Craft. Craft Brewery. Craft Distillery. Craft is such a cute word, it’s no wonder any business that is merely just small, quaint, or limited in production reaches for the word. “Craft beer” is such a ubiquitous term (and product) in so many pubs and bars now, it’s at risk of losing its meaning. Thankfully, in certain distilling circles, the term “craft” does take on meaningful significance. The Craft Distillers Guild of British Columbia is one such circle, and The Liberty Distillery in Vancouver is one such distillery. Located on Granville Island in the middle of the city, The Liberty Distillery is a perfect example of all that is right in the craft distilling world.
The legislation that triggered so much (legal) craft distilling in North America was passed in Washington in 2007 and legislation to distil on this scale in British Columbia was passed in 2013. The Liberty Distillery was officially founded in 2010 and was a carefully planned and well-executed venture. It officially opened its doors to the public on 29th November, 2013. Aged spirits such as grain whiskey are part of the picture (with several works in progress), but ready-to-bottle gins and vodkas also make up the portfolio, thus generating steady revenue.
In order to qualify for and maintain the Guild’s craft status, the distillery has to abide by the requirements of British Columbia’s Craft Manufacturing Agreement, which the Guild lobbied the Provincial Government to secure the terms of. Some of the more interesting requirements this imposes are:
- The distillery must ferment on site using traditional methods.
- Annual production cannot exceed 50,000 litres. (Compare this with Scotland, where even the smallest of the commercial distilleries pump out around 100,000 litres).
- All grain and materials must be non-genetically modified and 100% raw materials locally grown in British Columbia. In the case of a distillery located in Vancouver, where certain grains are not widely or commercially farmed, this can present challenges. It is also of significance, because these requirements effectively forbid the distillery from purchasing Neutral Grain Spirit – a shortcut that distilleries who are not members of the Guild can take. In this sense, Liberty Distillery considers itself true craft!
The facility or building itself presents as two distinct halves. The first is a cocktail lounge and cellar door (a story in itself, but more on that later), and the second is the production area. The production area is physically small, but nicely captures all stages of production. There is no mill on site, and all grain arrives pre-milled from the supplier. Interestingly, the distillery chooses to use unmalted grain, and so an enzyme is added to the mash to assist fermentation. The primary grains utilised are Hard Red wheat and 100% organic hull-less unmalted barley grown in Armstrong, BC. The distillery has also undertaken campaigns using rye and oat, and a few casks have been laid down that were distilled from malted barley.
In a small set up where flexibility is the key, the distillery has some unique practices – certainly when compared to more traditional or larger scale distilleries. One such example is the 1,800 litre mashtun, which also doubles as a fermenter! Three additional fermenters sit immediately adjacent to the mashtun. Fermentation times obviously vary depending on what is being brewed, and range from four to six days.
Click on each of the thumbnails below for more detailed photos of each element.
Immediately in front of the fermenters sit “the twins”. This is the business end of the distillery and – again – highlights the distillery’s flexibility. There are two copper pot stills, one being a traditional pot still (steam jacket heated), whilst the other is an alembic still. The stills were handmade by CARL in Germany, and both can be connected to traditional shell-and-tube condensers, although the alembic can also be connected up to the rectifying columns. (There are sixteen plates in total, although the rectifier has been split into two columns of eight sitting side by side, simply to fit under the ceiling!). Such columns obviously aren’t seen at conventional malt whisky distilleries, but serve to refine and purify the alcohols to higher concentrations – a key requirement for their vodka production, which comes off at 94-96% ABV.
Showing further the distillery’s ingenuity and flexibility, the gin is produced by taking the unused fractions of the vodka runs. These are then filled into the pot still, where the botanicals are then added, and the spirit is re-distilled.
And finally, off in the corner is a small, secured area with a number of barrels stacked and quietly slumbering. A number of casks are also maturing offsite at a separate warehousing facility in nearby Richmond. Spirit is being filled into ex-Jack Daniels casks, Kentucky bourbon barrels, and also French Oak.
The cocktail lounge and cellar door is a beautifully appointed and equipped area. One wall features a large glass window that looks directly into the production area, so you can see the magic taking place. However, ignoring the gleaming copper stills for a moment, the most striking feature is a wonderful timber bar and back bar. One’s first impression is that it is all an amazing replica or faux period piece, but the truth is so much richer. The back bar is circa 1905 and came from a hotel in Philadelphia. When Prohibition came along in 1920, the back bar was boarded over to conceal it from disapproving eyes. The buried treasure was subsequently forgotten about until the building was being torn down almost a century later. The demolition crew stripped out the falsework and subsequently discovered the timber back bar intact! The front bar / counter shares a similar aged history: Originally from Weatherford, Texas, it dates back to 1895, and had assumed a new life in a retail shop in a small town in the USA before being re-purposed for The Liberty Distillery.
The distillery’s vodkas (there are both wheat and oat variants) are bottled under the name “Truth”; the gins (again, there are several variants) are bottled under the name “Endeavour”, and their white whiskies (and partially aged whiskey) are bottled under the name “Railspur”. Any good distillery tour should finish with a tasting, and Liberty obliges with a selection of their wares.
On the day of Whisky & Wisdom’s visit, the offerings were the Truth Vodka (distilled from wheat), Railspur No. 1 (triple-distilled unaged spirit from unmalted barley), the regular Endeavour Gin (triple distilled from wheat and using 10 botanicals to create a London dry style gin), and Railspur No. 3 “Spike” which is the aged grain spirit, although – being less than three years old – not yet legally able to called whiskey.
With three years being the minimum age before spirit can legally be called whiskey in Canada, Liberty’s first true grain whiskey has only just been bottled. Bottled under the name “Trust”, it is triple distilled, with all three distillations carried out sequentially in the traditional pot still.
To taste, the vodka was impressively clean, smooth, and yet still detailed and complex, with a wonderfully creamy texture and hints of citrus spray. The gin similarly impressed, with the botanicals adding lush herbaceous and fruit notes. This is a gin I’d happily drink neat or simply over ice – no need for mixing here.
But this is Whisky & Wisdom, so it’s the grain whisk(e)y that was our main focus. The unaged spirit (aka white dog) was suitably fragrant, but much drier and cleaner than the many more perfumed and cereal-heavy new make spirits from Scotland that I’ve played with over the years. Texturally, it was clean, balanced, and – strangely – ready to drink! The Railspur No. 3 (aged, but not yet three years old) showed significant input from the oak and demonstrated the journey is clearly headed in the right direction. Being triple distilled and from unmalted barley, the whiskey sits in a unique stretch on the whisk(e)y flavour spectrum, and offers a refreshing take on grain spirit for those who are accustomed to the mainstream styles from, say, Scotland.
All spirits tasted were clean, fragrant, well-integrated and simply spoke of quality. In distilling terms, size does not matter, and this small little distillery is producing world class spirit. For those visiting Vancouver, a visit to The Liberty Distillery is a must. The cocktail lounge and retail showroom is open from 11.00am seven days a week, and tours of the distillery are available on Saturdays and Sundays at 11.30am and 1.30pm. The tour and tasting costs $10 and goes for an hour. However, there are plenty of other attractions and activities to keep you amused on Granville Island, so allow at least half a day for your visit.
Cheers,
AD
The Liberty Distillery is located at 1494 Old Bridge Road, Granville Island, Vancouver, BC V6H 3S6. Phone 1 (604) 558-1998.
PS: You might also like our article, The whisky lover’s travel guide to Whistler
