He has been brewing professionally his entire adult life, since 1996 when he started at a small Belgian brewery in Vermont. From there he went on a “fact-finding mission,” spending a few years at breweries that run the full spectrum of size—from Magic Hat Brewing Company (South Burlington, Vermont) to Coors—and style, from brewpub brewing to distilling at Dogfish Head Brewery (Milton, Delaware).
“I wanted to put boots on the ground at all the operations and get an idea of what I thought my stronger suits were,” Gerhart told me in a phone interview.
In 2009, he landed at Otter Creek in Middlebury, Vermont, which he calls his “final destination.” It does not, however, mean that he has slowed down.
“We’ve joked here that the only thing that’s [been] constant in the past few years is change,” says Gerhart. Shortly after he arrived, Long Trail acquired Otter Creek Brewing (2010), which provided the small craft brewery with the capital for necessary brewhouse and building upgrades. Since then, they’ve been steadily growing: the brewery, which also brews the Wolaver's Certified Organic Ales and Shed Brewery Ales, is producing just shy of 50,000 barrels annually, compared to about 17,000 barrels just seven years ago.
At the end of August, they were up about 25 percent from last year. As they approach full capacity, brewing seven days a week around the clock, they are looking toward expansion: a new brewhouse, a bigger restaurant, a visitor’s center, and more offices. There are days when it feels like there are more contractors on the property than employees, says Gerhart.
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Simultaneously, Otter Creek is undergoing an evolution of sorts, fueled by new craft beers and a brand that reflects the brewers and employees and is closer in line with the laid-back Vermont vibes and dank tastes. It’s discernible in the new hop-forward seasonal releases: Kind Ryed, a rye IPA; Citra Mantra, an India pale lager; Fresh Slice, a white IPA; and Overgrown, an American pale ale.
“We want to play with hops and highlight hops but not make the same old, same old IPAs that are out there and being done on a hugely regular basis,” says Gerhart. The seasonals’ colorful cartoon-like labels look different from Otter Creek’s standard offerings, too. Kind Ryed, for instance, features Mike, with his trademark tie-dye bandana, in the passenger seat of his orange VW van (named Clementine). At the wheel is Oslo, his Bernese mountain dog who was raised at the brewery as a puppy.
“We’re trying to create more of a destination here, as far as the brewery and the identity of the brewery. A lot of that has to do with some of the things that we’ve put into place that aren’t necessarily revenue builders but are huge for our employees,” says Gerhart.
A key part of that is the recently launched Pilot Beer Series, in which brewery employees, from the cellar to retail, can design, brew, and name a 10-gallon batch of craft beer that goes on tap in the tasting room. Currently on tap is “Cellar Dweller” Ryan Miller’s Double IPA.
Double DoseThe most buzzed-about new Otter Creek beer has to be Double Dose, the double IPA collaboration with friend and fellow Vermonter, Sean Lawson of Lawson’s Finest Liquids. They wanted it to be a wider collaborative effort too, with the addition of fresh hops from this year’s harvest, contributed by everyone from the University of Vermont’s hops farm to homegrowers with a paper cup’s worth of hops. The approach to brewing Double Dose mirrors the brewery’s larger ethos.
"I think that the end product of the beer is what it is and that the public received it so well because it completely embodies something that came from a good place: friends talking and wanting to make something great,” says Gerhart.
Otter Creek and Lawson’s will be holding a Double Dose pop-up sale at Mad River Glen ski area today (September 19). Double Dose will also be released at the Otter Creek Harvest Fest tomorrow (September 20). It will be shipped to stores next week.