On my visit to Kings County Distillery, I learned that it is New York City’s oldest operating whiskey distillery, the first since prohibition. Bourbon, Moonshine, and Whiskey are the spirits handmade at Kings County Distillery. What started as a small operation in a 325 square-foot room in East Williamsburg, Became an award-winning distillery.

The first batch of Legally Distilled Whiskey

King County Distillery uses Corn, Barley, and other grains straight from New York farms. King County Distillery is also very sustainable, the by product of the remain grains used to make the whiskey are used again and converted into feed or used for compost.

At the Kings County Distillery the Process of making their award winning Whiskey, Bourbon, and Moonshine starts by Malting the desired grain. (Corn, Barley) Which is the process of soaking the preferred grain for 2-3 days in warm water. This allows for the starch in the grains to be converted into soluble sugars to make alcohol. As the grains are dried in a kiln to stop any germination the Mashing process is started.The ground down grain used, which is called Grist, is now added to warm water to begin the extraction of the soluble sugars.The liquid combination of malt and water is called the ‘mash’. It is put into a large vessel called a mash tun and stirred for several hours. During this process the sugars in the mash dissolve to the bottom of the container used which a wooden tun. This process is normally carried out three times with the water temperature being increased each time to extract the maximum amount of sugar. The resulting liquid is called Wort. Any residue, such as husks, is called Draff. This is collected and used in the production of farm feed.

Fermentation begins once the Wort is cooled and passed into large tanks called wash backs. In The Kings County Distillery they use wooden Fermenters that hold about 440 gallons.

Wooden Fermenter

Here the yeast is added and the fermentation begins. The yeast turns the sugars that are present into alcohol. The distillers at Kings County carefully select the strain of yeast that they use because its can effect the final flavor they are trying to achieve in their spirit. The fermentation takes around 48 hours but at Kings County it may be fermented longer depending on what type of flavors and characteristics they are trying to bring out in their spirits.The Liquid at this stage is called the Wash because it is low on alcohol strength.

Copper Stills

In the Distillation process King County distillers use copper still pictured above because copper is the best material for extracting impurities from the spirit. Taller stills with longer necks will give finer, lighter spirits. Stills work in pairs the wash enters the larger wash still and is heated the liquid vaporizes and rises up the still until it reaches the neck, where it condenses. This liquid is called Low Wines because it is unusable so it is passed through the second smaller still, called the spirit still. Three alcohols come out of this process Foreshots are very high in alcohol level and very pungent.

Feints are weak but also pungent. And It is only the alcohol from the middle or Heart of the distillation that is used and this is skillfully removed by a King County distillers and collected through the spirit safe. The Foreshots and Feints are collected and re-distilled with the next batch of Low Wines. The Heart is the spirit taken to be matured in charred oak barrels that will eventually turn into whiskey. Or put in glass jars if Moonshine was the goal of the end product.

Charred Oak Barrel

The Maturation process for whiskey in the United States to be considered actual whiskey is spending two years in a newly charred oak barrel or cask pictured above. In Kings County the distillers have barrels or casks with their names on it so they could known it is the batch they personally worked on.

Some of the smaller barrels have been sitting 1-2 years already. The bigger barrels have been aging for 7 plus years. And are considered to be Kings County Premium Whiskey.

This Man is blending different year whiskeys to create a signature blend.

Award winning whiskey

I enjoyed my tour of the Kings County Distillery I learned some history as well. About the Brooklyn Whiskey Wars of the 1860s which was fought just steps from the distillery. My tour guide seemed very passionate about the history of whiskey and the history the Kings County Distillery has created since its first batch of legal Moonshine. My guide as well had a profound knowledge of the process of making their well known Whiskeys,Bourbons, and Moonshines. My guide expressed throughout the tour that whiskey is a required taste and to keep an open mind in tasting. The guide had knowledge of the taste characteristics of the whiskeys, bourbons, and moonshines at Kings County. And expressed their favorite combinations or cocktails to taste with their spirits. Very knowledgeable on whiskey period. Although i was not able to taste the spirits due to my age I will be back in November to have me a taste.

On May 5th, 2018, I went to Martha Clara Vineyard with a group of friends and 2 parents. Prior to our visit, we called and emailed to let them know who we were and why we were there. Martha Clara Vineyard is located at 6025 Sound Avenue, Riverhead, NY 11901. Knowing it will take hours to arrive, we departed early and arrived at the vineyard at 11 am; exactly when they’re open.

This vineyard has a spacious parking lot and an old ranch-styled building. Past the entrance is a gift shop with some customers looking around and a few employees working. Once we entered, we told one of the employees that we sent an email having a tour in the vineyard. She left and a few minutes later, another employee said she’ll like to check the email because she wasn’t told about us; her name is Margaret. After confirming with the email and our identity, we proceeded into the building and into the vineyard.

