Spirit of America with District Made Distillery (FKA One Eight Distilling)

00:00:08,080 –> 00:00:12,240
Hi I’m Suzanne Henricksen, a researcher
and storyteller by trade, and a

2
00:00:12,240 –> 00:00:16,880
world explorer, drink local enthusiast, by heart.
I’m traveling the world to celebrate and

3
00:00:16,880 –> 00:00:21,680
share the people the process the stories
and the innovations behind craft alcohol

4
00:00:21,680 –> 00:00:24,480
and I can’t wait to share our amazing
finds with all of you

5
00:00:25,440 –> 00:00:32,640
So, let’s get drinking Crafty Cask style
Suzanne: Hello, hello Tippler Nation we just got

6
00:00:32,640 –> 00:00:35,440
on the road this morning from
Springfield, Massachusetts my parents

7
00:00:35,440 –> 00:00:39,920
house and head down to the DC area and
we are at ONE | EIGHT Distilling

8
00:00:40,720 –> 00:00:44,160
Suzanne: for those of you who have been following
us for a little while now you’ve

9
00:00:44,160 –> 00:00:46,320
probably seen hopefully you’ve seen some 

10
00:00:46,320 –> 00:00:48,720
of our virtual tastings 
with ONE | EIGHT Distilling

11
00:00:48,720 –> 00:00:53,920
down here in the Ivy City
Area of DC um and so we’ve done a couple

12
00:00:53,920 –> 00:00:56,800
of virtual tastings with them and have
totally fallen in love with not only

13
00:00:56,800 –> 00:01:00,400
their spirits but
their distiller and maker and kind of

14
00:01:00,400 –> 00:01:05,280
Co-owner here Alex Laufer as well um so
we’re gonna head on in this is the front

15
00:01:05,280 –> 00:01:08,960
right here they’re closed right now so
we kind of get a private experience so

16
00:01:08,960 –> 00:01:11,377
you can come on in with me

17
00:01:11,377 –> 00:01:25,180
[Upbeat Music]

18
00:01:25,180 –> 00:01:27,130
Suzanne: Smells so good in here!

19
00:01:27,130 –> 00:01:29,434
Alex: We are distilling on both stills…

20
00:01:30,160 –> 00:01:34,880
Alex: So really the smell for the most part is
the stillage coming off the column

21
00:01:35,600 –> 00:01:37,920
uh and that’s it’s cooking grain

22
00:01:40,742 –> 00:01:48,624
Alex: Process wise…start with milling *inaudible* with a sack of grain.

23
00:01:50,939 –> 00:01:53,787
Alex: And uh…we program what we want…

24
00:01:53,787 –> 00:01:57,701
what we overwatch
that will walk around to the mail

25
00:01:57,840 –> 00:02:02,095
they’ll
water over the flower to the masher.

26
00:02:02,880 –> 00:02:08,613
Alex: So we’re mashing three days a week
we’ve built two different mashers

27
00:02:11,391 –> 00:02:15,579
Suzanne: And so this is what we’re talking about, when we talk about like Grain-To-Glass

28
00:02:15,579 –> 00:02:21,279
Suzanne: Because..you know, a lot of, you know, a lot of distilleries, they craft, and craft different things

29
00:02:21,279 –> 00:02:21,779
Alex: Yup.

30
00:02:21,779 –> 00:02:29,708
Suzanne: But really like Grain-To-Glass…is, you know the farmers, you like go out there and you check on grain whenever you would want to.

31
00:02:29,708 –> 00:02:37,551
Suzanne: you know where its coming from! You are actually milling it, and kind of working with if yourself from that whole grain

32
00:02:37,551 –> 00:02:40,127
Suzanne: Kind of area, and then you do the whole process…

33
00:02:40,127 –> 00:02:43,370
Suzanne: And that’s a different level of dedication than…

34
00:02:43,370 –> 00:02:43,870
Alex: It’s different!

35
00:02:44,053 –> 00:02:48,071
Suzanne: Other…you know- it’s really it’s a really like
it’s a harder proccess!

