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Black Button Distilling

The Whiskey is Back

By localfocus

Whiskey makes a comeback

The whiskey is flowing again in Rochester, New York. Almost 100 years since Prohibition and the temperance movement colluded to extinguish a once-thriving liquor industry, Black Button Distilling, founded by president and head distiller Jason Barrett, has become the first legal distillery in Rochester to fire up a still since Prohibition ended in 1933. Launched in 2013 and open for business at the beginning of 2014, Black Button Distilling is at the forefront of a small but growing army of microdistilleries taking advantage of recent legislation designed to ease restrictions and encourage market entry into the expanding craft spirits industry.

“New legislation and the growing farm-to-table movement have been hugely influential in our very existence,” says Barrett. “People really care about what’s in the bottle and where it comes from. They want to be much more involved in what they choose to support and purchase. Food provides a unique opportunity to do that.”

Prior to Prohibition, some 12 distilleries and distributors had made their business home in Rochester. Of these, Walter B.Duffy and Company, which later became the Rochester Distilling Company, owned and ran one of the largest cider mills in the world. Its whiskies - Maryland Star, Rochester and Duffy’s Pure Malt Whiskey - were eventually marketed across the United States as heart tonics and remedies for pneumonia and consumption in an effort to escape penal federal laws. The company which also adopted a ‘bearded scientist’ logo and gave away Duffy-branded medicine spoons finally succumbed to government restrictions and permanently closed its doors in 1926.

Until 2007, when the New York State Farm Distillery Act was passed, barriers to re-entry in the industry had remained prohibitively high. In fact, in 2003, there were only 69 craft distilleries in the entire US with distilled spirit plant licenses issued by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau. According to the American Distilling Institute, it now has 400 registered craft distillery members and expects to see this number rise to 800 in the US and Canada by the end of 2015. In New York State, there are some 71 craft distilleries producing more than 50,000 bottles of distilled spirits a year, on a par with Tennessee and Washington State. In addition to the Farm Distillery Act, new legislation known as the Craft Act was passed by the New York State Assembly in June 2014 and signed into law by Governor Cuomo at the end of the same year.

“The new Craft Act is extremely significant,” says Barrett. “The last major piece of legislation in 2007 allowed us to exist but didn’t give us the benefit of being able to serve alcohol on the premises. Our ability to now hold private events and parties allows us to tap into a whole new revenue stream.”

He says the distillery will continue to expand its collaboration with local partners to offer event packages that will appeal to a range of customers. Partners already include The Little Bleu Cheese Shop and Hedonist Artisan Chocolates. In addition, products from Heron Hill Winery, Rohrbach Brewing Company, Abandon Brewing Company and Leonard Oakes Estate Winery - supplier of Steampunk Cider - are carried in Black Button’s tasting room. Up until the new legislation, craft distillers were only permitted to serve tasting pours of up to three one-quarter ounce shots.

“We can now look at creating a real drinks menu including actual cocktails,” says Barrett. “We must serve drinks made only with our own spirits but it’s a huge step in the right direction. People don’t just want to taste alcohol at a party. They actually want to order a drink.”

The new law not only gives emerging distilleries an alternative revenue source to keep operating while their spirits adequately mature but also makes good economic sense for the state. Barrett says: “The tax revenue for New York State here is enormous. More than the cost of grain or bottles, the taxes are the number one cost of alcohol.”

local roots and a deep heritage

While Black Button Distilling works hard to establish itself in the re-emerging world of whiskey production, the fledgling company actually already has deep roots in Rochester. In fact, its name is a deliberate nod to four generations of family ties to the area and associated button manufacturing. His great-grandfather, an associate of Schantz and Associates, importer of high-end buttons from Europe and sister company of Moses B. Schantz, button manufacturer, eventually bought out the remaining partners and kept the name to ensure brand recognition. Schantz Associates, still synonymous with quality buttons, and located in Victor, New York, continues to supply buttons to leading names such as Hickey Freeman, Tommy Hilfiger, Vera Wang and Land’s End. It is now the only remaining button manufacturer in the area, down from an all-time high of 19 button factories, most of which thrived during World War II but which went out of business once military contracts for uniforms plummeted. Barrett says that, as a kid, he would often go to the button factory to sort buttons, an activity he performed extremely poorly. “It turned out that I was color blind”, he said, “and the family joke was that if I ever took over the business, we would only produce black buttons.” But Barrett, who subsequently adopted the black button moniker for his business, says his early experience at the factory had a huge impact on him.

