Developing a Taste for Specialty Distilleries

A barrel is charred so that the sugars in the wood are caramelized. When the barrel is filled with a spirit, the barrel warms up, the wood expands and sucks the liquid spirit, a solvent, into the wood. The solvent then dissolves the sugars and tannins and colors that are in the oak. When the barrel cools off, the wood contracts and pushes the liquid back out into the barrel. “So that hot-cold cycle is very important because that is what causes the exchange between the liquid and the wood,” Erenzo says.

Tuthilltown now ships some freshly emptied barrels used to age one of its whiskeys to a maple syrup producer in Canada. After the maple syrup has been aged in the barrels for 4 to 5 months, those barrels are shipped back to Tuthilltown where they are refilled with rye whiskey. Both the maple syrup and the whiskey benefit from this exchange of flavors, Erenzo says.

Thomas Mooney, CEO and co-founder of House Spirits and president of the American Craft Spirits Association, says that, unlike craft brewers who must control temperature to ensure the quality of their products, craft distillers want that variation. “Whiskey matures at a better rate and gets to a better place if you have temperature variation. What a craft brewer tries to avoid is what we actually look for.”

According to Weinstein, temperature control is also not an issue in storage and shipping. Keeping a distilled spirit out of direct sunlight is a good idea, but temperature ranges will not affect the quality of the spirit even after it is bottled.

Ensuring Safety

Andrew Tice, head distiller at House Spirits, Portland, Oreg. (Image Credit: House Spirits)

Although the alcohol content of distilled spirit is a sanitizer on its own, safety concerns are considered paramount within the industry. Campbell, who has an extensive background in Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points, or HACCP, understands the various ways that contamination can be introduced into the product. Every barrel must be visually inspected and smelled for the presence of sulfur, taint, and even a dead animal; any bag of ingredients with even a small tear should be thrown out.

Staff must be trained about safety protocols for using ladders and chemical cleaners. No sparks or flames can be allowed in the building, and welding repair must be done outside the building. Every hose pump should be rinsed with reverse osmosis water; all of the fittings must be cleaned after every use and then stored; every bottle must be inspected before filling.

“People who are around stills and high-proof alcohol tend to be pretty aware of the danger. But it’s the little things that many people don’t think about, such as ladders, chemical cleaners, and cleaning materials,” Campbell says.

Most craft distilleries have not yet caught the attention of OSHA, but the potential for an inspection is always present. Monthly training at Privateer Rum focuses on preventing accidents, and the company has compiled a safety notebook that includes the ”near misses” that could potentially have been serious accidents.

Challenges of Small Volumes

There are advantages and disadvantages to operating a distillery on a small scale. A certain number of employees are needed to make distilled spirits, but there can be a point at which a company becomes staff-heavy without the sales to cover those costs. Purchasing of grain and other essential ingredients and barrels is more expensive when a distiller can only buy in small volumes. Without enough storage space, bottles and other supplies cannot be purchased in large quantities, driving up costs.

According to Mooney, there is a lot of overhead associated with running the distillery and compliance with federal, state, and local regulations. “We know we will never have the cost structure of a large brand, which is why you rarely see our brands at comparable prices.”