36
00:02:48,071 –> 00:02:49,635
Suzanne: You have more equipment, you have more things to do

37
00:02:49,635 –> 00:02:52,675
Suzanne: So
um that’s why you know

38
00:02:52,675 –> 00:02:56,560
there’s all sorts of great approaches
within craft and Grain-To-Glass is kind

39
00:02:56,560 –> 00:02:59,174
of the end of the extreme spectrum

40
00:02:59,174 –> 00:02:59,674
Alex: Yeah

41
00:02:59,674 –> 00:03:02,579
Suzanne: And I guess like the only other thing you could be doing is growing the grain yourself…

42
00:03:02,579 –> 00:03:03,079
Alex: Right

43
00:03:04,137 –> 00:03:04,637
Evan: Seed to Glass!

44
00:03:04,637 –> 00:03:05,579
*laughter*

45
00:03:05,579 –> 00:03:09,761
Suzanne: If you’re a farmer full time, you probably don’t have time to actually distill…

46
00:03:09,761 –> 00:03:15,440
[Upbeat Music]

47
00:03:15,440 –> 00:03:19,695
Evan: It feels like Malted Rye is not
as common in distilate…

48
00:03:19,695 –> 00:03:20,195
Alex: No.

49
00:03:20,901 –> 00:03:21,874
Suzanne: Is there a reason for that?

50
00:03:21,874 –> 00:03:26,223
Alex: Uh…well malted barley tends to have a
higher level of

51
00:03:26,320 –> 00:03:30,480
Alex: enzymatic activity to break down the
starch from the sugar so you need less

52
00:03:30,480 –> 00:03:33,680
of it
also it’s just the flavor that we

53
00:03:34,480 –> 00:03:37,760
become used to I mean all Single Malt
right? I mean that’s that Malted Barley

54
00:03:37,760 –> 00:03:41,040
that’s a hundred percent, uh blended
whiskey’s coming from

55
00:03:41,600 –> 00:03:46,160
Ireland, and Scotland are predominantly Malt, but
they have other grains too and then

56
00:03:46,160 –> 00:03:49,520
Bourbon
and Dry Whiskey have

57
00:03:50,560 –> 00:03:55,403
generally used
Malted Barley. We’re obviously not the first to do Malted Rye…

58
00:03:55,403 –> 00:03:58,002
Now our Rye is 28% Malt…

59
00:03:58,002 –> 00:03:58,593
Evan: Okay..

60
00:03:58,593 –> 00:04:03,105
Alex: Uh…And then the bourbon is 18%…Malted Rye and Malted Barley

61
00:04:04,400 –> 00:04:07,881
Alex: but even the Vodka, even the Gin, even the
barrel Gin; they all have Malted Rye

62
00:04:07,881 –> 00:04:09,802
[Evan: Yeah, that’s very cool

63
00:04:09,802 –> 00:04:10,920
Alex: They’re MOSTLY Rye

64
00:04:10,920 –> 00:04:15,167
[Upbeat Music]

65
00:04:15,167 –> 00:04:16,777
Suzanne: So this is Malted?

66
00:04:16,777 –> 00:04:17,539
Alex: This is Malted…yeah

67
00:04:19,611 –> 00:04:21,760
Alex: I like in the Malted Barley

68
00:04:21,760 –> 00:04:24,480
you’re converting all ready to start
sugar so you’re getting a little more

69
00:04:24,480 –> 00:04:28,400
sweetness that’s not quite- I mean I’ll
eat handfuls of this, when we’re malting, we’ll dump it

70
00:04:28,400 –> 00:04:30,535
in the copper there

71
00:04:31,600 –> 00:04:32,321
Suzanne: Yeah it’s like, it’s like..

72
00:04:32,321 –> 00:04:32,894
Alex: It’s breakfast!

73
00:04:32,894 –> 00:04:33,482
Suzanne: It’s like cereal like….yeah

74
00:04:34,846 –> 00:04:35,346
Alex: Yeah

75
00:04:36,065 –> 00:04:37,074
Evan: Whole Grain Cheerios!

76
00:04:37,074 –> 00:04:37,574
Suzanne: yeah

77
00:04:37,574 –> 00:04:38,692
Alex: exactly

78
00:04:38,692 –> 00:04:39,192
Suzanne: Yeah, that’s good

79
00:04:39,192 –> 00:04:42,821
Alex: yeah yeah…
it’s a lovely product I really like it um…

80
00:04:43,200 –> 00:04:47,200
Alex: most of it, they they use
North Carolina grown grain in all of

81
00:04:47,200 –> 00:04:50,400
their products
but they occasionally have gotten dry

82
00:04:50,400 –> 00:04:52,489
from the same farm we get our Rye!