“I really felt a connection to the past. We live in an era where the biggest companies are software and app companies. That just isn’t me,” he says. “I wanted to create a product with my own hands - a tangible, physical, crafted product and that desire came from my personal connection to the button factory.”

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A UNIQUE DESTINATION

Located in a renovated manufacturing facility built in 1890 for the Bartholomew Brothers Window and Door Company, Black Button Distilling continues to create links between the old and the new. By installing four huge picture windows that showcase the company’s still and production equipment from the tasting room, Barrett says his intention is to provide a distinction between ‘craft’ and ‘small’.

“Our whole goal here is to create a craft product,” he says. “Just like my family’s emphasis on quality over quantity in the button industry, I want to distinguish Black Button Distilling from just another small producer. There is nothing good about being small unless you’re unique and we strive to be just that. Most importantly, I want to show that there is nothing to hide. We stand behind what we do and what people see is the real deal.”

Black Button Distilling leases its 5,000 square foot space from its neighbor and landlord next door, Rohrbach Brewing Company, and is just steps away from the Rochester Public Market. In continuous operation since 1905, the market covers over 9 acres and is undergoing extensive redevelopment of its former warehouse buildings. Drawing more than 1.5 million shoppers annually, the area has become the epicenter of the growing farm-to-table movement in Rochester.

“We made a conscious decision to locate ourselves amongst like-minded people,” says Barrett. “This whole area has become a gathering point for people who want to be more engaged in their food and take a real interest in how it’s produced. At Black Button, we really emphasize the flavor and quality of our spirits and that appeals to customers looking for a unique experience.”

Visitors to the distillery can stop in for a tasting at its 30-foot granite bar, take a tour of the facility and purchase items from a full line of Black Button products including limited-release bottles, glassware, books and cocktail mixes, bitters and handcrafted elixirs.

Their Bourbon Barrel Aged Syrup has quickly become a customer favorite. Made by the Woods VT Syrup Company, a third-generation family-owned farm in Central Vermont, the premium syrup is aged in used barrels from Black Button Distilling and is characterized by vanilla, caramel and oak from the wood and a spicy bourbon taste from the previously aged spirit.

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Also proving popular are the distillery’s Barrel Club programs. Depending on the level of ‘sponsorship’, members can buy a full or part-barrel of bourbon along with a range of benefits including a personally-branded 30-gallon barrel of the spirit, signature bottles and special invitations to distillery-related events.

Black Button Distillery’s growing appeal as a unique destination is further enhanced by Barrett’s decision to retain many of the building’s distinctive features during renovation. All of the original single-pane windows have been left in place and enhanced with new storm windows, providing additional insulation and protection. Much of the original woodwork - 100-year-old crossbeams and thick six-inch wide floors - has been stripped of decades of paint and beautifully restored to its original grain.

“This building has a lot of character and we wanted to work with that as much as possible,” says Barrett. “There were elements such as the old fire alarm system, for instance, which we couldn’t remove so we simply built our tasting room around it.”

