Burlington has welcomed local farms, breweries and distilleries with open arms. The Queen City fosters a unique culture around beer and farm-to-table cuisine. Daniel Standiford established the city's first brewery in 1880. Prohibition ushered in a dry era that remained for more than a century until Greg and Nancy Noonan fought the law and established Vermont Pub & Brewery in the late 1980s.
Since then, breweries have popped up, from nationally recognized Magic Hat down to the city's first blendery, House of Fermentology. Authors Adam Krakowski and Jeff S. Baker II explore Burlington's sudsy history from early newspaper clippings to modern-day tastemakers, along with some delicious recipes.
Jeff S. Baker II has worked for more than a decade in the craft beer and fine wine industry in Florida, Massachusetts and Vermont. His fascination with the world of craft beverages began while earning a BA in philosophy at St.
Michael's College--in vino veritas!--and since then, he has earned multiple wine certificates and is pursuing a degree as a Certified Cicerone. He curated an award-winning beer program for a Burlington farm-to-table restaurant and is now head of education for Farrell Distributing.
A regular contributor to the Burlington Free Press and co-host of the It's the Beer Talking podcast, he has been nominated for "Best Print/Online Journalist in Vermont" twice. In 2006, he received the Frank G. Mahady Memorial Award for Peace & Social Justice, and he is also an ordained colonel. He lives with his partner, Jana Simmons, and their lovely dog, Harper, in the Burlington area."