Kings County Distillery Tour
A rare occurrence: a restaurant professional having a Saturday off. What to do? What to do?
Visit a distillery, of course! At that — the only (and self-touted oldest) whiskey distillery in NYC! (It opened in April 2010)
Whilst scouring the internet and checking up on statuses of my ever-growing list of bookmarks, I happened on the “Weekend Fare” blog post by Bao Ong on the NYT Diner’s Journal Blog. Normally I’ll take a peek at what’s being offered this weekend for “normal” people with “normal” hours who luxuriate in two days off in a row on a weekly basis and enviously drool over “free-this” and “$3-that” while I am parting my hair just so and preparing for a shift full of pouring wine, organizing silverware and dealing with egos of varying sizes and intensities all the while maintaining composure in front of my tables…end rant.
This Saturday, suffice it to say, was different. I was able to hobnob with the 9-5ers and take Mr. Ong up on his suggestion of visiting the Kings County Distillery for their free tour and $3 tastings of whiskey.
Conveniently located in East Williamsburg, I hopped on the L train and took it in an unfamiliar direction 3 stops and arrived in a less populated, more spacious area of Brooklyn with more warehouses than hipsters. Needless to say it was slightly disorienting. Fortunately, upon arriving at Meadow Street and Bogart Street I saw a small diaspora of mustachioed gentlemen and unique-haircut-sporting ladies, which I found soothing. I had arrived.
I asked my fellow journeymen and women if they, too, had seen the blurb on the Diner’s Journal Blog. “No.” They hadn’t. And they stated as such with a slight scoff. I felt home.
Upon arriving on the second floor of this warehouse cum office space, aromas of sour, grainy liquid filled the air, reminiscent of dog walking trips past the Brooklyn Brewery. Essentially in whiskey making, you first have to make a crude beer, in this case, corn beer.
I was surprised by the amount of people inside this relatively small office space. And also the fact that this was an office space. It just wasn’t what I pictured a distillery would look like. It had more of an air of Google meets university chemistry experimentation. Needless to say, it was inspiring in its simplicity and raw, American small business spirit.
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What I found particularly inspiring is that the distillery appears very adept at getting rid of waste in a smart, economical fashion. For example, a local farmer who sells pork sausage at the Union Square Greenmarket picks up their spent mash with which he’ll feed his pigs. Spent, cute, tiny oak barrels hailing from Minnesota are for sale at a reasonable price of $75. Home and craft beer brewers have been their main market. I thought it would be cool to buy one and use it to age cocktails for the restaurant I work at, à la Jeffrey Morgenthaler of Eugene, OR. They also have in the store room, alongside the 3000 lbs of corn they receive monthly, cocoa husks given to them by Mast Brothers, gourmet chocolatiers also located in Brooklyn. Admittedly, they don’t have any specific plans for them yet, but they’re excited about the prospects of chocolate whiskey. Needless to say, I’m sure plenty of mixologists are too.
The tour was brief and relatively elementary. The nervousness of the tour guide and lack of preparation only added to the charm of this small, upstart distillery. Opening in only April of 2010, they have very few products on the market. Namely an unaged corn whiskey, also referred to as Moonshine or White Dog, chiefly among them. They’ve also recently started to market a Bourbon Whiskey (currently only available for sale at the distillery). And if you think Bourbon can only come from Kentucky, it’s interesting to note the legal requirements for this historic American beverage.
Prices can be a bit steep. 350ml flasks of Bourbon are $45. The distillery regrettably admits the prices are more expensive than they would like them to be, but this doesn’t seem to slow the hoard of consumers willing to support local artisans. They are continuously selling out of all the shops that carry their whiskeys, all the while operating at full capacity.
If you would like to take a tour or purchase some of their products, you can find all the information you could ever possibly want (short of the meaning of life and the origins of the universe) here.