The exposed sprinkler system has since become a focal feature of the bar and, in addition to the salvaged gas piping which make up the bar’s foot rails, adds an industrial vibe to the whole space. The hand-finished, three-dimensional look of the bar was achieved by deconstructing old Jack Daniel’s barrels and arranging the staves to form a giant jigsaw puzzle. Hardwood shelving and poured concrete floors further enhance the industrial look and feel. Also, as a reminder of the former rail yard and tracks which once formed part of the main freight terminal for the city almost a century before - Black Button Distilling is located at 85 Railroad Street - the bar features an original hand-painted railway sign for ‘Rochester’ from the main line between the city and Buffalo. A collection of antique bottles - one for each of the pre-Prohibition distilleries once doing business in Rochester - line a shelf above the bar and provide a direct link to Black Button’s past. The building, which is largely constructed of thick, soft red brick, is a perfect fit for his business says Barrett who has invested $1 million to get it up and running.

“Because this building had formerly been a factory - Bartholomew Brothers made high-end windows and doors for the big homes on East Avenue - there was a lot of open space and room to work with. That was important for the still and distillation equipment we planned to put in there. The column and beam construction allowed us to easily put in new walls, pour new floors and add the safety and drainage systems.”

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passion and partnership

Barrett says that sharing the 32,000 square foot building has been hugely beneficial to both Black Button Distilling and its neighbor and landlord, Rohrbach Brewing Company.

“We have developed a great synergistic relationship with Rohrbach,” says Barrett. “Similar customer demographics mean that there’s been an increase in the number of people coming to our tasting room and to their’s,” he says.

“In addition to that, we are working on some really exciting collaborative opportunities. Once we have used barrels to age our bourbon, they’ll go next door where Rohrbach will use them to make bourbon barrel-aged beer with porter and scotch ale. They’ll do this twice and then switch to a lighter beer, add lactobacillic acid and make sour beer. Right now, this is becoming a real niche-category beer with a very unique taste and profile.”

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Barrett says other potential plans include creating an all-malt whiskey by distilling Rohrbach beer which he says is ‘experimental’ at this stage and will not detract at all from his real focus which is to create unique, craft, grain-to-glass spirits.

“One of the most appealing aspects of this industry is the ability to make what you like in your own way and put your own stamp on it,” says Barrett.

“Better equipment and technology have certainly made the job a lot easier but the basic process of tasting spirits to decide what goes in or stays out remains the same as it’s always been.” Barrett says that his choice of distilling school played a major role in how he runs his business. A graduate of Dry Fly Distilling in Spokane, Washington, where he earned a master’s distilling certificate, he says the school merged the artistic side of making spirits with the practical aspects of running a business.

“At Black Button, we now consider ourselves craftsmen in our own right and will use our knowledge to apprentice other people who want to learn the trade. This is a very hands-on craft and the balance between what you do and how you do it is really important.”

Barrett says that getting that balance right between what you know and how to put your own spin on the end-product takes a lot of time, practice and passion. In fact, Barrett’s private collection of books on distilling, brewing and the speakeasy culture of the Prohibition era is one of the most extensive anywhere on the East Coast.

“It can take years to develop a taste profile of what appeals to you,” he says. “In my case, I ‘reverse-engineered’ what was in a bottle, figured out what I did and didn’t like and trained my palette to look for certain characteristics in a drink. We now know what taste profiles we are after and our focus is on producing spirits with flavor and quality.”

creating a craft product

At Black Button Distilling, that drive is evident throughout the entire grain-to-glass process. In accordance with New York State law, all ingredients are entirely locally-sourced. Corn, wheat and rye come from Edgewood Farms in Livingston County, overlooking Conesus Lake, while malted barley comes from Pioneer Malting in Rochester.

“We are very particular about where our ingredients come from,” says Barrett. “Making a craft product totally depends on the quality of the grain that goes into it and it has to be consistent, batch after batch, year after year otherwise the taste will change.”

Finding a farmer who was willing to allow them to be a partner in the growing process was vital he says.

“It wasn’t just the idea that we needed corn. We wanted wasabi corn which is red and oily, terrible for eating, but which makes a great corn whiskey. We also wanted a soft, white wheat for vodka and we wanted both grains to be ground to our exact specifications using our own custom screens in the mill.”

