Vermont

Waterbury's Craft Beer Cellar Gets a New Name — and a Bar

Published

2 years ago

February 27, 2024

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Waterbury's Craft Beer Cellar Gets a New Name — and a Bar

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A glass of River Roost Brewery’s Project Object #22 at Vermont Beer Collective

Since the early days of Vermont’s craft beer boom, all roads have led to Waterbury. As the original home of the Alchemist and now Freak Folk Bier, Prohibition Pig, Big Tree Brewing and the Alchemist’s production facility, the town’s streets have long been lined with hype chasers looking to grab the latest hazy IPA or wild-fermented sour.

And since 2013, Craft Beer Cellar has been the place to skip those lines — and find rare “white whale” bottles and cans only dreamed of elsewhere.

As of February 27, the shop at 3 Elm Street has a new name: Vermont Beer Collective. It also has a recently launched bar, where customers can enjoy full pours from the likes of Hill Farmstead Brewery, Kraemer & Kin, Wunderkammer Biermanufaktur and Boston’s Trillium Brewing.

The changes mark a new era under owners Liz and Nate Dunbar, 34 and 37, who bought the business on May 31 and have been slowly rebranding, even as they have weathered two floods and prepared to welcome their second child.

Craft Beer Cellar fans shouldn’t worry: The store is still stocked with an incredible inventory of local and not-so-local producers, including those white whales. Its selection has always been curated by its in-the-know staff, Nate explained.

Making beer and going to breweries have long been hobbies of the Waterbury Center couple, and Craft Beer Cellar is “a landmark here in Vermont and in Waterbury,” Nate said. When they saw the shop was on the market, their only concern was that it was a franchise.

click to enlarge Nate and Liz Dunbar - COURTESY

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Nate and Liz Dunbar

“In our adventure to start our own business, never once did we explore anything like opening a Dunkin’ or a McDonald’s,” Nate said. “We really wanted something of our own.”

Hence the shop’s new identity, which will free the couple from paying royalties to the hands-off franchise owners. The Dunbars’ decision to rebrand predates the closure of Craft Beer Cellar’s flagship store in Belmont, Mass., at the end of 2023 and its founders’ recent bankruptcy filing.

The Vermont Beer Collective name and logo began popping up in the shop after the bar’s soft launch on December 14 — coincidentally, the 10-year anniversary of the shop’s opening — but the Dunbars have otherwise kept the transition quiet. They also haven’t advertised the new taproom, which nonetheless drew a group of nearly 30 people on a recent Saturday bar crawl.

The small bar takes over the shop’s original growler filling area, which had been used as a retail display since the demand for growlers dropped during the pandemic, Nate said. It now features eight regular taps and a three-tap LUKR tower custom made in the Czech Republic, with seating for 10, standing room and a dartboard.

While the bar is open during the shop’s regular hours, it operates on a separate license; legally, on-premise consumption and retail can’t commingle. Nate is working with the state legislature to have that changed, but for now, customers can’t enjoy their beers while they browse the shelves or sit on couches in the big window bays.

That didn’t bother me as I found my way past the stanchions on a quiet Thursday afternoon. I perused the menu as mountain bike and ski videos played on TVs behind the bar.

So far, the frequently rotating tap list has included rare gems from Zero Gravity Craft Brewery’s pilot system, Wunderkammer’s mixed-culture wild ales, Trillium’s Congress Street IPA and Hill Farmstead’s Anna. Vermont Beer Collective is also the first and only place to serve Wildbranch Cider on tap.

“We’re trying to keep our draft list as unique and rare as possible — something you’re not going to get most other places,” Nate said.

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Separate bar and retail spaces at Vermont Beer Collective - COURTESY

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Separate bar and retail spaces at Vermont Beer Collective

Tempted by a glass of Wildbranch, I remembered I was in beer heaven and opted instead to grab a bottle of the Craftsbury cidery’s excellent single-varietal Ashmead’s Kernel on the way out.

A glass of River Roost Brewery’s Project Object #22 ($8 for 12 ounces), a citra-hopped double IPA from the White River Junction brewery’s experimental series, paired nicely with a vegan Belgian Liège waffle from the short-and-sweet snack menu. The latter is made by Vafels, a Colorado-based company founded by a University of Vermont alum and popular among mountain bikers.

Nate, who is on the board of the Waterbury Area Trail Alliance, said he and Liz want to make Vermont Beer Collective a place for the outdoor sports community to gather.

“Or grab summit beers,” he added with a laugh.

Watching mountain bikers on the screen behind the bar is about as close as I ever get to a summit. But Nate’s enthusiasm — and the prospect of gleaning from the shop team’s extensive beer knowledge — is its own kind of rush.

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Vermont

Police searching for Vt. woman accused in baby’s drowning death

Published

1 hour ago

December 25, 2025

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Police searching for Vt. woman accused in baby’s drowning death

BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) – Police are searching for a Burlington woman who faces multiple charges after investigators say she let her baby drown in a bathtub while under the influence.

The incident happened in October 2024. Police say Briana Arnold, 34, left her 3-month-old daughter in the filling bathtub. The infant then drowned.

Briana Arnold(Courtesy: Chittenden Unit for Special Investigations)

Police said they found narcotics in Arnold’s kitchen and bloodstream.

