Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Winter Happenings


It’s been a busy winter here. We’ve settled into our new location and started production from where we left off in September. In addition to multiple batches of vodka, gin and citrus-honey vodka, I was able to distill some pear and cherry wine from our friends at AeppelTreow Winery in Burlington. These two unaged brandies will be released soon along with the Grappa that was distilled last year. An extra 30 gallons of the cherry brandy filled a toasted French oak barrel where it will mature for the next few years. It should be wonderful. However, the most exciting thing for me was the production of two barrels of whiskey.

We chose to make rye whiskey as our first barrels because of its historical significance (and because it’s one of my favorites). Although bourbon is most commonly referred to as America’s native spirit, early distillers from Maryland and Pennsylvania made rye whiskey first. There is now a fully operational and historic reproduction of the rye whiskey distillery that George Washington had at Mt. Vernon. Not until after the settlers moved west across the Appalachians did they start distilling primarily from corn which is now one of the main criteria that defines bourbon. So there’s a little history lesson. I’ll try to sprinkle those in here from time to time.

Our whiskey was distilled from a mash that was primarily rye with a small percentage of corn and malted barley. A small portion of the malt was roasted over an apple wood fire. I spent a Sunday afternoon bopping between the fire outside, a pot of chili that I had on the stove and watching the Packers lose to Carolina. It took three days and at least a dozen showers to get the smoke smell out of my skin. This malt has given the spirit a faint smoky characteristic that balances nicely with the spiciness of the rye and sweetness from the corn. The new spirit or “white dog” will mature in new, charred white oak barrels for the next four to five years (at least). Then we’ll be able to bottle the first Wisconsin Straight Rye Whiskey.

Feel free to post comments and questions. I’ll respond as soon as I can.

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Baby It's Cold Outside.


Greetings, Jason here, just throwing in my two cents or so. With my 10+ years behind the bar, my near obsession with old cocktail books and bar tools, and complete submersion into the cocktail geek culture (magazines, blogs, competitions...) I'm the guy in charge of cocktails at the Great Lakes Distillery (or, as I'm affectionately known to the other guys at the distillery "cocktail monkey").

So, now that the introductions are complete.
F**K it's cold
Current temperature outside: -11º F (-23º wind chill)
Yeah, I know I'm from Milwaukee, I should be used to this. I'm just not a winter person. But, I'm going to try and stay positive. Let's talk HOT drinks shall we. You have your toddys, buttered rums, spiked coffees, mulled cider, glogs...but I wanted something different. I wanted a hot GIN drink. You don't hear much about hot gin drinks. Now, I'm sure there are some out there, but I'm not up for research tonight. I'd like a drink. Upon inspection of my fridge I found a jar of "winter spice syrup" I made 2 weeks ago. I was looking to make a syrup that would play well with old-fashionds and various toddys. Basically it's a simple syrup flavored with cranberries, figs, cinnomon, cloves, orange peel, allspice and nutmeg. I would love to post the recipe, but I didn't write it down. Oops. I've found that this syrup plays well with gin too.

-11º Below
1.5 oz Rehorst Premium Milwaukee Gin
.5 oz winter spice syrup
dash of fresh squeezed lemon juice
2 oz boiling water

Combine in a heated snifter and enjoy while hot.

Keep warm. Good night.

Sunday, January 11, 2009

Artisan Spirits Rank High with Chef's

A recent survey of Chefs by the American Culinary Federation ranks "Micro-distilled/artisan liquor" as 9th out of 208 items on their list of hot trends for 2009. Other spirit and cocktail related rankings include;
  • 9 "micro-distilled/artisan spirits"
  • 16 "culinary cocktails"
  • 23 "food/alcohol pairings (beer, wine and spirits)" 
  • 41 "organic cocktails"
  • 49 "muddled cocktails"
  • 82 "martini/flavored martinis"
  • 84 "absinthe"
  • 138 "beer based cocktails"
  • 140 "vodka"
  • 163 "whiskey/whisky/bourbon"
  • 168 "rum"
  • 185 "breakfast cocktails"
  • 192 "gin"
Read the press release and view the full survey.
Looks like spirits are finally getting their due. For years the marriage of wine and food has been a given,  and beer has recently attracted a lot of attention from foodies. Hopefully people are beginning to recognize the value spirits can play in food pairing. In the coming months we'll feature some posts about good food/spirit pairings as well as upcoming food & spirit events. Stay tuned!

Friday, January 9, 2009

Distilled Spirits...in my blood!


Well, here is my first blog!!!!!
It seems as though this whole distillery thing was meant to be... and started over 300 years ago in my family which has roots in Greece and Italy. I was contacted by Luca Corte Rappis who resides in Italy. He found me through facebook and was surprised to find relatives in the U.S. After chating for awhile he proceeds to send me a link to information about Pietro Rappis who started an age old recipe of Ratafia...which is a liquor that is still marketed today and acknowledges the origins of the recipe to him in 1700. The recipe was marketed by the Rapa family as it stands today as Ratafia Rapa...I am getting a bottle shipped from Italy and will let everyone know how it tastes!!!!

Anybody else have weird stories like this one...see the descrption below...

CHEERS!

RYAN

Click here to link...it's in Italian though...

In 1700 the apothecary Pietro Rappis began production, in 1880 John Rapa, founder of Liquorificio, picked up the tradition that still continues in respect of the ancient recipes.

Prepared with the juice of selected black cherries, sugar and flavorings, is particularly prized for its sweet taste. A slight alcoholic gradation makes it acceptable to all. Excellent ingredient in the preparation of sweets, with fruit salad and ice cream.

26% vol 700 ml