Otter Brewery Explained

Otter Brewery
Location:	Luppitt, Devon, England
Owner:	McCaig family
Foundation:	1990
Production:	~20,000 UK barrels^[1]
Num Employees:	35^[2]
Website:	http://www.otterbrewery.com

Otter Brewery is a brewery in Luppitt, near Honiton, Devon, and named after the nearby River Otter. The brewery was founded in 1990 by David and Mary Ann McCaig and is still run by the family,^{[3] [4]} who also run a pub owned by the company, the Holt in Honiton.^[5] The company invests heavily in sustainability, with such innovations as a cellar built mostly underground to save the needs for refrigeration and the use of reed beds to recycle waste water.^[6]

Awards

Otter Brewery has won a number of awards, including The Good Pub Guide "Brewery of the Year" in 2013^{[7] [8]} as well as being named "Most Sustainable Brewery" at the 2011 Society of Independent Brewers awards.

Products

Otter produce five regular beers^[9] and two lagers,^[10] as well as speciality and seasonal ales.

Regular beers

• Otter Bitter (ABV 3.6%) - Green label / badge
• Otter Ale (ABV 4.5%) - Red label / badge
• Otter Amber (ABV 4.3%) - Orange badge (cask only)
• Otter Bright (ABV 4.0%) - Creme label / badge
• Otter Head (ABV 5.8%) - Blue label / badge

Lager

• Tarka (ABV 4.8%)
• Four (ABV 4.0%)

Cider

• Wildsider (ABV 4.6%) - Black badge (cask only)

Gin

• New Moon (ABV 42%) - Blue bottle (bottle only)

Speciality and seasonal beers

Otter produce one standard winter beer which goes under a number of names, including Otter Witch (Halloween), Otter Claus (Christmas), MacOtter (Burns Night) and Otter Cupid (Valentine's Day). The brewery says that "We firmly believe that one particularly good beer is better than a bucketful of seasonals".^[11] It also produces a session beer named Beautiful Daze which is sold at Beautiful Days music festival at nearby Escot, where it runs the beer stalls,^[12] and a speciality Flaming Ale which is sold at the Tar Barrels event in Ottery St Mary.^[13]

Notes and References

1. News: Champ. Hamish. Otter Brewery: a hidden gem. 5 March 2017. Morning Advertiser. 13 December 2010.
2. Web site: Double Silver for Devon's Otter Brewery. The Beer Guild. 5 March 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170306133851/http://beerguild.co.uk/double-silver-for-devons-otter-brewery/. 6 March 2017. dead.
3. Web site: Otter Brewery. Drink Britain. 5 March 2017.
4. News: Family's 200 years of brewing history. Devon Live. 9 September 2009. DLive.
5. News: Tierney-Jones. Adrian. Devon Pub Guide: The Holt, Honiton. 5 March 2017. Daily Telegraph. 26 September 2008.
6. Web site: Otter Brewery scoops Best sustainability award. Beer Guild. 5 March 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170306205950/http://beerguild.co.uk/otter-brewery-scoops-best-sustainability-award/. 6 March 2017. dead.
7. Web site: Otter Named "Brewery of the Year" . The British Guild of Beer Writers . 7 September 2012 . 6 March 2021.
8. News: Otter named Brewery of the Year . Midweek Herald . 6 September 2012.
9. Web site: Core beers. Otter Brewery. 7 April 2018.
10. Web site: Our lagers. Otter Brewery. 7 April 2018.
11. Web site: Speciality beers. Otter Brewery. 5 March 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20161129044014/http://www.otterbrewery.com/speciality_beers.php. 29 November 2016. dead.
12. Web site: Beautiful Days festival. eFestivals. 5 March 2017.
13. Web site: Tar Barrels. Otter Brewery. 5 March 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20160404180054/http://www.otterbrewery.com/news_article.php?id=211. 4 April 2016. dead.