The left side of the giftshop; different wine bottles for gifts

The gift shop was beautiful. It has plethora of decorated or designed wine glasses used for gifting.  There are also some crackers available for purchasing when you want to do wine tastings on the inside.

Once you get past the gift shop, there’s a huge area with two long wine counters with employees behind it. It looked especially spacious since there’s not much customers in the morning. Continuing on to the inside, there’s a private tasting room up the stairs.

Past the gift shop

Afterward, Margaret guided us to the public wine tasting room; it looked amazing. However, if you want table service, you need to get a reservation first.

Tasting Room with table services

Outside where customers can drink wines

After we were done touring the building, Margaret told us about the history of the vineyard.The Martha Clara Vineyards property stretches out to 200 acres and 100 acres are all vineyards. There are approximately 14 different varietals grown in this vineyard. Across from the outside tasting area, there’s sunflower fields but it’s still too cold for them. The climate for this area is Maritime because the vineyard is surrounded by the Long Island Sound and in the north and the Peconic Bay. Summer is cool and winter is warm. The warmth during fall helps reduce the frost in the winter. Other vineyards further in the Nassau County is warmer so they have the oak and maple blooming. At this point, the manager, Gina, came out to greet us.

There’s about 60 vineyards in the entire Northfork area and it’s been 30 years since the opening of Martha Clara Vineyard. This vineyard was originally owned by the Entenmenn’s family; the manufacturing company known for their pastries and other baked goods. He originally came here to raise some horses but there were vines already growing here so he opened up Martha Clara Vineyard. The name Martha Clara is actually the name of Entemenn’s mother. This vineyard has been operating nicely by the Entemenn’s but, they sold the vineyard to Rivero Gonzales after Entenmenn died last year. This vineyard continued to operate under his ownership and this wasn’t a problem because Mr. Gonzales had some vineyards back in Mexico so he had some experiences running this business. According to Margaret, they brew wine at a place called Premium Wine Group which 2 miles down the road. We asked her, among the 14 different grape varietals, which wine does she prefer? Margaret said it’s different for her everyday but right now she would like to have some Cabernet Sauvignon with some steak. When we asked if someone can take us into where the vines are, unfortunately, there’s no one available to actually guide us into where the vines are so we only walked around it and took some pictures.

We were unable to go past a certain point so we zoomed in the camera to take pictures. Even from afar, we can tell that none of the vines have buds yet; only able to see their cordons. I forgot to ask whether they graft the vitis vinifera onto the vitis lubrusca. Afterward, we went back to the giftshop to take a look at the wines again and did some shopping.

Entrance to Premium Wine Group

Sign for Premium Wine Group

Some vines outside of Premium Wine Group

We drove 2 miles down the road and found the brewery, until we discovered that this wasn’t the production facility. This building was smaller than the other one and it only has a tasting room. I asked the employee if we could get a look at the production area and the equipment. She told us the don’t brew wines there; they brew it at Jamesport. This tasting room is small but they have seats and tables outside so I believe this tasting room is where people reserve for different events because there was a DJ outside near the parking lot. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to go visit the brewery at Jamesport because there wasn’t enough time.

Overall, I wouldn’t call this a bad experience because i want to go back after it gets warmer. All the employees here are knowledgeable about the wines and vineyards and has great customer service skills. The shop here has a plethora of wines so i will purchase it after I am over 21.

Reference:

JOIN THE FAMILY. (n.d.). Retrieved from: https://www.marthaclaravineyards.com/

SHINN ESTATE VINEYARD1

Kings County Distillery was founded in 2010 although it’s been around since the prohibition era. It is the oldest whiskey distillery operating in New York City. I chose to come here along with 2 of my classmates to embark in the journey of whisky, bourbon, as well as moonshine. On a Thursday afternoon we headed to Brooklyn Navy Yard for about a 45 minute tour lead by Lai. Lai was very well informed and I appreciated her energy and passion for everything he was informing us of. She started by letting us know a little bit about the distillery such as it’s rich history (it’s the first distillery in the city since prohibition).

Kings County’s main product is bourbon which has to be 51% corn by law. Lai informed us that theirs is 70%. With that being said they have their own mash mill. They cook the corn a little longer which gives it more flavor. A fun fact is that they consume a lot of corn. A ton of corn is consumed in just 2 days. The first step is the cooker. In the cooker there is  250 gallons of water, 300 pounds of corn, and 55 pounds of malt. They bring the water up to a boil, add the corn and let it steep for an hour, bring the temperature down and add the malt.

First Step: Cooker

Next would be the fermenters. They are absolutely huge! Made up of Corn, malt, and they’ll sprinkle yeast. The fermentation will last about 4 days. The yeast consumes dissolved oxygen and sugar. This produces carbon dioxide and alcohol.

