Getting Into the Spirits: New Opportunity in NYS Distilleries

By Bond Brungard

ACCORD – For many years, Arrowwood Farms has been known for its brewing of tasty ales and lagers with its locally sourced grains and homegrown hops, and the live music to accompany its beer.

 But in 2020 Arrowood’s offerings expanded to spirits, and dry gin and vodka have helped lead the way to a 40 percent sales increase in spirits in the last year, according to Justin Markham, Arrowood’s distiller. 

Distilling generated more than $700 million in statewide tourism revenue, according to report from 2022. And Ulster County distillers, along with others in the Hudson Valley, are enjoying the benefits of the region’s natural beauty as a draw by offering their locally crafted spirits. Recently, as distillers statewide feared weakening markets, New York state helped its distillers and cider and mead makers when Gov. Kathy Hochul signed a law allowing them to ship their products directly to consumers in-state and across state lines.

Justin Markham, Arrowood

The region has many distilleries that saddle both sides of the Hudson River. In Ulster County, Gardiner is host to Tuthilltown Spirits Distillery, a regional distilling pioneer. Farther upstream on the Wallkill River, Coppersea Distilling in New Paltz has a tasting room open Friday-Saturday. West Park has the Hudson House and Distillery and in Saugerties’ village business district, the Catskill Mountain Moonshine Company is open Thursday-Sunday.

 At Arrowood, 75 percent of the ingredients come from New York farmers and 100 percent of rye, wheat and barley are grown in the Hudson Valley. Other ingredients such as citrus and the juniper, for its London-style dry gin, are obtained from warmer regions in the country. And unlike some distillers that get their alcohol base from mass distillers, Markham uses his knowledge to do that here in the Catskill foothills. “We’re making everything right here,” he said, “we’re making everything in-house.”

Markham began his career in distilling as a home brewer. After learning how to brew beer, Markham learned the craft of distilling and built a distillery in his garage. That led to one job at another Ulster County before becoming Arrowood’s distiller and the lone maker of gin, vodka, bourbon and whiskey.“For me, being the only person on the floor,” he said, “it is pretty busy.”

 Markham is busy doing a batch a day, up from two batches a week a few months ago. And Arrowood’s best-selling vodka, distilled from wheat, and gin has Markham trying to meet demand as sales increase. “The still is running everyday,” he said. “The whole process starts with taking grains from our silos in the back, milling them into our brew system, and that’s where we’ll take our hot water and incorporate grain to release the starches of the grain. The starches, when we add enzymes, will create sugar. And sugar is what we need to create alcohol.” 

The sugar-rich mash is pumped to a fermenter, where yeast will be added for a three-day fermenting period to become rich with alcohol. The alcohol is next sent to a still and boiled. The boiling alcohol turns into a vapor and then pumped to condenser of cold water. “When the vapor hits the cold water,” he said, “and condenses into a liquid.” And that liquid is the alcohol for the base needed to make vodka and gin with its added ingredients.

Arrowood’s rye whiskey and bourbon, with rye, corn and barley, require a pair of distillations. During the first distillation the mash is stripped of its alcohol, oils and other ingredients that were part of the fermentation. That is called a strip, and it returns for a second distillation to create potable alcohol. And finally after the process of adding and filtering ingredients, the whiskey and bourbon, with the farm’s spring water, is put into American oak barrels and aged for two years before being bottled for sale. And this process, careful in thought and design, gives craft distillers, like Arrowood, homemade, onsite specialties, as opposed, Markham noted, to mass distillers who provide the alcohol for spirits to be flavored onsite at tasting rooms or other retail settings.

(Photo by Bond Brungard)