After a yearlong investigation, police issued a warrant for Arnold’s arrest on manslaughter, child cruelty and drug charges. So far, they have not found her. Anyone with information on her whereabouts is asked to call the Chittenden Unit for Special Investigations at 802-652-6895 or the local police department where she is known to be located.

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Vermont

Needled by the big holiday fuss? The Vermont Country Store has a little something to pine for. – VTDigger

Published

13 hours ago

December 24, 2025

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Needled by the big holiday fuss? The Vermont Country Store has a little something to pine for. – VTDigger

Charlie Brown Christmas Trees stand ready in boxes at the Vermont Country Store in Weston. Photo by Kevin O’Connor/VTDigger

WESTON — In the New England state that grows the most Christmas trees, the Vermont Country Store offers a seeming galaxy of ornaments and add-ons, from floor-hugging skirts to ceiling-grazing stars.

“Evergreen trees are a universal symbol of the season,” the third generation of Orton family storekeepers writes on its website.

So why has the $100 million-a-year business seen a 2-foot-tall boxed alternative become a surprise bestseller?

“When things in the world seem a little chaotic, it brings back great memories and puts a smile on your face,” merchandising manager Julie Noyes said of the Charlie Brown Christmas Tree, which debuted six decades ago and has drawn new interest from people starting up or downsizing in a chilly economy.

When Charles Schulz introduced “Peanuts” 75 years ago, the late cartoonist didn’t envision the comic strip would lead to global syndication and a series of television specials, beginning with 1965’s “A Charlie Brown Christmas.”

In that show, the title character searches for the perfect Christmas tree, only to come home with a straggly sapling.

“Gee, do they still make wooden Christmas trees?” his friend Linus asks. “Maybe it just needs a little love.”

And with the addition of a blanket around its base, the conifer is soon warming hearts.

Sixty years later, $21.95 official replicas can be found at Vermont Country Stores in Weston and Rockingham, in their mail-order catalog and on their website — and in customer homes from Connecticut to California.

“It’s precious, just precious,” Jill Charbonneau said in a call from the Rockport, Maine, home she and her husband, Paul, have shared for a half-century. “It’s so simple and says everything it’s supposed to say.”

She’s not alone in her appreciation. The tree has an average customer rating of 4.9 out of 5, according to its webpage, with nearly 100 rave reviews about its simple cost, scale and upkeep from people coast to coast.

Take the Illinois couple settling into their first home. The traveling nurse on the road. The Colorado widow living alone. The Florida shopper rebuilding after a hurricane. All agree with the comment from the North Carolina woman facing mobility issues: “This little tree is my solution.”

“It’s neat to have an old memory right in front of ya,” a Texas man adds in his review. “Takes me back to a time when life seemed so easy.”

The Vermont Country Store, with 450 year-round workers, almost doubles its staff each December to maintain its retail shops, Manchester offices and Clarendon distribution center during the busy holiday season, Noyes says. But the merchandising manager won’t specify how many Charlie Brown Christmas Trees are sold.

“Lots,” she says. “Lots and lots.”

All embodying something small and simple.

“Less is more,” one California reviewer summed up the tree. “It is a little ray of hope.”

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Vermont

Resources for families as Vermont National Guard prepares for deployment

Published

1 day ago

December 24, 2025

Press Room

Resources for families as Vermont National Guard prepares for deployment

MONTPELIER, Vt. (ABC22/FOX44) – Earlier this month, ABC22/FOX44 reported that members of Vermont’s Air National Guard would be sent to the Caribbean to take part in Operation Southern Spear.

Legislators from all three major political parties in Vermont wrote Tuesday about resources available for the families of the members sent out in the field. They said that Maj. Gen. Gregory Knight, Adjutant General of the Vermont National Guard, had officially confirmed the mobilization Monday.

“The uncertainty of a deployment is a stressful time for families, especially during the holiday. We thank our Vermont Guard Members and their families for their service to Vermont and our country. During this time, we encourage Vermonters to check in on their friends and neighbors impacted by this deployment.”

The “central hub” for family support the Vermont National Guard Family Programs Office. Its support line, (888) 607-8773, is available Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., with more available at its website at ngfamily.vt.gov.

Families can ask at the support line to be connected with a local volunteer support group as well (include link).

There are also six regional centers across the state in Montpelier, White River Junction, Rutland, South Burlington, Jericho, and St. Albans. The National Guard describes these as “resource and referral experts” that can help families connect with any services they may need.

Information on these is available at their own webpage. https://www.ngfamily.vt.gov/Programs-Services/Military-and-Family-Readiness-Centers/

Other resources include:

The Vermont National Guard Charitable Foundation: (802) 338-3076 or https://vtngcharitable.org/VTNGCF to apply.

Military OneSource, a federal referral program offered nationwide and 24/7: (800) 342-9647, www.militaryonesource.mil

Child and Youth Program Deployment Resources, with tools for children’s resilience during deployments: https://www.ngfamily.vt.gov/Resources/Youth-Deployment-Resources/

Yellow Ribbon Reintegration Program, events held mid-deployment for children and families: contact Staff Sgt. Jessica Smith at jessica.m.smith308.mil@army.mil

Vermont 211: https://vermont211.org/

ChildCare Aware: https://www.childcareaware.org/state/vermont/

Hunger Free Vermont: https://www.hungerfreevt.org/

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