The History of Magic Hat and How Beer Helped to Put Burlington on the Map

By: Daryl Sommers

•Burlington Vermont is a liberal college town in northern Vermont, located 60 Miles from Montreal, and about 4 hours from Boston. •The most known part of Burlington is a quaint downtown four block pedestrian only down-Town consisting of many unique shops and boutiques. •Although It is considered a city, it has the feel of a smaller town with a great sense of place. Stores such as Apple Mountain, selling many local artisan offerings and the portrayal of Vermont on many of their products contribute to Burlington’s sense of place. •Also Contributing to Burlington’s sense of place is the Omnipresent beer scene of locally brewed beers. The Beer scene is the most apparent part of Burlington’sDown town.

• Burlington was rated number four in the Top 10 cities for beer lovers!

•“Set between two beer-bustling locales – Montreal to the north, and Boston to the southeast – Burlington, Vermont is a university town with one of the best brew cultures in New England. Home to the quirky micro-brewery Magic Hat, visitors can do as the locals do and sample homegrown brews such as #9, Fat Angel, and Blind Faith IPA to name a few. Church Street, a four-block pedestrian-only zone buzzes with vibrant bars with top-notch beer on tap, including Vermont brewed Otter Creek and the Long Trail beer collection, whose specialty beers change seasonally.” (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15642039/)

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“ Burlington has a hot little beer scene. One of the best beer festivals in the country is hosted annually down by the Lake Champlain waterfront. For such a small city, we have three brewpubs downtown. The best part of our beer seem is more important than specific locations: you can get a good locally brewed pint of beer at EVERY bar in town and you don't have to sit in a smoky room to drink it!” (http://beeradvocate.com/beerfly/city/4)

• Guess where all the best beers in Vermont are brewed? BURLINGTON! Vermont has a thriving microbrewery industry and it has a number of highly rated beers.

• These are the top 10 beers, as rated by Rate Beerians everywhere, that are brewed by the brewers of this area. A beer has to have 5 or more ratings to be listed:

• BEER: BREWED BY: Rating: Score:• 1 McNeills Bucksnort  McNeills Brewery   12   98.6 • 2 Imperial Stout   McNeills Brewery   137   98.4 • 3 Shed Substance D  The Shed Restaurant & Brewery  10   96.6 • 4 Flag Hill Farm Vermont Sparkling Hard Cyder  Flag Hill Farm  

23   96.3 • 5 Magic Hat Thumbsucker Imperial Stout  Magic Hat Brewing Company  

130   96.2 • 6 McNeills Reagins Stout  McNeills Brewery  43   94.6 • 7 Alchemist Heady Topper  Alchemist Pub and Brewery 18  93.3 • 8 Magic Hat Ravell  Magic Hat Brewing Company  103   92.9 

9 Magic Hat Chaotic Chemistry  Magic Hat Brewing Company   91   92 

• 10 McNeills Oatmeal Stout  McNeills Brewery  55   91 

(http://www.ratebeer.com/BestInMyArea.asp?CountryID=213&StateID=45)

• Although there are many great tasting beers brewed in Burlington, Vermont, One beer company in particular really put Burlington on the map: Magic Hat Brewing Company!

• Magic Hat is unique brewery on Shelburne Road in Burlington, Vermont. They brew many different kinds of brews in a unique looking factory; there is nothing status-quo or typical about Magic Hat as you will find out in the next few slides.

Magic Hat Brewing Factory:How It All Began

•Alan Newman and Bob Johnson founded Magic Hat Brewing

Company and Performing Arts center in 1994 in Burlington, VT

•They met while working at 7th generation, an environmentally

friendly supply company founded by Newman.

•Right after Bob started, Alan left to spend more time with his family, and Bob got a job offer

from an upstart brewery in Martha’s Vineyard.

• When the Martha’s Vineyard brewery failed they met again in fall of 1992 on Church St.

• They had lunch and decided Bob should stay in Burlington to open a brewery, Alan would handle the business/marketing aspects, and Bob would take care of the brewing.

• The two then went on a beer tour on the west coast, visiting 33 breweries in 10 days to get ideas for their brewery.

• Micro-brewed beer was typically marketed with naturalistic themes, with images of mountains, rivers, or animals on the packaging.

• Since most brewers strictly adhered to pre-existing style guide-lines, the beers even tasted similar.

• Knowing this, the two went back to Burlington, and Alan hit the streets doing fund-raising efforts while Bob sat in his basement concocting recipes.

• In 1994, Alan and Bob threw a party at the Burlington Blues Festival serving their first beer (Humble Patience which is now discontinued) that Bob brewed at Federal Jack’s brewpub in Kennebunkport, Maine. They sold out in three hours

• Bob continued to brew 7-barrel batches (14 kegs) at Federal Jacks which he personally distributed to Burlington

• In November of 1994, Alan and Bob opened Magic Hat’s first legitimate brewery on Flynn Ave in Burlington.

• The beer production was then split between the two places, until 1996 when Miller Brewing company brought a substantial percent of Federal Jack’s and changed it’s name to Shipyard.

• Magic Hat’s contract with Federal Jack’s was due for renewal but concerns surrounding Miller’s microbrew influenced over the tiny micro-brew Magic Hat forced them to withdraw from Federal Jacks.

• In Feb 1997, Magic Hat discovered it’s current building, an old Grossman’s Lumber Supply warehouse and the renovations began.

• • The whole operation, from administrative to

production, shipping and the Artifactory are all done in the current location.

• Magic hat is a small company with 65 employees. They carry 92,000 barrels a year giving them regional brewery status (regional means 15- 500,000 barrels.)

