Tag Archives: spirits

Experiential Analysis @ VanBrunt Stillhouse – Nicholas Kandros

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This past Saturday, May 19,  I visited Vanbrunt Stillhouse located at 6 Bay St, Brooklyn, NY 11231. Vanbrunt Stillhouse has been since 2012 and is owned by Daric Schlesselman and Sarah Ludington. Daric is also in charge of most of the liquor production. Except for the saghi which is made by a worker named Bran.

This is Bran. He is in charge of saghi production. He is currently working on it in the picture.

Saghi is a Japanese spirit that is commonly made out of rice but can be made with other starches such as potatoes and even carrots. The rest of the alcoholic products are made by grains such as barley, rye and even corn. I participated in their 2pm tasting tour that was guided by Seth. Seth is fairly new in the industry with only 3 years of experience from working at Vanbrunt Stillhouse . The tour included four tastings of whiskey for $10. The whiskies that the distillery offers are American, Bourbon, Rye and Moonshine.

“Grassy, floral notes with the fresh oak sweetness of a bourbon & hints of tobacco.” – VanBrunt Stillhouse

 

“Bold and full bodied with notes of chocolate, butterscotch, sweet cream and banana, finishing smooth with hints of spice pepper, maple, nuts and coffee. ” VanBrunt Stillhouse

“Spicy on the palate with sweet floral nose, hints of coffee and chocolate, with raisins and cherries, and a lovely toasted almond finish.” – VanBrunt Stillhouse

A bit of spiciness from the rye.

Moonshine is unaged whiskey which explains it’s transparent color. Seth has explained very thoroughly step by step. He has mentioned that their barrels come from Indiana and Minnesota. The barrels are made out of American oak and are charred by the coopers. The char on the inside gives their whiskey a unique smokey texture and flavor as it ages. They have two sizes for the barrels. The smaller ones hold about 15-20 gallons of liquid and the larger ones hold about 25-30 gallons. At their facility, they prefer to use the smaller ones because they provide more air flow and age the whiskey faster than they would in the larger barrels. This has a very similar description to tawny Port wines. The first to make any alcohol beverage whether it is wine, beer or spirits is to prepare your grapes/grains. These ingredients have one important thing in common and that is their sugar source. In the case of spirits, corn, malt, rye, barley or other grain is used to produce alcohol thus giving you the final product.

This is where the grains are deposited and grinded into a flour.

This is called an “auger” which is a vacuum that sends the flour to get “mashed”.

This is called mash tun and it blends the flour with water. The mash may take up to several hours.

They grind the grains into a flour then water is added to blend together. As the ingredients continue to mix this step is called mash. After mash, the paste is transferred to kettles where the fermentation takes place. At this point the alcohol is about 9% but rapidly goes up after the yeast has been added(“pitching the yeast”). Once the yeast has done its job, the ingredients are run through a grist hydrator that filters the alcohol.

This is a grist hydrator that distills the liquor(extracts the alcohol). When making whiskey, the liquid is usually ran through the machine twice to have a higher alcohol concentration. This process is what separates spirit making from beer making and is done after fermentation.

There are three parts known as head, heart, and tails. The head part is immediately removed since it is toxic which means it can’t be consumed. Afterwards, is the heart and the tails which are the parts we want for the final product. Both are very similar but tails are like a diluted version of the heart with less alcohol content. At this point, the alcohol is about 150 proof. Before bottling, it is diluted with water to bring down the alcohol. Moonshine would be immediately bottled since it is unaged whiskey. For the rest of the whiskey production, the aging process usually takes about 2-3 years. They sit the barrels on their sides and sometimes use the solera system to make blends. This is called “mingling the flavors”.

This is a smoker located outside of the facility in the back. It is not used on a daily basis but rather it is reserved for special whiskeys such as their smoked corn whiskey. Grains or corn are layered flat onto trays and are placed in the smoker. This provides additional smokiness to their whiskey.

Overall, my experience was educational. Originally, Vanbrunt did not have a tour open for 2pm because they were hosting a private event for Culinary Institute of America, which was cancelled with short notice. Luckily, since there was not a lot of time to fill up the time slot, it was only myself and two other people so I was able to ask plenty of questions.