83
00:04:52,489 –> 00:04:53,201
Suzanne: Cool

84
00:04:55,339 –> 00:04:57,707
[Upbeat Music]

85
00:04:59,360 –> 00:05:03,125
Alex: So these are our new stills, uh, although
we do use

86
00:05:03,360 –> 00:05:07,055
Alex: three other stills, some regularity, um…

87
00:05:08,480 –> 00:05:12,133
Alex: As simple and straightforward as this little alembic

88
00:05:12,133 –> 00:05:12,898
Suzanne: Yeah.

89
00:05:12,898 –> 00:05:14,593
Alex: with such a beautiful still

90
00:05:14,593 –> 00:05:15,093
Suzanne: yeah

91
00:05:15,093 –> 00:05:18,720
Alex: it doesn’t have to be this fancy uh we put this on a hot plate

92
00:05:19,360 –> 00:05:25,120
Alex: We run water in and a line out, and that’s it
we’ll do uh for example while I was

93
00:05:25,120 –> 00:05:28,320
talking about that distilling that
cinnamon and basil you did it all on this..

94
00:05:28,320 –> 00:05:30,960
Alex: So it’s many batches but you know

95
00:05:32,720 –> 00:05:34,591
Alex: doesn’t have to be that fancy-

96
00:05:34,591 –> 00:05:37,924
Suzanne: so what do you say about, you know, because I feel like some distillers say like..

97
00:05:37,924 –> 00:05:44,443
Suzanne: ‘This creates a better flavor, a better like… and as soon as you start using automation you lose some of that

98
00:05:44,443 –> 00:05:50,785
Suzanne: So how do you like…how do you think about like the balance of like the art and the science, and like pros and cons?

99
00:05:51,079 –> 00:05:57,520
Alex: I will never attribute the flavor of one
process there’s so many steps

100
00:05:58,160 –> 00:06:04,649
Alex: um the still itself absolutely does contribute to flavor. Uh…and…

101
00:06:05,520 –> 00:06:10,278
Alex: you know you’re, how you run it, is gonna impact um…

102
00:06:10,480 –> 00:06:13,710
Suzanne: something like this takes a lot of
effort and energy and paying attention, right?

103
00:06:13,710 –> 00:06:16,055
Alex: Right, yeah. We have to pay a little more attention to that. Uh…

104
00:06:16,480 –> 00:06:20,960
when we’re running it and we don’t do it
all the time have a library of botanical

105
00:06:20,960 –> 00:06:26,295
distillates, that we’ve done on this just when we have that…those flavors ready to go

106
00:06:27,435 –> 00:06:30,800
Alex: Umm, uh, but really I think
the flavor inputs

107
00:06:31,680 –> 00:06:35,271
Alex: starches with the grain itself a little bit of water

108
00:06:35,271 –> 00:06:37,836
Alex: where the grain is grown…uh..

109
00:06:38,560 –> 00:06:40,240
Alex: a variety of grain and

110
00:06:40,960 –> 00:06:46,736
Alex: you know, go from there
how are we handling the grain how are we milling…

111
00:06:46,736 –> 00:06:49,284
Alex: How we bring it in, how we it out, you know.

112
00:06:51,356 –> 00:06:56,523
Alex: The fermentation conditions, the yeast strain…

113
00:06:56,523 –> 00:06:57,917
Alex: Big inputs on flavor…

114
00:06:57,917 –> 00:06:58,417
Suzanne: Yeah

115
00:06:58,417 –> 00:07:03,327
Alex: Then, you get to distill…um, and then if you’re talking about Whiskey…its the barrel

116
00:07:03,327 –> 00:07:07,289
Alex: And thats going to be a big big piece of it

117
00:07:07,289 –> 00:07:13,037
[Upbeat Music]

118
00:07:13,037 –> 00:07:15,000
Suzanne: Alex that’s a sipping Vodka!

