Before Your Time is a podcast about Vermont history. Every episode, we go inside the stacks at the Vermont Historical Society to look at an object from their permanent collection that tells us something unique about our state. Then, we take a closer look at the people, the events, and the ideas that surround each artifact.
[V]isitors who come to Vermont seeking artisanal alcohol may not realize that it used to be one of the driest states in the nation: Prohibition lasted longer here than almost any other part of the country.
But some experts say that dry spell may have led to today’s booming alcohol culture.
“We kind of emerged with our own style,” says Adam Krakowski, the author of Vermont Prohibition: Teetotalers, Bootleggers & Corruption.
A century with no breweries, he says, left Vermont beermakers with no choice but to be inventive.
But the history of alcohol in Vermont dates back to the state’s founding — in Windsor, where its constitution was signed in a tavern.
Everyday Vermonters drank beer and cider to ward off disease. Immigrant communities in industrial towns like Barre brought their own traditions from Europe, distilling grappa and whiskey in their homes. Meanwhile, the percolating temperance movement threatened to wipe out drinking culture altogether.
On this podcast, Marjorie Strong, from the Vermont Historical Society, talks about the tensions wrought by prohibition. Shacksbury Cider’s Colin Davis shows how a modern cider maker can channel agricultural history. And Adam Krakowski, along with the House of Fermentology’s Bill Mares, discuss the state’s recent resurgence as a destination for drinking.
Subscribe to Before Your Time on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, or Google Play. See more images, complete music credits, and a transcript of this episode at beforeyourtime.org.
Produced in partnership with the Vermont Historical Society and the Vermont Humanities Council. Theme music by Michael Chapman and the Woodpiles.