References:

Coppola, S. (2017, December 12). Whiskey Review: Van Brunt Stillhouse Rye. Retrieved May 22, 2018, from https://thewhiskeywash.com/reviews/whiskey-review-van-brunt-stillhouse-rye/
Simonson, R. (2015, June 26). A Daily Show Editor Makes Whiskey at Van Brunt Stillhouse in Red Hook. Retrieved May 22, 2018, from https://www.ediblebrooklyn.com/2014/van-brundt-stillhouse/
Van Brunt Stillhouse Rye Whiskey. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.astorwines.com/SearchResultsSingle.aspx?search=30172
VanBrunt Stillhouse. (n.d.). Retrieved May 22, 2018, from http://www.vanbruntstillhouse.com/

Astor Wines & Spirits Analysis – Nicholas Kandros

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The storefront display of Astor Wines & Spirits showcasing some of its wines.

The view once you enter the store. It reminded me of a museum with so much to learn including the history of wine.

When I first walked in Astor Wines & Spirits, I was very overwhelmed by the thousands of wines displayed on polished wooden shelves. I imagined the store to be very small from the outside. I took a while to build up some courage to ask questions and this can be quite difficult for someone who lacks confidence. However, after roaming around the aisles, observing the products and taking pictures, I had met a friendly wine consultant named Bambi Ray. Ms. Ray is also a sales manager of the establishment and has been generous to share some of her knowledge on wine with me. I was prepared with a pocket notebook, a pen and some gutsy questions. Some of these questions were “What is the best-selling wine region?”, “Why are a lot of California wines priced higher than wines that are shipped overseas?” and “In the most recent years, what year was considered ‘bad’ for winemakers?”  Bambi has answered these questions in the following ways:

What is the best-selling wine region?

France is definitely the best selling region because it is very well-known and after all, they have officially started the wine-making process. However, Italy is a very close second and competes with French wine sells.

I like that the best selling wines have their own section because it keeps track with the popularity of the wines.

Why are a lot of California wines priced higher than wines that are shipped overseas?

For example, a country like France has been doing this for many years and produces a much larger quantity of wine than California. California is still fairly new so they have not figured out a system that works well to reduce their pricing. Generally, no matter what you purchase from California, prices tend to be elevated because you are paying for California’s expensive real estate.

In the most recent years, what year was considered ‘bad’ for winemakers?

Well, it depends on the wine region. However, here in the U.S, wine-making

in California this past year has been difficult because of California’s wild fires. This obviously decreased the number of crops tremendously in the vineyards. This has also affected the quality and taste of wine since the vines absorbed the smoke from the fires. Wine laws secure a winemaker’s income by allowing them to use small amounts of wine from other years in order to make up for loss in situations that are not under the winemaker’s control.

After a series of questions, I continued to talk to Bambi about the course and she has shared some of her personal experiences. For that, I am truly grateful. As for the establishment itself, it has a beautiful floor plan with bright lighting and spacious walkways. The workers wear a red apron which makes it easy for customers to identify them as workers. Most of the workers are fairly young and the majority of them are female.

I also visited Union Square Wines located at 140 4th ave, New York, NY 10003 and Gramercy Wines & Spirits located at 104 E 23rdst New York, NY 10010. Union Square Wines is medium size and Gramercy Wines is small with narrow paths. In comparison, Astor Wines & Spirits is more modern and have a larger variety of wines with a great scale of prices as well.  Also, it is more organized with the best-selling wines being in the front and spirits and other fine alcohol located in the back. They also have a cool room that stores certain wines at a cooler temperature and on the side of the middle of the store they have their sake and other wines chilling. Overall, my experience has been successful and I managed to grow my networking circle as well.

All of the sparkling wines are organized by wine region as well as the other wines but are grouped together.

Italian Sparkling is located right next to French sparkling wines in the front of the store.

Italy wines other sparkling specifically from Northern Italy.

One of many sections of France wines. Italy and France are the only countries in the store that are divided in different wine regions.

For each region/country, there is a sign that contains a brief description of the area which can be helpful when selecting wines.

This is where spirit tasting takes place. Behind the barrels is the cool room and as you can see, there is a employee checking inventory.

A type of spirit that is located on a shelf in the back.

The majority of the spirits are locked up. These are secured because of their price tags averaging $500.

Malt is a type of grain that is used for brewing, distilling and even vinegar-making. This can be found in the back of the store with other spirits.