New England. As they gained popularity, Lawson’s Finest developed a growing collection of expertly crafted beers, including the renowned Sip of Sunshine IPA. Lawson’s Finest opened their stunning timber frame taproom in 2018. Visitors can sip on freshly brewed beer on draft as well as fine wine, local ciders, and non-alcoholic beverages, take in the picturesque scenery and enjoy local charcuterie, cheese, warm pretzels, and other light fare.

Landcrafted Spirits

Barr Hill at Caledonia Spirits – Montpelier
Founded in 2011 by a Vermont beekeeper and a distiller, Caledonia Spirits is dedicated to crafting world-class spirits and building the connection between agriculture and cocktail culture. Using local honey in all spirits, their approach honors the bounty of the land, the labor of farmers, and the pivotal role of bees in agriculture.

Caledonia Spirits has perfected the use of raw honey in their distilling process, capturing the botanicals foraged by honeybees. They are the maker of America’s most awarded gin, Barr Hill Gin, which is distilled with juniper and finished with raw honey to add sweetness and balance. Their barrel-aged product, Barr Hill Reserve Tom Cat Gin, is distilled the same way as the original, then spends six months in new American oak barrels, the same barrels used to age bourbon. Barr Hill Vodka is distilled entirely from raw honey, resulting in a delicate aroma and subtle botanical finish.

Visit the sustainably designed distillery for landcrafted cocktails, tasting, and tours. During the warmer months, you can sip your cocktails outside by the Winooski River.

Small-Batch Wine

Lincoln Peak Vineyard – New Haven
The Lincoln Peak Vineyard is perfectly situated on rocky hilltop soil to grow the carefully cultivated red varietal grapes Marquette and Farnsworth. Their award-winning wines are created in small batches, minimally processed to allow the full complexity of the terroir to shine.

Starting as a strawberry farm in 1981, Lincoln Peak started growing grapes in 2001 and made their first batch of commercial wine in 2006. In a decade, they grew to produce 25,000 bottles of wine, all made with grapes from their farm. Now operated under the umbrella of Shelburne Vineyards, Lincoln Peak’s Wine Library features Marquette wines dating to 2008.

Open seasonally, visit to learn about the vineyard and Vermont grape varieties. Offering a selection of curated wine flights, relax in the cozy tasting room or on the porch during warmer months.

Award-Winning Cider

Champlain Orchards – Shoreham
Champlain Orchards creates award-winning hard ciders, using the more than 100 varieties of apples grown on-site. Every apple that goes into their ciders is pressed and fermented at the orchard, creating a quality product that is fresh and crisp.

Founded in 1998, Champlain Orchards is one of the oldest continuously operating orchards in Vermont. As careful stewards of the land, they grow all their fruit following strict Eco Apple requirements and strive to minimize their carbon footprint while managing more than 220 acres of fruit trees.

Enjoy stunning views of Lake Champlain, pick your own fresh Vermont produce, and sip on a refreshing hard cider.

 

Experience a different taste of Vermont by savoring a drink from one of our many craft beverage producers:
Distilled Spirits Council
Vermont Cider Makers Association
VT Brewers Association
Vermont Grape & Wine Council