QUEEN CITY BREWERY

United States Brewpubs,

Queen City Brewery | Burlington, VT | Beers | BeerAdvocate

BURLINGTON, VERMONT

Beginning its journey in 2014, QUEEN CITY BREWERY enjoys being a “comfy pub” at the historically industrial South End of Burlington. One of its founders, Paul Hale, was a former associate vice president of research at the University of Vermont. Managing partners Phil Kaszuba and Paul Held embrace the traditional beer styles head brewer Ben Gostanian crafts.

A ’40s pickup truck adorns the barroom inside the metal corrugated aluminum-sided warehouse. The cement floored pub features a laminated U-shaped 20-seat mahogany bar with a pipe-exposed high ceiling. Silver left side tanks service the bustling draught board (with over a dozen homemade brews). A meticulous pine-detailed, garage-doored Event Space welcomes large parties.

A rustic makeshift enclosed deck with orange plastic chairs matching the overhead canvas is where I sat with wife and dog to enjoy a host of German-style lagers and beyond during my two-hour November ’22 sojourn.

Queen City Brewery Tap Takeover — Pizzeria Verità

Ricey corn pilsner malting consumed Bushwick Lager, a ’50s-styled American light body with musky lemon-spiced herbage and wispy floral daubs.

Musky Noble hop herbage grazed the toasted cereal graining of German helles-styled South End Lager, ‘a delicate blonde lager,’ and the spicier toasted malting of Vienna Lager.

Dewy peat mossing, earthen truffle fungi and faded nuttiness saturated the dried fruited musk of Munich Dunkel, a lightly creamed Bavarian lager.

Another German lager, Psycho Keller, an unfiltered cellar beer, placed honey spiced Vienna malts against salted orange-oiled musk, leaving mild leafy foliage and fennel snips.

Spry herbal lemon zesting prodded the vanilla-creamed banana, clove and coriander expectancy of Hefeweizen, a sourdough-bottomed moderation.

Capturing much of the maple-glazed cured meat sweetness and only some of the smoked beechwood pilsner malting its Bamberg-derived style demands, Rauchbier gained a nifty lemon spritz.

Traditional springtime copper lager, Maibock, brought spicy red-orange-yellow fruiting to toasted caramel malting, picking up contrastive raw honeyed fungi must.

Smoothly effervescent Belgian tripel, Monk of Underhill, regaled butterscotch-candied sweetness to caramelized banana, lemon meringue and creamy vanilla affluence.

Moderately bitter Fuggle-hopped English IPA, Argument, left perfumed citrus spicing upon dry fungi herbage.

Soft-toned Yorkshire Porter allowed its black coffee-embittered dark chocolate roast to embrace weedy soy saucing and cola nuttiness.

Peaty mocha malting girded Barge Canal, a musty oatmeal stout with day-old coffee tones, chalky dried fruiting and spiced dark toffee atop charred oats.

 

ZERO GRAVITY BREWERY

United States Brewpubs,

6 Outstanding Breweries in Burlington Vermont

BURLINGTON, VERMONT

Alongside Queen City Brewery and Switchback Brewing, ZERO GRAVITY BREWERY calls the South End of Burlington home. An outgrowth of American Flatbread, this pristine brown aluminum-fronted pub opened its doors during 2015.

Inside the Beer Hall, a granite-topped L-shaped bar features white-tiled draught handles. The laminated floor gleams and a few community tables offer bar side seating. A stone hearth on the right side warms up several loungy booths and couches.

Outside, Edison lights illuminate the awning-topped tables at the wood-planked deck.

Never moving too far from stylistic parameters, most Zero Gravity brews will please mainstream imbibers as well as those with exquisite tastes. During my November ’22 midday excursion, discovered each available pouring – including a re-tasting of Madonna and Cone Head IPA’s.

Zero Gravity Brewing - Burlington Brew Tours - All-Inclusive, Guided Brewery Tours & Craft Beer Events in Burlington, Vermont

At 3.2% ABV and 90 calories, Mc Lighty’s Lager retained a slickly arid phenol resonance permeating its dry lemon liming and cloy corn syruping. Strictly for passive light beer drones.

Approachable Cone Head IPA let spiced-up lemony grapefruit zesting and resilient orange rind bittering front its grassy hop astringency and dank cannabis restraint as salted mango, white peach and pineapple illusions flutter softly to the bready bottom.

Zestful lemon bluster beguiles tropical orange-peeled grapefruit and pineapple tang as oily pine resin seeps into Madonna Imperial IPA. Lemon candy, lemon curd and orange marmalade snips add tart edge.

Soothingly delicate lemony strawberry tartness caressed Strawberry Moon, an arid sour ale with mild limey bittering and fizzy pop pep over a pallid white wheat bed. Sharp blue cheese brings out a spicy citric tingle.

Dry rocky tan-headed black Irish-styled Extra Stout placed mildly creamed dark chocolate bittering next to tarry coffee-oiled bittering, hop-charred tobacco chaw and sour nut squelch above its clean watered surface.