119
00:07:15,000 –> 00:07:16,470
Alex: Right?! Yes…

120
00:07:16,470 –> 00:07:21,188
Suzanne: And those are like…I am not a Vodka girl and but I love ‘Sipping Vodkas’ like

121
00:07:21,188 –> 00:07:22,812
Suzanne: So, I’m strange in a sense like I pretty much never

122
00:07:23,120 –> 00:07:26,240
Suzanne: order vodka cocktails I just
don’t really care for it that much

123
00:07:26,800 –> 00:07:31,601
Suzanne: but if I find a vodka like sipping on it
I really enjoy that over a beer.

124
00:07:31,760 –> 00:07:35,943
Evan: so do you attribute that the flavor
to the use of the Malted Rye?

125
00:07:35,943 –> 00:07:39,487
Alex: yeah the Malted Rye is a smaller component in
the batch, but the Rye itself…

126
00:07:39,487 –> 00:07:39,987
Evan: Good Rye!

127
00:07:40,000 –> 00:07:45,809
Alex: The Corn…is going to give a little sweetness…
there’s not too much corn but there is…

128
00:07:46,320 –> 00:07:50,286
Alex: about…trying to remember off the top of my head…28%?

129
00:07:51,680 –> 00:07:53,216
Alex: I sort of uh

130
00:07:54,320 –> 00:07:57,920
Alex: eyeball it at one point I set these up so that they

131
00:07:57,920 –> 00:08:00,181
would be representative of the batch bit-

132
00:08:00,181 –> 00:08:01,280
Suzanne: oh that’s fun! that’s a great idea

133
00:08:01,280 –> 00:08:04,299
Alex: So, the corn, rye, and then at the top just a little Malted Rye

134
00:08:04,299 –> 00:08:05,835
Suzanne: that’s a great idea to do that, I love that.

135
00:08:05,835 –> 00:08:08,880
Alex: My inspiration was twofold one I
wanted to go

136
00:08:08,880 –> 00:08:13,840
true to the roots of vodka and you’re going
back before potato before corn came to

137
00:08:13,840 –> 00:08:16,512
Europe and it was grains like Rye

138
00:08:16,512 –> 00:08:20,477
Suzanne: the mouth feel of your few spirits, man. I just don’t understand it I don’t know

139
00:08:20,477 –> 00:08:21,639
Alex: That’s that technicna-filter

140
00:08:22,371 –> 00:08:27,611
Suzanne: Yeah, like I just have a hard time on like…why aren’t other distillers doing that? That mouth feel is so fun!

141
00:08:27,611 –> 00:08:31,088
[Upbeat Music]

142
00:08:32,400 –> 00:08:36,160
Alex: So, okay. I filled this off the top it’s
been sitting for a little while

143
00:08:36,880 –> 00:08:41,360
it’s probably even higher proof than 88
because yeah we’ve got some separation

144
00:08:41,360 –> 00:08:43,760
occurring even in a tank that size um

145
00:08:44,320 –> 00:08:47,025
and again not filtered so…

146
00:08:47,025 –> 00:08:49,120
Evan: does the lack of filtration uh,

147
00:08:49,120 –> 00:08:53,957
Evan: encourage or like allow for
more stratification in the-

148
00:08:55,104 –> 00:08:56,611
Evan: Uh in the proof, from the top to the bottom?

149
00:08:56,611 –> 00:08:57,600
Alex: No uh…

150
00:08:57,600 –> 00:09:00,720
Alex: I mean we would mix the tank before we started filling it, and that would take

151
00:09:00,720 –> 00:09:02,165
care of that now the uh

152
00:09:04,560 –> 00:09:07,406
Alex: lack of filtration really is going to
allow

153
00:09:07,920 –> 00:09:16,747
Alex: some sediments from the botanicals
so after distillation, some of those oils will basically solidify.

154
00:09:16,747 –> 00:09:18,705
Suzanne: so it kind of falls on solutions

155
00:09:18,800 –> 00:09:23,200
Suzanne: I mean I’m super picky about Gin like, I prefer Gin

156
00:09:23,200 –> 00:09:26,419
In my martinis I prefer Gin to
Vodka but

157
00:09:26,800 –> 00:09:29,760
Suzanne: if they’re super Juniper heavy like I
have a hard time with that they taste

158
00:09:29,760 –> 00:09:33,920
like a Christmas tree and so I’m kind of
picky about them and your Gin is

159
00:09:33,920 –> 00:09:34,708
Suzanne: absolutely one of my favorites

160
00:09:34,708 –> 00:09:36,786
Alex: that’s definitely higher than 88.

