Every two weeks, Stranahan’s Distillery in Denver’s Baker neighborhood randomly selects 32 names from a list of thousands. The list is comprised of all the people who are willing and excited to spend half a day at the distillery helping to bottle a new batch of Stranahan’s Colorado Whiskey.

Why are so many people interested? The bottle of Stranahan’s they get to take home at the end of the day certainly doesn’t hurt. Stranahan’s Colorado Whiskey is made with 100% mountain-grown barley and aged in charred American white oak barrels. Tasting notes from a recently bottled batch say the straight whiskey begins with notes of caramel and vanilla cream soda and finishes with hints of mint, oak and leather. It’s bottled at 94 proof, which is noticeably higher than the 80 proof of most whiskeys, so Stranahan’s recommends covering the bottom of a tumbler with a layer of ice and then adding half an inch of whiskey, for those not used to high strength spirits.

Bottling volunteers also get a glimpse at the inner workings of a distillery. The half day visit includes a VIP tour, lunch and beer, but also entails hours of tasks like corking and labeling bottles and adding bottle toppers. The actual filling of the bottles is done by full-time Stranahan’s employees, who use a modified wine filler they call Charlene (they’ve been using her since Stranahan’s opened in 2004). The Stranahan’s folks who regularly work with the bottling crew say their favorite part is the wide range of people they get to meet. Past volunteers have included veterans, homemakers, bar staff and even a producer from The Simpsons, all brought together by their love of whiskey.

When the day is over, around 5,000 new bottles of whiskey from about forty barrels will be ready to leave the distillery. Thirty-two will leave with the lucky volunteers, and the rest will be distributed throughout the state of Colorado. Stranahan’s high standards and small batches means they aren’t always able to make enough to distribute outside of Colorado. Fortunately, there is one place it’s always available — at the Rackhouse Pub, the bar that shares space with the distillery.

Interested in being a volunteer on a future bottling crew? Sign up here.

Photo via Stranahan's on Facebook