Once the grain is delivered to Black Button Distilling, it is mixed with water in the mash tun and transferred to a fermenter where yeast is added. The resulting liquid or wash is finally heated in the still and distilled in columns to produce unaged corn whiskey or moonshine, vodka and gin. The corn whiskey is further matured in charred American White Oak barrels to produce their signature bourbon. Barrett, as head distiller, is responsible for rectification or final tasting once initial distillation has taken place. Whiskey and gin are double-pot distilled while vodka undergoes three passes before final tasting.
“The whole process is really about boiling points and where to make cuts for the heads, hearts and tails,” says Barrett. “The equipment is extremely sensitive, allowing us to control boiling points to within one-tenth of a degree. The heads cut, where we are trying to remove methanol is done simply by the numbers. Methanol is explosive and corrosive and as there is no flavor gain from having it in the final product, we don’t need to sit and taste the liquid to be sure it’s gone. The next stage involves separating the ethanol and propanol and allowing just enough propanol to remain in the mix to add flavor and form the heart of the spirit. The tails cut is where we shut off the still, leaving only propanol and water.”

According to Barrett, developing a taste profile is fundamentally a matter of balancing overlapping concentrations of ethanol and propanol and he says a trained palette allows a distiller to judge just how much of the latter should be present.

“Deciding when to shut the still down really is a matter of personal taste,” he says. “I will taste the spirit every 15 minutes throughout the day and then every five minutes as we get closer to what we want.”

Barrett says that his goal is to train another production distiller to be able to handle final rectification and help produce the distinctive spirits they have already become known for. He recognizes, however, that this will take some time.

“Final tasting is really more obvious for wheat-based spirits such as gin or vodka but it’ll be at least another year before I don’t have to do all the tasting for the bourbon,” he says. “It needs to happen, however, from a practical point of view. If I get a cold for example, the whole production schedule has to be rearranged until I’m better. This is not a simple issue when we work 14-hour days for a vodka or gin run and 10 hours a day for bourbon.”

Another factor which significantly affects the taste of the final spirit is the still itself and again, according to Barrett, it was important to find a manufacturer who could customize equipment to Black Button Distilling’s exact specifications. The 300-gallon hybrid still and its associated distillation columns, comes from Artisan Distillers in Canada, and cost $100,000 to build and install. The cost, says Barrett is entirely justified when it comes to equipping your business with exactly what you want.

“Our still truly is one-of-a-kind as the shape of the entire still has a dramatic effect on the flavor of whiskey, in particular,” says Barrett. “The helmet at the top of the still, the shape and size of the bowl and the angle of attack of the run-off funnel were all critical items we wanted to control in order to produce a craft product. We use some 30 plates in the columns to make some very fine cuts and deliver an exceptionally clean spirit.”

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Even after installation, Barrett says they are still making modifications that didn’t make it into the design phase and work with a local metalworker to refine and ‘tweak’ the equipment. Proper maintenance of the equipment is vital to protect the company’s investment and to ensure that the stills and fermenters perform well for years to come. The copper elements are expected to last some 40 years or more with the tanker-grade steel components lasting more than a century.

DISTINCTIVE FLAVOR PROFILES

Black Button Distilling currently produces a range of four distinctive spirits: a four-grain bourbon containing corn, wheat, malted barley and rye, a traditional unaged corn whiskey or moonshine, a citrus-forward gin and a soft-wheat vodka.
“My drink of choice is a Manhattan,” says Barrett, “so this pretty well defined for me what I wanted our signature Black Button Bourbon to taste like and I didn’t want to carry around an extra bottle of rye to make it.”