Fermenter

In Kings County they double distill. They have pot stills in which gives rich, textural flavors. It makes a much smoother whiskey as well. We then went to the barrel room. Tons of different barrels in which bourbon/whiskey were being aged in them. It was only a quarter of the amount they actually have (I still found this to be a lot of barrels!). Lai explained that the size of the barrel determines how long the whiskey will be aged. The barrel room’s climate is controlled because of seasonal changes. The tour also included a tasting of bourbon, moonshine and chocolate whiskey.

Barrel Room

Overall this experience was great. I found it extremely interesting and never thought I’d experience something like this before. I would want to return again when I’m 21 to their bar! It was a great experience and I’m excited to share my experience with those interested in the whiskey world. It was definitely an experience I won’t forget.

References:

https://brewhaus.com/blog/how-to-do-a-stripping-run-with-your-moonshine-still/

Known for its handmade whiskey, Kings County Distillery is the oldest distillery located within New York City. Although it has been around since the prohibition era, it was only recently founded in 2010. The distillery was previously located in Williamsburg but now it located in the Brooklyn Navy Yard. They offer tours and tastings Tuesday through Sunday. I had the opportunity to visit on a Thursday afternoon. The tour lasted about 45 minutes and it started off with Lai, the tour guide, giving us a lot of background information on the distillery and historical facts about the prohibition era. The tour guide was very well informed and enthusiastic to tell us about the distillery.

The distillery not only makes whisky, but they also make bourbon and moonshine. I learned that moonshine is whiskey that hasn’t aged. She told us that the name moonshine comes from the prohibition era when people making alcohol in the dark or at night.

First Whiskey legally made in New York City

One thing that the distillery takes pride in is the fact that they use organic corn sourced from an all organic farm in the finger lakes.  Lai informed the group that that in order for a whiskey to be classified as a whiskey it has to be made of mainly corn. The distillery also has their own mash bill, which is a mix of grains used to make bourbon. The distillery uses alembic copper stills heated by steam to make their spirits. The alembic was actually invented by a woman, Mary the Jewess, an alchemist in the third A.D. century. At the top of the still there is a pipe where the alcohol is evaporated and condensed into a steel tank to make low wine.

Alembic Copper Still

In the mash the cooked grains are mixed with barley and warm water. There is an open fermentation vessel where the wort, sugar water, is pumped out too. Once yeast is added the wort now becomes wash.

Fermentation Vessels and an Employee checking on the Mash

The Barrel Room where the whiskey and bourbon ages

Master Blender John, tasting and mixing the whiskey

After showing us the manufacturing process of the whiskey, she then took us to the barrel room which is located on the same floor where the tour began.  In this room there were a bunch of different barrels with either whiskey or bourbon inside of them aging. There was an empty charred barrel which the tour guide allowed us to see. She explained that bourbon must be placed inside charred oak barrels which have never been used before. In the barrel room there is climate control allowing for the alcohol to interact with the seasons shifts. As the temperature gets warmer the barrels expand allowing for the alcohol to breathe and in the cold the barrel contracts. Since there is no climate control, they depend on their master blenders to blend the whiskey in order to achieve consistency in their products. After the tour there was a small tasting which consisted of straight bourbon, peated bourbon, honey moonshine, and chocolate whiskey.  Overall visiting the distillery was a great learning experience and recommend it to anyone who enjoys whiskey or wants to learn more about it.

Different types of whiskey they sell and make. Such as moonshine, straight bourbon whiskey, and chocolate whiskey. The chocolate whiskey is made by letting the cacao husks soak in the whiskey for about a month.

Awards that the distillery has won. In 2016 they won Distillery of the Year

Whiskey of different ages

The little giant of New York, Kings County Distillery, is one of the oldest distilleries to date since the Prohibition (1920-1933). The distillery first opened its door in 2010 by founder Colin Spoelman who’s stomping ground happened to be Kentucky, Harlan County, in bourbon country. During the prohibition Kentucky was a dry state, meaning it prohibited the production, importation, transportation, and sale of alcoholic beverages. However this didn’t extinguish the flame of hope residing within the residents of Kentucky who proceeded anyway to produce alcoholic beverages under the cover of the night, hence earning them the coveted name “Moonshiners”. During this time when moonshine was produced; it proofed at 70-75% alc/vol due to shipping procedures. Since moonshine was being transported most of the time with gun powder it was proofed this high to eradicate contamination.

