Middlebury-based Otter Creek recently broke ground on new construction,. The company plans to add 8,000 square feet to the facility, which would make the campus the largest brewery in Vermont.
The addition will increase yearly production by approximately 135,000 barrels, from 65,000 to about 200,000 barrels.
“That’s 50 million servings of Vermont beer,” said Governor Peter Shumlin, in a speech outside the brewery, “going out to 50 million mighty lucky people to enjoy.”
According to the brewers association, Vermont beer brings in 271 million dollars every year, and the expansion will only bolster the brewing sector. Shumlin was hopeful that the project would increase jobs and bring in tourism to the state.
“They feel like they have arrived at the promised land,” joked Governor Peter Shumlin about tourists visiting Vermont.
“They literally stand in line, getting Vermont beer, and then they drive it back home, and it lifts up their otherwise miserable lives.”
The project, a multimillion dolar endeavor, utilizes equipment shipped all the way from Germany, and is part of an effort to expand Otter Creek’s global reach.
“We want to move our way into Florida, push west, and be able to have consistent supply,” said Dan Fulham, CEO of Otter Creek.
In order to staff the new facility, Otter Creek will begin hiring soon. The company is well loved by locals.
“Bless oh lord this creature beer. Which thou has deigned to produce from the fat of grain,” said Father William Beaudin,Pastor of St. Mary’s Church in Middlebury, “that it may be a salutary remedy to the human race.”
We’ve been here for 25 years, but really it’s finally blown wide-open,” added Fulham. “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.”
Otter Creek is anticipating construction to be done by mid-summer 2016.
Otter Creek Begins Expansion of Brewery in Middlebury
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