Otter Creek brewed its first ale in March of 1991. After four successful years, the company built a new plant expanding on their old operation, and began to increase production dramatically.
This short article illustrates how the growing trend of brewery tours in Vermont incentivizes small breweries to expand their production to keep up with the new demand.
“Food and Drink”, Vermont Life Vol. 70, Iss. 3, 2016.
When thinking of what might be considered typically “Vermont”, the word “organic” likely comes to mind. As such, it might come as a surprise that Wolaver’s organic ales went out of business in 2015. Wolaver’s relocated to be sold at Otter Creek Brewery in 2012, likely hoping to tap into the local interest in organic products. Interestingly, when Otter Creek finally decided to cease production they cited difficulty selling their product. This is surprising given the similarity between organic beer and craft beer.
“There is not a vey big divide between organic craft beer and craft beer. The differentiation is pretty marginal and, in the late `90s, consumers perceived craft beer in general to be an all-natural product, handcrafted with only four ingredients.” – Tom McCormick, partner in Wolaver’s
Otter Creek is no longer the small-town brewery it used to be. After being acquired by Fulham and Co. (Long Trail Brewing Company), they tripled their capacity from 65,000 to 200,000. Otter Creek now stands proudly as the largest brewery in the state of Vermont, while still maintaining the reputation of the small craft brewery that it once was
What separates Vermont breweries from those in other states?
An employee of Otter Creek Brewery spoke to us about what makes Vermont special: “Friendly people and good water. Although we are technically competing with other breweries, the Vermont breweries are more friends than competitors. I will happily refer customers to other breweries around the state if they can’t find the beer they’re looking for here.”
Regarding the quality of the beer itself, he had this to say: “90% of beer is water, so naturally the quality of water is a determinant of the quality of the beer. We get our water from up near Ripton, I was just up there the other day. That water was so clean we actually had to add minerals to it.”
Chris takes in the brewery scene – Picture by Raj Ramdev