Burp Fest at Vermont Brewers Festival 2026

The Vermont Brewers Festival traces its roots to 1991, when a handful of pioneering brewers decided to throw a party on the shores of Lake Champlain in Burlington. At that first gathering, just six breweries participated — a number that reflected the nascent state of Vermont's craft beer scene. The festival was founded to foster camaraderie and mutual cooperation among brewers and to promote Vermont-made beer at a time when most Americans still reached for mass-market lagers. It predates the Vermont Brewers Association itself, which wouldn't be formally established until 1995, when the legendary Greg Noonan — the man who opened Vermont's first brewpub in 1988 and whose book "Brewing Lager Beer" helped ignite the American microbrewing revolution — brought the state's brewers together under one organization.

In the three-plus decades since, the festival has grown from those six pioneering breweries to more than 50 participants per year, mirroring Vermont's rise to the top of the national craft beer rankings. Vermont now holds the number-one spot for craft breweries per capita in the United States, with nearly 70 breweries generating a $419 million economic impact. The Vermont Brewers Festival has been there for the entire journey, serving as both a showcase and a celebration of that growth. What makes it genuinely different from the hundreds of beer festivals across the country is its DNA: this is a festival organized by the brewers themselves, not by a promotions company or a hospitality group. The tagline — "the festival by the brewers, for the brewers" — is not marketing copy; it is the founding principle. Set against the stunning backdrop of the Adirondack Mountains across Lake Champlain, with three tasting sessions spread across two July days, the Vermont Brewers Festival remains one of the most beautiful and authentic craft beer experiences in America.