Containing 60 percent corn, 20 percent wheat, 11 percent malted barley and 9 percent rye, the first bottles of Little Barrel Bourbon were released in November 2014. With the moonshine, Barrett says the intention was to create a very traditional, unaged corn whiskey with malted barley to round out the flavor profile. “Corn can be very harsh by itself and I like the 80 percent corn and 20 percent barley blend. We can play a little bit with that balance but what’s important here is running the spirit low and slow across the still and really tasting it.” says Barrett. In addition to its traditional moonshine which is considered a premium sipping whiskey, Black Button also produces a special Apple Pie Moonshine. At 40 percent proof, it’s made with real Western New York State fresh-pressed cider, unaged corn whiskey and cinnamon. Barrett says that after bourbon - the primary reason he launched Black Button Distilling - gin is the next most interesting spirit to work with. “Gin is a hard recipe to work with,” he says, “but it gives us a phenomenal opportunity to play with ingredients. Gin can contain up to 12 different botanicals and it’s not so much about what they are but rather how they interact with each other and shake hands in your mouth. I don’t care for a strong piney, juniper taste and citrus is at the other end of the taste profile for me. What makes our Citrus Forward Gin unique is the addition of some New York State Cascade hops together with a combination of other locally-sourced ingredients including juniper to add balance, lemon and orange peel, coriander, cardamon, grains of paradise, angelica root and anise.” That dedication to honing and refining their recipe has paid off. Black Button Distilling was awarded a bronze medal for its Citrus Forward Gin by the American Crafts Spirits Association at their 2015 competition last February.

While vodka should be colorless, odorless and tasteless, offering less opportunity to be creative, Barrett says the goal is to produce a clean, neutral spirit that still displays characteristics of the ingredients it was made with.

“We wanted to create a very smooth vodka but without the medicinal bite associated with traditional vodkas,” he said. “Ours is made with 80 percent wheat and 20 percent malted barley, both of which leave a subtle taste on the palette.”

Black Button Distilling also produces a Professional Proof Vodka. At 150 percent proof - their regular vodka, bourbon and gin are all 84 percent proof - this would normally be too strong for a typical drink but, when steeped and infused with fruits and spices, it can be added later to a drink to a create something quite unique.

“We really care about producing high-quality spirits that people want to drink at home,” says Barrett. “This is where people have the most control over what’s in their bar and what goes into their drinks. Customers want a much more personal experience when it comes to food and drink and this is creating demand for more distinctive liquor choices.”

Barrett adds that this trend will extend well beyond the home-bar and affect what people expect at restaurants and bars.

“There really is a movement back to local-source restaurants and bars serving a unique experience,” he says. “Bartenders and mixologists are increasingly being asked for craft cocktails and complex drinks of the pre-Prohibition era and it really is a matter of time before customers start specifying what gin they want in that G&T.”

He also believes that, like craft beers, spirit menus will eventually appear in bars as well as handcrafted gin and tonic flights just like those for beer.

GREAT EXPECTATIONS

While Barrett says that the craft distilling industry is some 10 to 15 years behind the craft beer movement and further still behind than wine, his expectations are high for industry growth and development. The distillery produces about 1,350 bottles a week, running three fermenters, and plans to begin running a fourth one in Spring 2015, doubling production to 2,700 bottles by June.

“When we moved in here, we planned for increased capacity,” he says “and already a year later, we are ready to tap a fourth fermenter. We have capacity for up to six and beyond that, we would need a new still and additional personnel.”

The company currently has five full-time employees and about 15 part-time bar and wait staff. With distribution in place for all of Long Island, New York City, the Hudson Valley, Upper New York State and Michigan, Barrett says plans are underway to expand distribution to Delaware, Maryland, Washington DC and Virginia.

“We are very excited about the distribution coverage we have and expect 2015 to be a busy year,” says Barrett. “By the end of this year, we will have our spirits in restaurants and stores from Chicago to DC and up through Maine and we intend to be in a position to meet that demand.”

But Barrett says that, even with expansion and growth, he is committed to ensuring that quality and craftsmanship remain key elements of his business.

“I believe real pleasure comes from the smaller things in life,” he says. “Bigger is not always better and that holds true for our small-run, grain-to-glass spirits. My approach to life and business is simple: Live large in small batches and have fun doing it.”