distilling – Jim's Drams

This past weekend, I had a chance to visit Milk Street Distillery. The distillery is named for Milk Street, the quiet street it is on. Milk Street is located in the small town of Branchville, in the northwest corner of New Jersey.

The exterior of the 125 year old building fits right in with the surroundings.

Passing through the entryway, you are greeted by seating on an enclosed porch, and an inviting wooden bar.

Gorgeous wooden bar offering drink service for the enclosed porch and tastings

Beyond the bar, you will find a nice waiting area outside the doors to the distillery floor, and a merchandise display including bottled goods, accessories, and books.

The State of New Jersey has strict liquor license laws, and only allows local distilleries to sell product in conjunction with a tour. Self-guided tours are permissable, and many locations settle for handing out a pamphlet and pointing the way.

Milk Street goes a step above, and offers guided tours for no charge (some distilleries charge for guided tours or do not offer them at all). Tastings are available after the tour for a reasonable charge.

Upon walking through the doors from the waiting area, one of the first things you see is JimTom, the distillery cat. Distilleries use grain, and grain attracts rodents. Many distilleries employ a distillery cat to help protect their raw ingredients. IMHO, a good distillery cat is the mark of a good distillery, and JimTom is one of the best.

JimTom the distillery cat takes a quick break from his mousing duties

Our tour was conducted by Gordon Geerhart, who co-owns the operation with his older brother Mike. Gordon gave one of the best tours I’ve ever taken, and I’ve taken many. He provided a lot of good information, and found the perfect balance between not over-simplifying and not being overly technical.

Right inside the entry way, you will see the smaller of two stills, Little Boy. This is used for test runs and recipe formulation.

“Little Boy” – The smaller of two stills is used for recipe formulation

It wasn’t until we moved further back to the larger still that the signifcance of the name dawned on my. Fat Man is used for larger production runs that will be hand bottled and then used behind the bar or sold to take home.

“Fat Man” – The larger of the two stills is used for production runs.

Clear spirits include two different vodkas (one from rice, and one from corn), a rum made from a combination of molasses and evaporated cane juice, and an unaged rye.

On the brown side, they have three offerings:
– An aged rye made from a 100% rye bill – this is very smooth, and offers a tyipcal rye spice profile with maybe a touch more sweetness than some.
– A malt whiskey – here we find a slightly nutty aroma and of course a malty sweetness. The flavor is soft and mild, similar, in my opinion, to a typical lowland single malt.
– “War Penny Bourbon” – I’ll offer a more in depth review of this one soon, but for now I’ll say that a portion of the mash bill is smoked with cherry wood, offering a unique flavor profile.

All of their whiskeys are smooth and delicious. There are a lot of entries in the craft distilling market, and the Geerhart brothers are one team who are getting it right in every detail, from a quality product to an an enjoyable experience.

An assortment of locally made bourbons from craft distilleries in The Garden of State New Jersey

For a long time, if you wanted to create alcoholic beverages on a small scale in the United States, you were limited to beer or wine. Microbreweries were popping up and gaining popularity everywhere, and small, local wineries were a great way to spend a pleasant afternoon.

Distilled spirits, however, remained the province of large operations. The minimum licensing fee for distillery operations was prohibitively high for a small start-up.

Then, about a decade or so ago, many states began paving the way for the entrepreneur to enter the distilling business. Soon, craft distilleries began showing up around the country.

I’ve visited and toured over 20 of these operations, and spoken to many owners. The typical time from the first planning stages to opening the doors as a licensed operation tends to be 2-3 years, at least in my home state and surrounding states.

After that kind of time and investment, there is a need to put product on the shelves and start generating some revenue. The last thing you want to do is make your first product something that won’t be ready for another year or more.

Because of that, most of them begin operations with clear spirits, such as vodka, gin, and white rum. There’s a saying among craft distillers, “Vodka pays the bills.” If they succeed, and get a steady cash flow going, a lot of them will eventually branch out into “brown” or aged spirits such as aged rum and whiskey.

Some in the whiskey community are concerned that these small operations will rush immature product to market, hoping to make a quick profit, and not counting on repeat business. In my experience, that is not the case.

Most of the craft distillers I have visited that are producing whiskey take pride in their product. They are not about to release a sub-standard offering. They already have a good business going in clear spirits, and have the time and money to wait until the stuff in the barrels is ready before putting it on the shelves.

Some of the best whiskeys that I have had, even bourbons (remember, bourbon doesn’t have to come from Kentucky), have been from small, local distilleries. Touring these facilities can be a very entertaining and educational experience. Most of these people are passionate about their craft, and are happy to discuss it with visitors who show an interest. Tours generally include a tasting (for a modest fee) and many have a bar where you can order a cocktail made with their spirits.

If you’re lucky enough to live near one of these places (or even not-so-near; many are worth a bit of a drive), I encourage you to visit their website and plan a visit.

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Tag: distilling

Milk Street Distillery

Craft Distilleries