When speaking spirits, people’s tendency to focus on the word ‘distillation’ or ‘distiller’ can lead one to believe that the distillation process is all that makes a quality spirit.  While you will have great difficulty in producing a spirit without some form of distillation, it’s actually one of the later stages in production.  An oversimplification of the distilling process looks something like this: ingredients + fermented product + still = spirit.  The process of distillation does not magically round out the edges or take liquor to the next level. In fact, if the ingredients put in the still (the wonderful invention in which distillation happens) are marginal or flawed, the distillation process will likely accentuate those unpleasant peculiarities, resulting in a poorly made and poorly tasting product. As one can imagine, there are endless opportunities for a distiller to stick their nose in along the way and tweak the process. There [...]

Beer Craft Authors: William Bostwick and Jessi Rymill Subject: Brewing your own great beer Synopsis and Review: The book is a beautiful guide to making your own beer.  It doesn’t assume that you’re a pro, but gives you more than just a taste into making your beer great.  In case you needed some inspiration, it’s sprinkled with interviews and information (and tips!) from some of the country’s most well known and best brewers.  We love that it breaks down the art of brewing into simple illustrations, and even when it gets into the science-y lessons of yeast strains, it keeps it fun.  This isn’t your typical “how to” started guide.  It’ll take you from 0 to 60 in one pint and help you understand how to make, drink, name, pair and even market your own beers. Why we recommend it: We love this book.  If you’ve ever thought for a [...]

Alcohol was one of the first things human beings learned to make.  After eons of wandering about, chasing down big game and foraging, ancient humans decided that it was time to settle down.  We used complex tools, domesticated grains and animals, and constructed pyramids.  The transition to a more grounded lifestyle allowed for extra free time, and the naturally inquisitive human mind turned to the plant matter all around us.  Quite by accident, we discovered that the natural enzymes in saliva act as a catalyst for the fermentation of many grains and starches. This discovery ranks up there with the invention of written language.  Historical records indicate we are a species with a strong pedigree of making our own hooch — Few civilizations throughout history have gone without some form of libation or another, whether it’s a corn beer tipple before human sacrifice (pre-Colombian South America) or a cool home-brewed [...]

George Dickel is often overshadowed by it’s mega-giant neighbor Jack Daniels, but Master distiller John Lunn shows us why the one who makes the most noise isn’t always the one you should listen to. It’s the quiet ones you gotta watch, right? DM: Most masters come from a long line of the same, often generations deep. How did you get into distilling? JL: On a whim. I applied to an ad in The Tennessean (the Nashville newspaper). I have a chemical engineering degree from Vanderbilt. I was working at a sponge factory and saw an ad for a Master Distiller trainee, and I thought “why not?” The story of how I got the job is really cool. I had to send my resume to Diageo corporate, and I made the first cut, and came in for a second interview with Dave Bacchus, the master before me. I’d never tasted Dickel before that so I went out and bought a bottle of [...]

Historically, the barrier to entry for owning a wine brand was astronomically high.  For hundreds of years, your only hope was to be the first male born into a wealthy, chateau-equipped family in France.  More recently, your chances were much better but still pretty bleak: you needed to be a brilliant Silicon Valley entrepreneur on the fast track to IPO or Google buyout. Provided you played your cards right, you ended up with more money and time than you ever dreamed of and suddenly felt a need to produce cult Cabernet in Napa Valley. Plop down $10 million for a prime spot in Oakville or Stag’s Leap, hire the best winemaker money could buy, and watch people line up on your email list to buy that $300 liquid gold. In almost every sense, the wine industry has changed dramatically since even the nineties.  Wine brands don’t need their own facilities [...]

Mike Wright orders a Blue Foot Flanders Red-style ale, a slightly sweet and sour beer with notes of cherries aged in a Pinot Noir barrel. It’s his first time trying the beer despite the fact that he brewed it. The woman behind the bar who brings it to him is oblivious to this detail, despite the fact that Mike is on a bar stool in Southeast Portland at Victory Bar, one of Beetje Brewing’s half-dozen accounts, and it’s five blocks from his house. The definition of nano is that it’s one billionth the size of something, so there are a billion nanometers in one meter. In regards to nanobreweries, the definition takes some liberties, but not many. Compare, for example, Beetje to Budweiser. Anheuser-Busch brewed roughly 100 million barrels of beer in the US alone in 2010. Beetje made and sold less than five. Small time, under capitalized enterprises driven [...]

Rhubarb Blonde Ale. Peanut Butter Chocolate Porter. Lavender Orange-blossom Mead. Smoked Cinnamon Oatmeal Stout. Anyone can throw the kitchen sink into a brew kettle, but it takes more than imagination to make the results sing, which is why these concoctions weren’t just among the stranger beverages I tried recently, they were among the best. The American Homebrewers Association purports that there are 750,000 homebrewers nationwide (that’s almost one out of every 400 Americans). Quite likely, there has been no greater gathering of craftsmen than the 33rd Annual National Homebrewers Conference that took place in San Diego from June 17-19. This AHA-sponsored event once again set a new record for sold-out attendance, having welcomed 1,900 people within the fraternity of homebrewers from all 50 states and Canada. The numbers don’t tell the story, but they’re jaw-dropping nonetheless. Some 1,650 people entered virtually 7,000 homebrews into the competition. Over 700 kegs of [...]