LOCALadk Magazine
Issue link: https://localadkmagazine.uberflip.com/i/613740
18 Winter 2015 LOCALadk Magazine LOCALadk The Gristmill Distillery By Julie Robards Leigh Campbell Nothing chases the chill away after a day of ice climbing like a good smooth whiskey. And so it was one evening in Keene, NY, that Keith Van Sise and his climbing buddies settled in to relax after a day on the cliffs. It wasn't long before their conversation turned to making moonshine. How hard could it be, after all? It required only a few ingredients, a copper still and a little know-how. The only drawback - it's illegal. That conversation, along with the growing popularity of small batch dis- tilled spirits, piqued Keith and his partner Stephanie Hadiks' interest. So they decided to look into applying for a NY State Farm Distillers License, and after more than a year of paperwork, they were approved. Thus began Gristmill Distillers – the Adirondacks' only whiskey, bourbon and brandy producer. The couple threw themselves into research, bypassed the middle men and imported their equipment directly from a foreign manufacturer to keep costs down. They set up the equipment in a timber frame building constructed on the family property just a few years earlier. Although modest in size, the operation is very efficient - the main area houses three 50 gallon fermentation tanks, a 50 gallon stainless steel mashtun (for cooking corn mash) and a handsome steel and copper still. The lower level of the building is used for storage and barrel aging. By 2014, Van Sise, Hadik and their crew - Tyler Eaton, Maxwell Eaton and Leigh Campbell, were in business. According to the stipulations of the NY State Farm Distillers license, all grain and fruit used in the making of alcohol must be sourced from within the state. Gristmill buys corn for whiskey at Adirondack Organic Grains in Essex and cider for apple brandy from Rulf's Orchard in Peru. Further- more, all the oak aging barrels are single handedly made by two local master coopers - Bob Hockert and Justin Bidelspach of U.S. Barrel in nearby Wilmington. (U.S. Barrel holds the distinction of being the first cooperage in the northeastern United States since Prohibition was re- pealed.) In February 2015, Gristmill released its first run of Rusty Piton Moonshine - 100% Organic Corn Whiskey. Rock climbing enthusiasts know that a pi-