At one point whiskey was used as a bartering tool and often traded for clothes, real estate, and other goods or services it was even cheaper then tea. Drinking also became something frowned upon especially in the 19th century where bells were erected in some towns to signal everyone to drink, whether it be from a tanker or a nearby stash people were chugging, and that they did until the Prohibition Movements. The Prohibition Movements saw a large amount of women due to the rise of domestic violence, at homes, salons, or even on the streets, alcohol was driving everyone mad. During the 19th century New York also produced more whiskey then all of the South combined. In addition to this more then 65 million pints of whiskey was administered by doctors for the smallest ailments, got a toothache drink some whiskey, cold bringing you down take a shot of your stash. This concludes the early history of whiskey including its bans, the movement of moonshine across states, and the drinking habits of this time period, onto the distillery.

Copper still from Scotland made by Forsyths a copper smith company

As the oral history part of the presentation had concluded, Evan, our tour guide led us down a daunting staircase within the building, leading us behind a door of wonder and strange concoctions where i was eager to see what was brewing . There it was YEAST! the smell filled the air and large vats both stainless steel and wooden were littered around the room, as well as copper stills, stripping stills, and spirit stills. We came to a stop and we were greeted by the distilleries very own, Jeffy, a cat. Distilleries use cats to ward off rats and mice who come to feast on the yeast, corn, and barley used in the process of distillation. The distillery begins the distillation process with cracked corn which is sourced from The Finger Lakes located upstate New York. The corn is heated in water till it reaches 165 degrees and the malted barley is added in order to create a biochemical reaction in which the mixture is cooled to room temperature and the fermentation process begins. During this time 11% of all yeast dies once fermented in within one of the 5 oak fermentation tubs. After the fermentation process the mixture is then placed into pot stills and the first distillation beings. After the first distillation ends, the mixture is then distilled within another pot still, this distillery distills their product twice. The goal within this process is to get the best cut of ethanol which is the hearts cut which has a sweet fragrance and is about 75 alc/vol, the tails cut  comes from the sweetness of the alcohol while the heads cut means the product needs further distilling. Once the hearts cut is achieved it is placed in a spirit still, then it is blended to a desired flavor profile and weakened to 40%alc/vol and added into a new charred oak barrel.

Labeled oak barrels in the aging process (2 yrs)

Oak barrels are charred by placing a new oak barrel over an open flame for 30-60 seconds in order to introduce lignin which is famous for vanilla in charred oak charring blackens the inside of the barrel and also allows for the retraction and expansion of the wood of the barrel. It is stored in charred oak barrels from 5-31 gallons and aged for two years on the second floor of the building. Around winter time the wood expands and during the summer it retracts, every barrel being different it plays around with the characteristics of the whiskies making the second floor the distilleries own little playground and laboratory. The second floor concludes the tour and our tour guide led us to the tasting area to taste some of the whiskies produced. I tried 4 whiskies each with its own unique take on whiskey.

An example of the color changing process when the mixture is placed into the charred oak barrels.

Straight Bourbon – The notes of vanilla are present there is a slight sweetness it has a long finish and has a medium body and bottled at 40% alc/vol.

Peated Bourbon – The peating process introduces smoke into the bourbon, on the nose you get a strong oak and wood presence followed by a slight honey smell, and also vanilla. The smoke is strong and profound and makes this whiskey unique, it is bottled at 45% alc/vol.

Honey Whiskey –  The honey for this whiskey is sourced from the Brooklyn Navy Yard, it has a very aromatic smell ( like an alcohol filled honey comb). It leaves a very good impression the honey isn’t too sweet as to over power the whiskey making this one unique it is bottled at 40% alc/vol and is not artificially sweetened like other honey whiskies.

Chocolate Whiskey – This whiskey is definitely something i haven’t tasted or smelled before, it smells 100% like cocoa beans, fresh ones at that and the whiskey is very bitter, it can be used for baking and definitely worth picking up, it is bottled at 40% alc/vol.

Tasting 4 of the whiskies produced at the distillery.

In conclusion, the distillery tour wasn’t only fun but it was informative. I learned a great deal about the distillery and its past especially about the prohibition, Maine laws, the Prohibition movement, and the distillation process. Whiskey is my favorite spirit and getting the opportunity to visit gave me joy, although this was for an assignment i wish i could have conquered the idea to take a trip before. The tour guide was extremely helpful when it came to questions and his knowledge was impeccable, at the end of the tour i purchased 3 whiskies the honey and chocolate, and the peated bourbon, as well as barrel charr which is the collection of the  wood charr that is infused with the whiskey aged within it. I will enjoy my whiskies and take with me memories of a new adventure, leading me to expand my world and venture out to new locations to attain knowledge and of course, bring spirits and whiskies back with me. Thank you.

~FIN~

References:

https://brewhaus.com/blog/how-to-do-a-stripping-run-with-your-moonshine-still/

https://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/04/nyregion/brooklyn-makers-of-legal-moonshine-get-2-new-stills.html

Whiskey Business: An Unlikely Path from Architect to Kings County Distiller