Craft Distillers are Pushing the Boundaries
August 5, 2021
Craft Distillers are Pushing the Boundaries
For over a decade, consumers have grown accustomed to craft breweries pushing the boundaries when it comes to beer. From adjuncts never expected to be in beer recipes such as candies and cereals to natural adjuncts like coriander or juniper, some say that craft beer is becoming a bit convoluted.
Others, however, are excited about where the industry is heading, not only because of the continued rise of craft breweries, but the added explosion of craft distilleries, as well.
According to the American Distilling Institute, craft distilleries have risen from just under 200 in the U.S. in 2010 to just over 2,000 in 2020. While breweries are still on the rise, with 1,800 breweries in 2010 growing to more than 8,800 in 2020 (The Brewers Association), this huge number results in a 400% increase compared to an astounding 900% increase in distilleries over the past decade.
Many breweries, for better or worse, have kept up with the fickle demands of the consumer by getting quite creative within the beer scene. Does this mean the same may have to happen within the distilling scene?
Not necessarily, but even if it does, pushing boundaries often results in making the original even better.
How are craft distillers pushing the boundaries of distilling?
While it is true that a lot of what we’ve seen in the spirits industry can be attributed to the craft beer market, many craft distilleries are also rooted in innovation and creativity. And just as consumers have come to expect more from their beer than a basic lager, they’ve also come to expect more from their whiskeys.
In the brewing industry, there appears to be more freedom when it comes to creativity and innovation. As long as you have the four basic ingredients, beer can take on almost any flavor profile, limited only by the brewer’s imagination.
Can the same be said in distilling with its rigid baseline requirements to stay true to what we expect from a bourbon or a whiskey? While there are tighter restrictions when defining what exactly constitutes a bourbon, there is still plenty of space for innovation.
Consumers drive innovation.
Alex Castle, Master Distiller at Old Dominick Distillery in Memphis and President of the Tennessee Distillers Guild, believes there’s a great deal of creative space. And Cordell Lawrence, the Global Marketing and Strategy Director at Kentucky Peerless in Louisville, Kentucky, agrees.
For a long time people didn’t want bourbon to be anything other than bourbon, but today more and more people are open to changes. Whiskey and bourbon lovers want more of the innovation that is highly visible in the craft beer industry. Consumer expectations have risen so dramatically that they no longer want to walk in and have the same experience time after time. They want variations of the products they love.
And those variations are showing up in an assortment of ways. Distillers are getting more creative in figuring out how to give more to their consumers. Craft distillers aren’t just being inspired by their craft brewing partners either. They are also creating it within their own industry, as seen by increased innovation coming out of the heritage and larger scale distilleries, inspired from their smaller craft counterparts.
Experimenting across the board.
Distillers are experimenting with grains, aging times, collaborative endeavors, and the barrel itself. Much of the innovation seen in the distilling world is all about the barrel: the char level, the toast level, and the type of wood being used within the inner and outer structure of the barrel. There’s a lot of room for barrel innovation. About 70 percent of the flavor of that final experience of bourbon comes from the barrel.
Distilleries are also creating their own innovative ways of crafting their art. Take Kentucky Peerless for example. Cordell states, “The way that our process is so unique makes us innovative from the start. We’re always barrel strength. Typically our range is 108 to 112 proof on average. We do nothing to alter it whatsoever. It’s always whatever Mother Nature does to the product. We always bottle it at that exact proof. We never alter the proof. This is basically unprecedented.
“We also sweet mash – meaning fresh grain, fresh water, and fresh yeast for every distillation. It makes for a much more grain forward and grain complex product. It’s simultaneously very palatable. We’re also non-chill filtered with all of our products. We don’t filter out the fats, oils and lipids. This keeps all the robust flavors in the product itself when it ends up in the bottles.”
Collaborating with breweries is yet another way both breweries and distilleries are pushing the boundaries when it comes to brewing and distilling. Alex from Old Dominick Distillery recently teamed up with a local craft brewery to experiment with distilling an Oktoberfest. While it didn’t turn out quite the way they had envisioned, trying new things that seem next to impossible is what ultimately gives credibility to the trends that become the new expectations from consumers.
Where is the future of craft distilling headed?
“Over the last ten years, bourbon has become more than just ‘your grandpa’s drink.’ Now, we’re seeing all ages shift to the bourbon movement. We’re also seeing more diversity amongst today’s bourbon consumers, and they’re looking for variety in the marketplace. When consumers are interested in something and want more of it, distillers have to get creative and figure out how to meet the demand.” (Alex Castle)
Barrel innovation and experimentation
Most of that creativity is coming from the barrels with aging times, char levels, types of wood within the barrel, and barrel finishes. There are believed to be about 300 distinct flavors that are discernible on the palate from the barrel itself. “I still think there are a lot of unknowns with barrel innovations. I think we’re just scratching the surface in terms of barrel innovation which leads to product innovation.” We agree with Cordell.
