OUR STORY
Where Fermentation Meets Imagination
Burlington Beer Co. is an independent Vermont brewery built around imaginative beer, original artwork and a warm welcome. Our production team in Williston and our taproom and restaurant team on Flynn Avenue bring different parts of that idea to life.
Alex Swanson cleaning the mash tun at our original Williston brewhouse, with Joe Lemnah on the right. From the company archive.
It started with curiosity
Joe Lemnah started homebrewing in 2006. Alongside professional brewing at Olde Saratoga, Dogfish Head and Evolution, he kept experimenting at home. His HopfenTreader archive records more than 200 homebrew batches that came before Burlington Beer Co. began in Williston in 2014.
In May 2014, we released our first full-scale batches from our original 15-barrel Frankenstein electric brewhouse in Williston. Our first batch was C’est Bon!, a French-style table saison. A 15-gallon pilot system kept smaller experiments brewing alongside it.
Room to brew and room to gather
In Williston, the taproom and the working brewery shared a home. Beer, artwork and a place to spend time were already part of the experience.
Our early taproom, with the brewery just beyond the bar.
Hands-on work among the barrels.
A collaboration brew day at our original Williston brewhouse.
Brewing friendships
AN EARLY COLLABORATION
Bring Forth the Mollusk
Brewing Bring Forth the Mollusk with Proclamation Brewing Company, a collaboration inspired by a Ween song.
That curiosity still runs through our year-round favorites, seasonal releases and limited collaborations.
Our beer heads out into the world
In 2015, It’s Complicated Being a Wizard and Chasing Rabbits became our first beers in cans. Behind each can are the people brewing, packaging and getting it ready for the next stop.
Our first canned releases, 2015.
The team at work on canning day.
Our first kitchen team celebrating Burlington Beer Co.’s first branded truck.
A new home on Flynn Avenue
In 2021, our taproom and restaurant opened at 180 Flynn Avenue in Burlington’s South End, in a former Lumière photographic factory.
The brewery grew into a second Vermont home, bringing the beer together with food, hospitality and places to gather.
Before: the building before our Flynn Avenue opening.
After: our name above the door on Flynn Avenue.
Before the first guests.
A new home for beer, food and gathering.
Creative Director Tim Fealey drawing at the taproom, May 2022.
Original art belongs here
Original artwork has belonged here from the beginning. Burlington Beer Co. has supported a full-time, paid artist since day one. Creative Director Tim Fealey joined the team in 2018, and his illustrations give our beers a world of their own.
Early cans lined up at the taproom bar. Archive packaging.
Flynn Avenue
At 180 Flynn Avenue in Burlington, our taproom and restaurant bring beer together with food, hospitality and places to gather.
Williston
Our production brewery is where our team brews, packages and prepares beer for its next stop.
Two Vermont homes, one shared effort
It takes people brewing and packaging the beer, preparing and serving the food, creating the artwork, keeping equipment running and bringing it all together. Their work makes Burlington Beer Co. what it is.
Come spend some time with us.