Passport Stories
The Vermont Brewers Association is proud to feature 56 member breweries in this year’s Vermont Brewery Passport. From mountain towns to village centers, our brewers craft distinctive, small-batch beers you simply can’t find anywhere else. Each year, more than one million visitors step inside Vermont taprooms to experience that Beer Worth Finding. The passport program serves as a guide for both locals and travelers, inviting you to explore, collect stamps, and discover new favorites along the way.
Read ahead to meet some of this year’s passionate passport participants and hear the stories behind their Vermont beer adventures!
Meet Lina
“My name is Lina. I’m a traveler by instinct and by habit — more than seventy countries and still counting. Wherever I go, the first compass point is always flavor: the food on the streets, the beer in the taproom, the wine in the countryside, and the whisky in a quaint late-night pub. To understand a place, I’ve found, you have to taste it, off the beaten path and among the locals.
Belgium remains the reigning monarch of beer in my personal atlas, its abbeys and breweries pouring liquid history. Czechia follows close behind, where even the simplest lager feels like it was crafted with reverence. And the United Kingdom never fails to impress me — traditional pubs steeped in centuries of conversation now standing proudly beside inventive craft breweries, old and new raising pints together. Finland, Latvia, Mongolia, and the Netherlands are always surprising in the best way. I enjoy many different styles of beer, from a fresh crisp pilsner to a warming barleywine. Perhaps easier is to list beers I do not enjoy: gose, radler, shandies, anything with pumpkin, and/or cinnamon.
Long before my Vermont Brewers Passport filled, though, my sense of home was shaped in the forests of Vermont and Maine. I spent my childhood summers at camp — lakes, pine needles, campfires — and quietly promised myself I would hang my hat in this corner of the world someday. Years later, when I finally moved to Vermont, weekends became expeditions: winding roads, small towns, hidden villages, scattered breweries, and the occasional distillery waiting to be discovered.
After a stretch living in Seattle because of work, I was impressed by the Washington Brewers Guild and the way they organized events and brewery exploration. Naturally, I wondered if Vermont held a similar treasure. Discovering the passport felt like finding a map I didn’t know I’d been searching for — an invitation to keep wandering, only now in the place I call home. I used the passport to plan weekend adventures, getting to know every corner of Vermont, and pausing at breweries to say hello.
I remember visiting Hill Farmstead Brewery more than a dozen years ago, and it looked like the typical barn/garage. Imagine my surprise when I pulled up to it a couple of years ago. I had to ask one of the staff members if it was the same brewery I once visited. He laughed and said yes, that building is now our shop. What left me speechless though, was seeing a collaboration brew with Belgium’s one and only 3 Fonteinen. It is one of my favorite breweries in the world and seeing they lent their name to an American brewery was truly stunning. I cleared my weekend and resolved to taste everything Hill Farmstead had to offer. Needless to say, it exceeded my wildest expectations. What a gem! I can honestly say I believe it’s the best brewery in the Western Continents.
Throughout the quest to collect brewery stamps, I discovered several that have become favorites. Some offer a great many fine brews (Four Quarters, Black Flannel, Zero Gravity). Some had a star offering and I hope to explore what equally great choices they may concoct in the future (Alchemist, Frost, Foley Brothers). There are the “whole package” breweries that always dot my guests’ itineraries when I am playing host in Vermont. These feature not only great beer, but also delicious food, and excellent atmosphere (Bent Hill, Lawson’s, Long Trail, Stone Corral, Foam). And then there are the places that I wish were next door to my house, because they feel like ‘home’ (Dirt Church, Kingdom Brewing).
Diving through Smuggler’s Notch is always the most scenic and memorable adventure. I remember pulling a very aggressive u-turn when I spotted Lot Six Brewing, because it wasn’t even part of the Vermont Brewers Passport route and had only been open for a few days. The farthest trips for me were Madison Brewing Company and Kramer & Kin. The latter is straight out of the movie Practical Magic. My advice to those who are embarking on this adventure is to always call ahead to the smaller breweries before you go. Many are often closed without announcement.
Thank you, Vermont Brewers Association, for this fun experience. I sincerely hope you manage to recruit all the other breweries that are not yet part of this adventure. Until the next stop: slainte, cheers, salud, sante, skal, na zdrowie, prost, yamas, and cin cin!”
