Ready Set... Distill!
When Michigan banned deer baiting, Mark Moseler found himself wondering what happened to all the sugar beets that couldn’t be used any longer. Six years later, he’s found a tasty and unique way to repurpose them: vodka made from Michigan sugar beets.
Moseler is distiller, bottler, cleaner and managing member at Northern Latitudes Distillery in Lake Leelanau. His former identity as a history teacher might seem incongruous with his new career, but it was actually his love for research that helped him launch his new profession as he set to work learning the hows and whys of spirits.
Moseler entered his new vocation during a nationwide boom in micro-distilleries. "Six years ago, there were 80 nationwide," Moseler says. "And now, there are more than 1,000."
Though Michigan has the second-highest tax on distilled spirits in the country (after Washington State), it also has some of the most progressive serving rules that, among other things, allow micro-distilleries to offer tastings and serve mixed drinks. Many Prohibition-inspired laws have gradually changed over the last 10 years, including one that required $100,000 for a distilling license. The cost for this license is now $100, the same as the license necessary for a winery or brewery. Taxes help make up the lost licensing revenue.
Moseler and other distillers credit Kris Berglund, professor emeritus of chemical engineering at Michigan State University, for for educating state lawmakers, which resulted in many of the changes in Michigan’s distilling rules and regulations.
The federal tax on a spirit is calculated according to its proof. The state tax is a percentage of its cost. Altogether, about 68 percent of the price of a bottle of spirits goes toward taxes.
Perry Harmon, retail manager and spirits ambassador for Grand Traverse Distillery, says laws and taxes are the biggest draw backs to running a distillery. "There’s a sin tax on distilled spirits, but not on beer and wine," he says.
Harmon says that Grand Traverse Distillery owner Kent Rabish was the first person to distill spirits in Michigan since Prohibition. Thanks to strict rules, he spent his first two years in business selling through the state’s Liquor Control Commission before he was able to have a retail business of his own.
Today, distillers find themselves facing additional hurdles, many related to the necessary equipment. Whiskey and bourbon distilling requires aging in oak barrels, and there’s now a barrel shortage, partly from demand and partly from an oak blight.
Grand Traverse Distillery, the largest micro-distillery in the state, was able to contract with their barrel maker for 250 barrels per year, ensuring they won’t run out, but smaller micro-distilleries are feeling the pinch.
Even securing the still itself can be difficult. Almost all small stills are made to order in Europe and there’s now a one- to two-year waiting list for this essential equipment.
The Artisans
Despite these challenges, craft distillers like Moseler roll with the punches and continue to feel passionate about following their calling. Moseler’s path from teacher to distiller included a two-day artisan distilling course taught by Berglund at Michigan State. His relationship with the professor evolved into a mentorship over several years.
One of the reasons for the years between Moseler’s initial business idea and his business opening was the licensing process. "They dig through everything," he says. "They follow the money, look for prior convictions, if anyone’s a foreign national. Then, the state does the same thing. Between that and teaching and coaching, I’ve probably been fingerprinted 100 times in my life."
Other local distilleries include Jolly Pumpkin, which distills its Civilized line of spirits on the Old Mission Peninsula, including a vodka made from grapes and an other made with cherries; Black Star Farms, which makes fruit brandies and spirits, such as a barrel-aged apple brandy and eau de vie, a clear spirit that uses pears, cherries, apples and apricots; and the newcomer, Traverse City Whiskey, which just opened its production facility and tasting room at Cass and Fourteenth Streets in TC.
Despite the additional hoops through which distillers must jump, Moseler feels optimistic about the future of the business. In Germany, "everyone has a still in their barn," says Moseler. They use it when there’s an excess of a crop. "In a few years," he predicts, "there’s going to be enough of me-type people, they won’t have to dump cherries."
Their Process
To distill spirits, you need yeast, water and your base, whether it’s corn, grains or fruit. Moseler’s vodka made from Michigan sugar beets starts with sugar, water and yeast, and he ferments the mixture until it stops bubbling. "It’s not a lot different than making beer or wine," he says.
The fermentation can take anywhere from three days to two weeks. The result "tastes like crap," Moseler says, but it’s alcohol. The next step is to pump it into the still. Moseler double distills and his still has a steam jacket, so the steam heats the fermented mixture until it boils. The boiling temperature is lower than the boiling point of water, but higher than the boiling point of alcohol – usually around 178 degrees.
Boiling turns the fermented liquid into vapor, the vapor moves into a tube, and a condenser turns it back into liquid again. Then it’s boiled again, run over a series of plates in a column, and it gets re-distilled.
A hydrometer proofs the result, telling the distiller how much alcohol it contains. The proof number is twice the amount of alcohol. For example, liquor that is 80 proof is 40 percent alcohol. The proof can always be adjusted with distilled water, but if the water has any chemicals or metals in it, the liquor will turn cloudy.
Cover and above photo taken at Traverse City Whiskey Co. by Michael Poehlman Photography.
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