• They are available in 12 states, from Maine to Virginia and recently added North Carolina.

What are some of the types of Beers Magic Hat Brews?

• They have brewed

• close to 50 styles of beer with names such as Kerouac (brewed with beet sugar), Night of the Living Dead Ale with garlic beer, Premonition with ginger, Unnatural Thirst with licorice, El Stuouto with real coffee.

They currently have four experimental beers seasonally that can be found in the variety packs.

• The standard lineup is number 9, fat angel, blind faith, and mother lager.

• Single chair is a beer only available in Vermont

What Other Beers are Brewed?

• They brew season

ales such as HiPA, Hocus Pocus, Jinx, and Winter Ale

• They also brew speciality beers such as Mardi Gras, Matty o’s, Jewish-Irish Stout, Ravell, Participation, and Nailbiter.

•They also have a “Humdinger” series of Braggot, Feast of fools, Thumbsucker, and Chaotic Chemistry.

What Does the Product Look Like?• The bottles are also

uniquely and creatively labeled, with funky designs.

• The bottle caps also have fortunes underneath, with creative and thought provoking phrases like “hocus pocus don’t loose your focus” and “Make your move to improve your groove.”

About the Factory:What Does It Look Like?

• The factory, as well as the company in general is extremely mysterious and unique looking. The factory is completely dark and is light by random lights such as Christmas lights, TV’s with the Magic Hat Logo permanently on it. There is something offbeat and mysterious about the factory… it’s creepy yet very retro at the same time. The pitch black halls are filled with Magic

Hat memorabilia and l

lots of random objects.

• Another unique factor of Magic Hat is that unlike most breweries, Magic Hat uses open fermentation, meaning that their fermentation tanks are open at the top. ‘

• Because this risks contamination, there is a special air filtration system that has air pressure pushing up instead of down forcing any foreign particles away from the tanks to air filters.

• Something interesting to note is the liberal ways of magic hat. It’s founders met at an environmentally friendly shipping company, and their liberal ideas are still all over the factory. As I toured, I noticed Phish, Grateful Dead & environmentalism stickers all over the staff lockers. This matched the liberal aspect of Burlington with a progressive government.

• Also, the bus system within Burlington actually stops at the Magic Hat Factory!

Beer Guide for Burlington (ordered by weighted rank):Brewpubs: American Flatbread Burlington Hearth / Zero Gravity Brewery

115 St. Paul Street, BurlingtonVermont Pub & Brewery144 College St., BurlingtonThree Needs Brewery & Taproom207 College Street, Burlington

• Breweries: Magic Hat Brewing Company5 Bartlett Bay Road, BurlingtonSwitchback Brewing Company160 Flynn Avenue, Burlington

• Beer Bars: Manhattan Pizza

167 Main St, BurlingtonMuddy Waters184 Main St, BurlingtonRi Ra (The Irish Pub)123 Church St, BurlingtonRasputin's163 Church St, BurlingtonChurch Street Tavern103 Church Street, BurlingtonNectar's188 Main St, BurlingtonHigher Ground1214 Williston Road, South Burlington

• Beer Bars Continued: Coyotes Cafe

161 Church St, BurlingtonMonkey Bar30 Main St, WinooskiRadio Bean Coffeehouse8 N Winooski Ave, BurlingtonRusty Scuffer148 Church St, BurlingtonLoong Chat's Kitchen169 Church Street, BurlingtonMr. Mikes Pizza206 Main Street, BurlingtonRed Square Bar & Grill135 Church Street, BurlingtonFinnigan's Pub205 College St, Burlington

Magic hat contributes to Burlington’s unique flavor by having their beer for sale at a lot of local restaurants and even in a lot of other microbrewery pubs. Here are a few of the restaurants that serve magic hat:

(http://beeradvocate.com/beerfly/city/4)

• Best tap selection: American Flatbread, & Manhattan's

• Best beer store: Winooski Discount Beverage

• 11-29-2006 Shaun of the Shed Farewell

• 7-9-20074th Annual Extreme Beer Fest - Night of the Barrels

• 7-1&2-07 4th Annual Extreme Beer Fest - Sessions One & Two

• 7-11-07 Extreme Sunday Brunch @ Redbones

• 7-20-2007 Vermont Brewers Festival

Magic hat is very apparent in the Burlington community, not just because it’s in every bar, but also because it has an annual parade in Febuary and does fundraising for local charities such as the Burlington’s Women’s Rape Crisis Center.• Usually in conjunction with the annual Burlington Winter Festival• The events start Friday night with a Masquerade Ball featuring performing artists. They also do a crowning of the King and Queen of the Ball, and a great party atmosphere to set the weekend rolling. • On Saturday afternoon, there is a HUGE Parade featuring 40 floats tossing over

180,000 beads as well as 7,680 authentic Louisiana Moon Pies and thousands of Lake Champlain Chocolates. The businesses in the parade pay (a donation) for the beads and the privilege of being in the parade. • Immediately following the parade is the Magic Hat Block Party, on the top block of the Church Street Marketplace, featuring more live music and it’s free.• You buy tickets at the Artifactory store at the Magic Hat Brewery for 12-14 dollars.

Culturally, Burlington would not be what it is without the extremely apparent good beer phenomena in Vermont. Vermont products, beer in particular, have helped form not only Burlington, but Vermont as a whole. Microbreweries in Burlington do extremely well not only because it’s a college town, but also because people like to support local businesses. Or as Professor Gordon put it, “If people love a certain area, they will do everything to help the particular area, this means supporting local. If Magic Hat happens to not only be local, but delicious as well, it’s a win-win situation.” This creates a sense of place, and further love for Vermont!