Upper Pass opens Burlington taproom, adds space for small-batch beer

While downtown closures continue to reshape Burlington’s beer map, Upper Pass Beer is placing its bet in the New North End, where a bigger taproom at 1127 North Avenue gives the brewery a chance to grow into more than a replacement tenant. The company opened the Burlington space on May 6, 2026, after a test run the week before that it said “felt like a great start to something fun and exciting.”

The move centers on the former Simple Roots Brewing site in the Ethan Allen Shopping Center. Simple Roots operated there from 2016 until it closed on Dec. 18, 2025, and owners Kara Pawlusiak and Dan Ukolowicz announced on Jan. 1, 2026 that Upper Pass would take over the taproom and production space. Upper Pass managing partners Ivan Tomek and Chris Perry said in January they planned to reopen after permits and painting, initially targeting February. Instead of a bare-bones outpost, the brewery secured the lease early in 2026 and expanded into an adjacent area to create more seating and operational room.

That extra space matters because Upper Pass is not arriving as a blank-slate startup. The brewery began in 2015 in a converted sheep barn in Tunbridge on a single-barrel system, and its first official beer was sold at the Tunbridge World’s Fair that August. It later moved into contract brewing, starting with von Trapp Brewery in 2016, then using Baker Distributing and Zero Gravity-associated production and distribution channels to get beer into market. Upper Pass now says it has made more than 100 different beers and sells in Vermont and several other Northeast states.

The Burlington taproom is also a production play. Earlier reporting said the larger footprint should let Upper Pass revive the small-batch beers that are harder to produce regularly, including sours, lagers and barrel-aged releases. That gives the North Avenue site a different role from the brewery’s earlier South Royalton tasting room, which had closed during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is Upper Pass’s first major public-facing space in years, and one designed to showcase the experimental side of a brand better known for regional distribution.

The location helps explain the strategy. North Avenue is one of only two roads linking the New North End to central Burlington, and it serves a neighborhood that holds about a quarter of the city’s population. The taproom also sits near the Burlington Bike Path, the Route 127 Bike Path and the Ethan Allen Park trail network, with ample parking and an easy reach to the beach. Upper Pass is planning food-truck pop-ups and live entertainment, turning the former Simple Roots address into a place where Burlington residents can gather, drink and spend time instead of just stopping for a pickup.