Yes, bourbon has to be aged in new charred oak barrels for it to be considered a bourbon, but distillers are having more fun with the char levels, which aren’t dictated. While the average char level is a Char No. 3, at 35 seconds of flame, many distilleries are going far beyond that to gain intensity in flavor. Still, others are keeping the char down to a minimum and embracing the toasty characteristics of Char No. 1 at only 15 seconds of flame. When it comes to char levels, it’s all fair game.
Distillers are also leaning more into the creative aspects of barrel finishes once it’s been in the new barrel for the required amount of time. Those finishes are ranging anywhere from barrels originally used for other spirits to a used wine barrel, or even a barrel used previously to age beer.
The character that the wood brings to the barrel is influenced by where the tree was grown, its climate, and other environmental elements. Because of this, a number of distilleries are even beginning to plant their own trees to control the flavor profiles of the wood used in their barrels.
Whiskey is the broader playground.
And then there is the broader category of whiskey, which still has so much untapped potential from the production side. Potential such as blending post distillation before and after the initial barrel aging. Potential such as utilizing two different mash bills to play with the flavors even more. We’re starting to see more experimentation with malts, such as the idea of American single malts.
Instead of always following tradition, the whiskey category allows for increased exploration and experimentation as compared to its stricter Bourbon counterpart.
Innovation within the malts
Craft breweries use malt for extract, flavor, color, aroma. Distillers use malt historically for the high proteins and enzymatic efficiency, keeping the mash thin, converting starches to sugars and to alcohol, not traditionally to impart color, flavor, or aroma.
Rick Barney, Malteurop’s Craft Sales Manager, specializing in distilling, states, “I think the bourbon boom has forced innovation in the industry. And especially experienced distillers are looking for other ways they can push the malt to impart a different flavor profile.”
Malteurop Malting Company (MMC) is innovative within the distilling industry. They are experts in this arena, long tenured with their distillers’ malt, but they also strive to provide the best quality products, ones that are tried and true and do exactly what they are billed to do.
So when it comes to innovation with malts in the distilling world, specialty malts are slowly starting to play an integral role in distilling, too. Malts such as MMC’s Steamed C3.5 with its sweet flavor profile. Or the Steamed C40 with its sweet toffee notes for bold flavor. Or the Kilned C60 for its toasty caramel flavor. Malts that give the flavor enhancements that distillers are now seeking.
When talking to Alex more about innovation and experimentation with the grain bill, she didn’t hesitate. “You can absolutely have fun with the grains. While we do have to have at least 51 percent corn for it to be considered a bourbon, there’s still a plenty of room for interpretation on how much corn to include which leaves a lot of room for other barleys, and there’s nothing to say that we can’t do that. From corn varieties to barleys, you can change up the grain bill and have some fun with just the grain base.”
You may find yourself experimenting more with the grains when it comes to whiskey than bourbon, but it needs to happen. Consumers are demanding a new experience every time they walk in the door.
Cordell agrees. “There’s a big opportunity to change up the malts. It’s like barrel innovation; there’s not enough of it going on. There needs to be a lot more experimentation around different versions of malt, different variations of malt and grains where it’s currently grown and how it’s grown. I think there’s still a lot of white space out there to experiment in.”
Malteurop crafts relationships.
MMC is a malting company, but they are so much more than that. They work hard to innovate within, so that when it comes time for you to choose the malts and the methods for you to innovate, they get it. They work just as hard as you do to create the craft you love. But don’t let us tell you that. Let your peers tell you that.
“I’ve only ever used Malteurop. They were who we used at Wild Turkey and we had such an amazing relationship with them. Their quality was always spot on. The enzymes were always great. They met all of our standards, so it was a no-brainer to continue that relationship at Old Dominick. Their quality, customer service, everything is absolutely fantastic and does what we need our malt to do.” (Alex Castle, Old Dominick Distillery)
“We use the straight forward distillers’ malt and we’ve been very pleased with the outcome, with the quality. And we are looking into flavor complexities and nuances that we can push with various malts and that has been something we have been talking about, too. The reputation of them providing product to some of the most well-known distillers in the industry just gave us the confidence that we were not going to be left behind. We were going to be taken care of no matter what in terms of the quality of the grain. They have the legacy and the history of a top notch product. It was an easy decision because they are the place to go to, no questions asked.” (Cordell Lawrence, Kentucky Peerless Distilling Company)
It’s a great time to be a whiskey drinker.
While there may be no questions asked when it comes time to make your decision to choose Malteurop for the consistent quality of their malts, their innovation, and their customer service, there should always be questions when it comes to pushing the boundaries within any craft.
It’s those questions that make us seek out the answers. Answers that bring about more innovation to make our craft beverages better in every aspect, from color to flavor to aroma.
The thing about innovation and creativity with distilling, though, is that it takes time to get the results into consumers’ hands, and Alex is eager to see what the future holds for distilling. “We’re just at the beginning of what that can be. A decades long or more kind of adventure for experimentation for sure.”
So keep questioning, keep seeking, keep experimenting.
Because like you, Alex, and Cordell, we are all excited for where the distilling industry is heading. There’s a lot out there to explore. A lot of white space to create in as Cordell states so eloquently. For Alex, she likes the fact that there are differences. “I’m excited to see any and all of it. It’s a great time to be a whiskey drinker.”