I know that Fiddlehead is here. I plan on visiting. From you locals.... is there any other place I should be aware of? I am not going to be in the Burlington vicinity. I've been to Magic Hat, and with all due respect, although their taps were good, I am looking for better beer.
Maybe head southeast to the Bobcat Brewpub in Bristol for dinner & great house beers, or Hinesburg Public House. Rte.7 Beverage has a great selection of take-home stuff.
go to fiddlehead grab a growler and head next store to folino's and grab a pizza and consume your growler.
Burlington is just 15-20 minutes (at most) from Fiddlehead. I think heading to Bristol or Hinesburg would probably take about around the same amount of time. If you can't leave Shelburne, then Fiddlehead is the only brewery and there's no pubs or bars there that I know about. Technically, the northernmost part of Shelburne is probably a couple miles (<5 mins) from southernmost part of Burlington, there's just a small part South Burlington in between the two towns.
What he said^ The Bearded Frog (in Shelburne Village) should have some decent local beers on tap (Fiddlehead, RockArt, others). Also, I don't think most people on here consider Magic Hat good either.
I heard that new place in So. Burlington Tilt Arcade & Taproom is great! Right off Rte. 7 by the movie theater. All vintage arcade games, really decent taplist, and the food pix I've seen look tasty. (No, I haven't been myself - this is vicariously through FB.)
I went on opening day. Luckily, they've fixed the AC since then. Taplist is pretty decent. Here's what's on tap there http://tiltvt.com/ They need drink holders on the arcade games. They have the cup holders for pinball, but not for arcades. The food was okay, but nothing to rave about. I haven't been back, but I've heard that service and food/drinks got better after the staff had a few days/weeks to figure things out.
