2008 Woodie Awards
Alcohol law allows small-scale distilling
Alex Haueter
Issue date: 2/6/08 Section: Features
Zac Triemert is pretty excited about starting his new job. He'll still drive to the same place and work closely with many of the same people, but Upstream Brewing Co.'s current brew master is only months away from pioneering a new industry in Nebraska: hard liquor.
Last March's passing of LB549 has opened the doors for Triemert's new venture in Nebraska. The law allows for the establishment of microdistilleries, previously illegal in Nebraska. Licensed distillers will be allowed to produce up to 10,000 gallons of spirits a year and sell the alcohol directly to the public, allowing locally-made liquors to be made and sold similarly to wine and microbrewed beer.
Triemert helped State Sen. John Synowiecki, promote the law, and Triemert and other brewers at Upstream are taking advantage of the new law. Triemert said he and his associates at Upstream are the only people in Nebraska he knows of to have made plans for a distillery.
Even though many Nebraskan breweries have restaurants and distributors in place that could help them establish spirits brands, the lure of distilling isn't that strong among most brewers.
"We just don't have any interest in getting into that part of the business," said Jim Engelbart, the marketing and production manager at Lincoln's Empyrean Brewing Co. because distilling is a different, and potentially more dangerous, process compared to brewing.
"You have to have people who are interested in doing that to get into it."
Triemert is into it. In 2006, he completed a master's degree in brewing and distilling in Scotland at Edinburgh's Heriot-Watt University.
"What really got this off the ground is my passion for a single-malt whisky," Triemert said.
Triemert's new venture, Solas Distillery, will operate in an expansion of Upstream's West Omaha location, and its products will be sold alongside the brewery's beer in the restaurant. Triemert said he expects the construction of the new distillery to begin in May, and he hopes to be pouring his first liquors by next fall.
"We're going to be able to make premium spirits right out of the gate," Triemert said. "We're not going to need time to figure it out."
Solas will initially release a vodka and a light rum, which will be followed about a year later by a brandy, whisky, dark rum and gin.
Triemert cited his plans for high-class alcohol as examples of Solas' commitment in making quality spirits. The gin could be ready from the onset alongside the vodka and light rum, but Triemert said he wants to take a year to make a well-balanced gin that won't be dominated by a juniper taste.
The distillery's dark rum will be a Cuban-style rum, which Triemert said a lot of Americans haven't been exposed to. For his new brandy, he will start with a French wine.
"It'll really set us apart from other brandy makers in the U.S.," he said.
Given Triemert's affinity for fine whiskey and his time spent in Scotland, Solas' crown jewel will likely be its single-malt whisky.
Triemert's time in Scotland yielded not only know-how on distilling but also connections with equipment makers. The stills he'll be using at Solas are being constructed right now by the same company that builds industrial-sized stills for Glenrothes, a Scotch whisky Triemert called his favorite.
Holding a small glass of Hanger One vodka to the light in his laboratory at Upstream, Triemert explained the standard he'll be holding all of his microdistilled liquor to:
"If you can drink it straight and warm, that's a great spirit."
alexhaueter@dailynebraskan.com
Last March's passing of LB549 has opened the doors for Triemert's new venture in Nebraska. The law allows for the establishment of microdistilleries, previously illegal in Nebraska. Licensed distillers will be allowed to produce up to 10,000 gallons of spirits a year and sell the alcohol directly to the public, allowing locally-made liquors to be made and sold similarly to wine and microbrewed beer.
Triemert helped State Sen. John Synowiecki, promote the law, and Triemert and other brewers at Upstream are taking advantage of the new law. Triemert said he and his associates at Upstream are the only people in Nebraska he knows of to have made plans for a distillery.
Even though many Nebraskan breweries have restaurants and distributors in place that could help them establish spirits brands, the lure of distilling isn't that strong among most brewers.
"We just don't have any interest in getting into that part of the business," said Jim Engelbart, the marketing and production manager at Lincoln's Empyrean Brewing Co. because distilling is a different, and potentially more dangerous, process compared to brewing.
"You have to have people who are interested in doing that to get into it."
Triemert is into it. In 2006, he completed a master's degree in brewing and distilling in Scotland at Edinburgh's Heriot-Watt University.
"What really got this off the ground is my passion for a single-malt whisky," Triemert said.
Triemert's new venture, Solas Distillery, will operate in an expansion of Upstream's West Omaha location, and its products will be sold alongside the brewery's beer in the restaurant. Triemert said he expects the construction of the new distillery to begin in May, and he hopes to be pouring his first liquors by next fall.
"We're going to be able to make premium spirits right out of the gate," Triemert said. "We're not going to need time to figure it out."
Solas will initially release a vodka and a light rum, which will be followed about a year later by a brandy, whisky, dark rum and gin.
Triemert cited his plans for high-class alcohol as examples of Solas' commitment in making quality spirits. The gin could be ready from the onset alongside the vodka and light rum, but Triemert said he wants to take a year to make a well-balanced gin that won't be dominated by a juniper taste.
The distillery's dark rum will be a Cuban-style rum, which Triemert said a lot of Americans haven't been exposed to. For his new brandy, he will start with a French wine.
"It'll really set us apart from other brandy makers in the U.S.," he said.
Given Triemert's affinity for fine whiskey and his time spent in Scotland, Solas' crown jewel will likely be its single-malt whisky.
Triemert's time in Scotland yielded not only know-how on distilling but also connections with equipment makers. The stills he'll be using at Solas are being constructed right now by the same company that builds industrial-sized stills for Glenrothes, a Scotch whisky Triemert called his favorite.
Holding a small glass of Hanger One vodka to the light in his laboratory at Upstream, Triemert explained the standard he'll be holding all of his microdistilled liquor to:
"If you can drink it straight and warm, that's a great spirit."
alexhaueter@dailynebraskan.com
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