E-Malt.com News article: USA, VT: Otter Creek Brewing Co. increasing production and distribution in Middlebury

Continued success is leading one company in Middlebury to expand their facility. Otter Creek Brewing is increasing its production and distribution reach across the country, My Champlain Valley FOX44 & ABC22 reported on October 5.

With a growing following, craft beer has become almost a religious experience for some in the Green Mountain State. “Bless oh lord this creature beer. Which thou has deigned to produce from the fat of grain. That it may be a salutary remedy to the human race,” professed Father William Beaudin, Pastor of St. Mary’s Church in Middlebury.

As the industry experiences continued success, companies like Otter Creek Brewing are using that blessing to expand. “We've been here for 25 years, but really it's finally blown wide-open. There's a lot of energy in the building, a lot of energy in the industry. We’re excited to be a part of it,” said Dan Fulham, CEO of Otter Creek Brewing.

The company is following up a 2010 expansion with another 8 thousand square foot addition. The extra space will allow the brewery to increase production from 65 thousand barrels of beer a year to more than 200 thousand barrels annually. Original founder, Lawrence Miller, now an advisor for Governor Shumlin, remembers the day he created the company, “That day we opened a pint of Rodenbach, and toasted to the day Vermont would have a beer culture to rival Belgium's. We figured it would take 50 years, not just a few.”

Otter Creek Brewing’s brews around 10 seasonal beers a year, with 4 goals in mind: make a great product, do it at a fair profit, work hard, and take care of one another.

Work on the addition starts this fall. The new brewing equipment is coming from Germany, and will ship to Middlebury for installation early next year. The multi-million dollar project is focusing on expanding the company's reach nationwide. “We want to move our way into Florida, push west, and be able to have consistent supply, open up those states,” added Fulham.

The addition will make Otter Creek Brewing the largest brewery by volume in the state. Beer lovers, including Vermont Representative Peter Welch, say it's the quality and care that will keep the company, and the craft beer industry successful in Vermont. “The craftsmanship that goes into making really good beer that can compete all across this country, and all across this world, is a really important tradition we have in Vermont,” stated Welch.

Otter Creek Brewing’s owners say the company will be hiring more employees to work in the expanded facility.


07 October, 2015