161
00:09:37,520 –> 00:09:41,792
Alex: I should have mixed it up yeah yeah I
think so this is not how it’s going to be

162
00:09:42,762 –> 00:09:44,942
Alex: I mean it’s not so so different

163
00:09:44,942 –> 00:09:48,616
Evan: it’s not….102

164
00:09:48,616 –> 00:09:50,000
Alex: right, yeah yeah not the barrel-

165
00:09:50,000 –> 00:09:51,840
Evan: But it does feel like it’s got a *clears throat*
yeah

166
00:09:52,800 –> 00:09:55,520
Alex: So yeah I mean I just really stuck to
that top yeah

167
00:09:56,880 –> 00:10:00,000
Alex: these are some of them…they should be all of the botanicals…

168
00:10:00,000 –> 00:10:00,606
Suzanne: Yeah, I was wondering-

169
00:10:00,606 –> 00:10:02,320
Alex: this one was still…coming from

170
00:10:02,880 –> 00:10:08,378
Alex: Ohio…but now the same farm Lands End is growing the Appalachian spice

171
00:10:08,378 –> 00:10:08,988
Suzanne: Spice Bush?

172
00:10:08,988 –> 00:10:12,069
Alex: The American Spice Bush is
the other name so,

173
00:10:12,069 –> 00:10:12,679
Evan: but allspice…?

174
00:10:13,120 –> 00:10:14,006
Alex: So these, are our little dried out

175
00:10:14,006 –> 00:10:15,287
Suzanne: Appalachian Allspice, though!

176
00:10:15,287 –> 00:10:16,911
Alex: But, if you want to check it out

177
00:10:17,040 –> 00:10:19,280
Alex: I’d say break them up like this a little
bit okay

178
00:10:19,840 –> 00:10:24,664
Alex: uh it’s a little dry but
still getting this nice flavor, nice aroma…

179
00:10:24,664 –> 00:10:27,001
Suzanne: this seems unique too, Grains Of Paradise

180
00:10:27,001 –> 00:10:28,848
Suzanne: I don’t feel like I see that
in gin super often

181
00:10:28,848 –> 00:10:32,927
Alex: yeah, I mean it’s Grains Of Paradise come from Africa

182
00:10:33,520 –> 00:10:36,800
Alex: uh, and very peppery widely used

183
00:10:37,600 –> 00:10:42,960
Alex: pre-exploration to the Americas
and then the chile took over and you

184
00:10:42,960 –> 00:10:48,076
don’t see or hear about Grains Of
Paradise very much, commonly used in Hefeweizens

185
00:10:48,076 –> 00:10:50,900
Alex: even Blue Moon has Grains Of Paradise on their-

186
00:10:50,900 –> 00:10:54,618
[Upbeat Music]

187
00:10:55,680 –> 00:11:00,640
Alex: the cask strength Rye came out uh last uh…September

188
00:11:00,640 –> 00:11:03,082
Suzanne: your Rye is already
pretty high proof isn’t it?

189
00:11:03,082 –> 00:11:09,200
Alex: it’s 95 okay and our Bourbon is 94. so yeah up there
and then the Bottled in Bond Bourbon

190
00:11:09,200 –> 00:11:13,840
Alex: which yeah sold out very very quickly
came out in January

191
00:11:15,200 –> 00:11:22,761
Alex: So, yeah 144 bottles total on the Bourbon
and 186 on the Rye.

192
00:11:22,761 –> 00:11:30,000
Suzanne: the flavor of the Rye though comes through crazily on that yeah

193
00:11:31,840 –> 00:11:32,800
Alex: and again um

194
00:11:35,920 –> 00:11:40,000
Suzanne: there’s the like the malty, creamy

195
00:11:41,200 –> 00:11:44,800
Suzanne: like it’s not like, I feel like a lot of
times past strength is just like hot

196
00:11:44,800 –> 00:11:48,560
Suzanne: enough you can’t get past it and you
can’t get flavor and that is like

197
00:11:49,520 –> 00:11:52,880
Suzanne: flavorful you know make a beautiful impression

