High Spirits at Barr Hill

Last fall, CVEDC helped Caledonia Spirits, makers of Barr Hill, with their application to the State of Vermont Buildings and General Services Building Communities Grant. (A shoutout is deserved here to the exceptional Judy Bruneau who so kindly led us all through this process.)

This spring, Caledonia called us up to see what the grant had brought them. A time-saving piece of equipment that speeds up production of their beloved gin!

Production workers explained the evolution of their bottling practices. In the earliest years, Caledonia had relied on a cork stopper with wax seal only. A sweet bee design identifies their honey-soaked spirits and the resulting package is rustic and beautiful. But when those bottles sat in hot cars, the wax wasn’t always hardy enough to keep the bottle corked. They had to strengthen the bottle’s seal.

The wax is still a part of the process (seen above) but a plastic seal was added to keep that bottle corked no matter what. However, the first process for adding the seal was labor-intensive and required individual hand-tooling to adhere. As Caledonia’s production increased, a new piece of equipment was needed in the process.

The new piece of equipment is an auto-sealer which seals those bottles at an efficient speed, bringing more of Caledonia’s great products to you. Thank you to Caledonia Spirits for inviting us in to see your work in action. Cheers!