Cidery Construction Update
January 30, 2014
The deep winter freeze continues, but the hardy construction crews here in the Green Mountains have worked right through it. Progress is moving quickly on our $30 million cidery and we are starting to see the first light at the end of the tunnel!
The office space and Cider House have been enclosed and the siding and roof panels applied. Walls are going up inside the office space and the first wiring is being put in place. It’s going to be a beautiful place inside and out. The timber frame Cider House, where our tasting room and tour center will be, is a true take on the classic New England barn. The timber is exposed inside and wood paneling is being installed throughout. Each panel is hand cut and installed to fit perfectly to the space.
Inside the warehouse, the cement slabs were laid during the holiday season and parts of our new bottling line have been arriving over the last month. The labeler and filler are now in place, as is much of the conveyer system that will move the bottles through the line. We have also made a massive investment in a brand new pasteurizer, which every bottle of Woodchuck will soon pass through. The double-decker pasteurizer will hold 17,000 bottles of Woodchuck in it at any given time!
In the cellar, where we handcraft all our ciders, things are getting really real. The first of 18 new tanks arrived at the cidery and are being put into place. The tanks traveled cross-country from Oregon with banners attached so that everybody knew where they were headed! Fans sent in pictures tagged with “#woodchucktanks” as they saw the tanks pass through their communities. We’ll have much more on these tanks in the weeks ahead, but it is great to see the first of them arrive!
The cidery project remains on track and the first bottles of Woodchuck should be moving through the line at some point in late spring. The visitor center opening will follow this summer.
This cidery is the real deal. It is a testament to how far cider has come. It will expand our capacity and bring more fans to Vermont to experience true cider making. It also mirrors our core values as a company. The energy efficiency measures we are taking, from design to lighting and water use initiatives, are award worthy.
There really is no other cidery like this in the United States. It speaks to the quality of our fan base. After all, it’s you, the fans, that continue to be responsible for our steady growth over the last 23 years.
For that we say: Thanks.
Just hearing about this new Cidery for the first time? Check out our construction page to get got up on all the fun, from groundbreaking to present today!
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