I.P.A. makes waves at Otter Creek Local brewery celebrates 15 years with the birth of a tasteful, classy ale

Author: Rachel Durfee and CC Ragan

In March of 1991 Lawrence Miller brewed his first batch of Otter Creek Ale. Fifteen years later the local brewery is celebrating its anniversary with a series of limited edition beers and a special anniversary ale. To learn more about the brewery, which locally develops, produces and bottles every Otter Creek beer and sells it as far west as California, we recently attended a brewery tour and tasting. Free tours are offered daily at 1, 3, and 5 p.m. and include complimentary sampling of up to six seasonal brews on tap for those of age. Visiting the facility also has its financial benefits - each day a different beer is featured at a discount price and all types are on sale on Monday.

With our guide, we stood on the brewing platform above the bustling production line to hear about all that goes into producing fresh and flavorful beers. In addition to an inventive line of brews, Otter Creek has an equally inspiring history. Founder Miller began experimenting with beer brewing when he stumbled upon a left-behind home brewery kit in his dorm room at Reed College in Portland, Ore. Blessed with a trust fund, he went to Germany for further study and then returned home to open his own brewery. Once a young camper in Vermont, he was drawn back to the Middlebury area due to its pristine water - beer's key ingredient. In the spring of 1991, the brewery opened down the road from its current location. Four years later, Miller moved his small-time beer production center to its current location at 793 Exchange Street.

The company blossomed, and in 1998 Miller entered into a partnership with Robert Wolaver and his west coast organic brewing company. In 2002 Miller retired from the brewing business and sold Otter Creek to Wolaver, who quickly began an expansion of the operation. Otter Creek/Wolaver now sells nine year-round beers plus a plethora of seasonal and special release brews.

Though no brewing was taking place on the tour day, visitors did get to witness the bottling process, which included capping and labeling the commemorative fifteenth anniversary India Pale Ale (I.P.A.) on a recently purchased 22-ounce bottling machine. Brewmaster Steve Parkes, the brains behind every beer at Otter Creek, explained that the I.P.A. came about as sort of a misfit. This past fall, while Otter Creek employees were brainstorming a number of distinct beer types from around the world for the current, limited-time only World Tour line of brews, which includes labels such as Cerveza Cacao and Double Decker, the I.P.A. didn't seem to fit into any one category but was still a beer the company wanted to produce. It was chosen as the anniversary ale, made its debut in early March and will be sold throughout the coming year.

True to all India Pale Ales, the Otter Creek I.P.A. boasts a large amount of hops and a high alcohol concentration, a tradition dating back to the 1700s, when the British hopped up their beer to survive the long journey from England to the mouths of thirsty expats in India. Hops are also added after the beer is finished brewing, creating the distinct taste I.P.A. originally gained from its oak holding barrels. Vermont, one of the last states to mandate alcohol content by state law, sets its cap at eight percent. Said Parkes proudly, "we wanted to go as high as we could and we got pretty close to our target: the I.P.A. is at 7.99 percent alcohol by volume." The beer is fairly light (second on the spectrum of tasting choices), but because of the hops it is also deeply flavorful. Parkes added that the I.P.A - "extravagantly and aggressively hopped" - is a step in a new direction for Otter Creek. "Previously Otter Creek has focused on drinkability," Parkes said. "But this new I.P.A. proves to the larger brewing community that East Coast micro-brewing companies can make sophisticated, envelope-pushing beers [just as much as the West coast]."

While still in its nascent stages, the anniversary ale has proved popular, as has the special World Tour series, whose next stop is a traditional German lager available April 1. Employees would not divulge information on other forthcoming types, but assured us that each would have a unique flavor and traditional character. Each of these beers is also being produced in a 22-oz. size, almost twice as large as the standard 12-oz. beer bottle but smaller than the 64-oz. growler.

Amidst the anniversary festivities, Otter Creek continues business as usual, producing 250 barrels (or 500 kegs) of beer a day and 28,000 barrels (56,000 kegs) per year. Its primary business areas are concentrated in New England, though this too is starting to change as Otter Creek has expanded to new markets in the West (California, Oregon and Washington) and New Jersey (where sales nearly tripled last year). Look for the fifteenth anniversary I.P.A. on sale at stores near you and for other specialty brews to appear in the coming months. Production is in limited quantities, so grab them while you can.