History books tell us that local Vermonter and beer enthusiast Ethan Allen was a leader in
the effort to make Vermont the fourteenth star on the U.S. flag in 1791. And those textbooks are right; especially about the 1791 part.
Today, in Franklin County, Vermont, Army veteran Steve Gagner is honoring his home state and passion – brewing great beer – with 14th Star Brewing Co.
14th Star is Steve’s 1,200-square-foot nanobrewery on Lower Newton Street, in St. Albans City.
We currently produce about 28 barrels of beer a month (about 900 gallons) in small batches from original recipes.
What makes 14th Star’s beers stand out? Well, the care with which we handle our beer throughout the brewing process, coupled with our desire to brew the best beer humanly possible. More than that, however, we are dedicated to strengthening our local community and the Vermont Beer community as a whole. We understand that we are part of a tradition of brewing fantastic beer here in Vermont and our goal is to continue to push the bar higher.
But that’s not it. Not entirely.
You see – at this size, we can brew whatever we want to brew, without the shackles of order fulfillment from a large distributor. In 9 months, we’ve brewed a Pale Ale, a Honey IPA (with honey sourced from right here in Franklin County), a Cascade IPA, a Golden Wheat, a Roasted Porter, an Amber Ale (Valor), a Citrus APA (1493), a Brown Ale, and a Winter Warmer. These beers pop into our rotation as we get the itch to brew them.
What makes our beer special is that we can let our imaginations go – brewing beers that many in the area have never tried or heard about. We’re also open to suggestions.
If you have a suggestion on a beer we should brew, shoot us an email: steve@14thstarbrewing.com.
We look forward to continuing to provide the greater St Albans area with quality craft beer. Cheers!