Otter Brewery
At the beginning of June DEBI visited Otter Brewery located north of Honiton in the heart of the Blackdown hills.
Otter Brewery were the 2007 DEBI award winners in the Greening Devon category and at the award ceremony owner, Patrick McCaig, offered an evening visit to the brewery for DEBI members and corporate supporters – how could DEBI refuse such a fantastic invitation which proved popular with lots of our members!
The evening started with some sampling of a selection of some of the fine Otter ales and we were than shown in detail by the head brewer, Keith Bennett, how the beer is made from the raw ingredients in the brew house to the finished product and barrel filling for distribution to local public houses.
Keith explained “Where possible the raw ingredients are sourced locally such as the malt from Tuckers Maltings in Newton Abbot and water is taken from a spring on site. Any waste products, such as the waste yeast is ‘recycled’ to a local pig farm.”
A massive new clay Cellar is currently under construction which will keep the filled barrels at the correct temperature (12o C) without the need for expensive refrigeration. Rainwater from the Sedum (living Grass) roof will be captured and used in barrel washing.
Our evening finished off with a superb supper and some more quality control testing of the various beers brewed on site!
A very pleasant evening was had by all and DEBI is very grateful for the excellent hospitality shown by Patrick and Mary Ann McCaig.