198
00:11:53,760 –> 00:11:58,184
Suzanne: we’re constantly telling people, ’cause cask strength but like the…whatever and we’re like

199
00:11:58,184 –> 00:12:00,358
Suzanne: I really believe like higher proof

200
00:12:00,358 –> 00:12:04,160
Suzanne: is better for cocktails like I just I
just feel like it shows up more it holds

201
00:12:04,160 –> 00:12:07,680
its own it doesn’t get lost with all the
other like flavors in there and that

202
00:12:07,680 –> 00:12:10,612
would make a beautiful Manhattan or Old Fashion

203
00:12:11,520 –> 00:12:15,760
Alex: Our Standard Bourbon is a blend of
both the styles that we distill so we

204
00:12:15,760 –> 00:12:18,720
Alex: distill high Rye and we distill a wheated Bourbon

205
00:12:19,360 –> 00:12:22,720
Alex: after aging separately we blend them back

206
00:12:23,360 –> 00:12:27,600
and so we make a four grain Bourbon. So the Hickory King corn that white

207
00:12:28,320 –> 00:12:30,080
kerneled corn I was talking about
earlier

208
00:12:30,960 –> 00:12:33,920
that heirloom that has grown for us on
all three farms now

209
00:12:35,600 –> 00:12:38,880
and uh…Rye, Malted Rye

210
00:12:39,520 –> 00:12:43,840
Wheat and Malted Barley
but this one was only a single barrel

211
00:12:44,480 –> 00:12:48,080
and it was a High Rye so there’s
none of the Wheat and there’s none of

212
00:12:48,080 –> 00:12:51,120
the Malted Barley. We had a really fun

213
00:12:51,120 –> 00:12:54,240
virtual release party for this back in January

214
00:12:54,240 –> 00:12:54,740
Suzanne: Fun!

215
00:12:54,800 –> 00:12:56,160
Alex: Um, we had

216
00:12:56,800 –> 00:13:00,320
there’s a local group called the Whiskey Library of DC so we had one of a couple of

217
00:13:00,320 –> 00:13:03,280
Alex: those guys on and we had

218
00:13:04,080 –> 00:13:08,160
Alex: um there’s a fantastic uh bar in DC called

219
00:13:08,160 –> 00:13:10,000
Alex: ‘Jack Rose’ uh it’s

220
00:13:10,800 –> 00:13:12,880
Alex: a Temple to Whiskey…to all kinds of
Whiskey

221
00:13:14,320 –> 00:13:18,080
Alex: you want to taste something really
unique that’s where to go

222
00:13:19,040 –> 00:13:22,720
Alex: and so Bill from there came oh well he
didn’t come…he was at his house we were

223
00:13:22,720 –> 00:13:26,720
Alex: doing it all virtually uh and yeah we just

224
00:13:27,520 –> 00:13:29,760
Alex: had a good time talking about it how we
make it and

225
00:13:31,280 –> 00:13:34,720
Alex: also you know it’s
the Standard Release of Bourbon

226
00:13:35,360 –> 00:13:38,720
Alex: started at two years old
and now our Standard Bourbon is about

227
00:13:38,720 –> 00:13:42,320
Alex: three and a half uh the most recent batch that we uh we

228
00:13:42,320 –> 00:13:45,654
Alex: just bottled last week this would be
three and a half um…

229
00:13:45,654 –> 00:13:48,152
Suzanne: two years is the definition for
straight?

230
00:13:48,152 –> 00:13:48,720
Alex: yep exactly

231
00:13:49,360 –> 00:13:53,792
Alex: and then um Bottle and Bond has to be 4 and this over 5

232
00:13:53,792 –> 00:13:56,640
Suzanne: Well, we are so grateful for your time and

233
00:13:56,640 –> 00:14:01,720
we you know we already we already knew
we loved your spirits but it was so fun to come back and try-

234
00:14:01,720 –> 00:14:03,177
Evan: try a few more that we
haven’t tried

235
00:14:03,760 –> 00:14:08,102
Suzanne: to see your production facility be here in person, instead of just seeing pictures of it!

236
00:14:08,102 –> 00:14:09,827
Suzanne: That sure was fun, so thank you

237
00:14:10,334 –> 00:14:23,300
[Upbeat Music]