Catoctin Creek Bucks Hard Times, Announces Major Investment Plan
Catoctin Creek Distilling Company has announced a plan to triple its capacity with a $1 million distillery production upgrade. Delayed due to COVID-19, expansion plans have been well underway for over a year and are set to be finalized in late June.
“As we continue to grow Catoctin Creek as a national brand, we must ensure we have enough whisky inventory to support future demand,” said co-founder andgeneral manager Scott Harris. “This equipment expansion will guarantee our production capacity keeps up with sales for the next few years, at least.”
Consistent with Catoctin Creek’s commitment to distilling pot stilled whiskies, Scott and wife/Catoctin Creek co-founder and chief distiller, Becky Harris, invested in a 2000L copper pot still from Specific Mechanical Systems in
British Columbia, which will be a bittersweet replacement of their beloved 12-year old still, ‘Barney’. Additional new enhancements include a glycol cooling system; a new 2000L mash tank; six new 2000L fermenters; and concrete
floors to replace the existing 100 year old floors.
Upgrades and expansions such as this one have created a small, but growing market for used distilling equipment, which is a boon for newcomers many of the early entrants into craft spirits didn’t have. Anyone interested in purchasing the existing 400L electrically powered Kothe pot still, ‘Barney’; 300-gallon electrically powered mash tank; or six 300-gallon fermenters, please contact Scott at (540) 751-8404.
Originally built in the second year of Prohibition, 1921, the historic Case Building located on Main Street in downtown Purcellville, Virginia has been home to Catoctin Creek since 2013. The Harris’ originally spent over $750,000 on the restoration and renovation project, turning the former Buick dealership into Purcellville’s first legal distillery.
